 got in foul trouble in the first half and sent the Demon Deacons to the line 22 times before the break, then surrendered an 11-0 run out of the break that gave Wake Forest a lead. Yet Florida State tightened up its defense and stopped sending a parade of Demon Deacons players to the foul line, then began to gradually stretch out a lead on the way to a seventh straight win.''I'm just proud we were able to find a way to win while we're still growing,'' Hamilton said. ''We're extremely inexperienced. . so we're still trying to find our way. I think if we continue to keep growing, hopefully we can continue to keep finding ways to win games while we're still developing and evolving.'' M. J. Walker scored 12 of his 15 points in the first half for the Seminoles, who went ahead for good on RaiQuan Gray's 3-pointer at the 14:04 mark. They also held the Demon Deacons to one field goal over 6 1/2 minutes as they finally asserted control, pushing a 52-49 lead to 67-56 on Malik Osborne's 3-pointer with 2:46 left.Florida State has won won 14 of 15 games, including a weekend win at then-No. 7 Louisville that signaled Hamilton's Seminoles are again a factor in the league race.''Just because we might not be playing another ranked team doesn't mean that we can come out and be flat,'' Vassell said, adding: ''It might not be Duke or Virginia, but we've always got to come out and just play to the best of our abilities.'' Brandon Childress scored 20 points to lead Wake Forest, which played without starter Chaundee Brown due to a lower-leg injury. The Demon Deacons (8-6, 1-3) got off to a slow start to fall behind by a dozen in the opening minutes, but used that 11-0 run to erase a 41-34 halftime deficit and get back in it.''Obviously we can say that we competed against a top-10 team, but that's not enough,'' said Wake Forest's Olivier Sarr, who had 10 points. ''Now we need to win games. Losing by 10 to a top-10 team is not just something we should be happy about.'' BIG PICTUREFlorida State: The Seminoles arrived with plenty of momentum following the Louisville win, with its past three league wins all coming by double-figure margins dating to early December. FSU has won 16 of its last 18 ACC regular-season games dating to last January.Wake Forest: The Demon Deacons were coming off a big win at Pittsburgh after rallying from 16 down. But they were short-handed for this one without Brown, a 6-foot-5 junior averaging 13.3 points and 6.5 rebounds. They fell behind 15-3 before pushing ahead early in the second half, then stayed within a shot or two of the Seminoles before Florida State made its clinching move.OFF THE LINEWake Forest made 18 of 22 free throws in a first half that saw FSU whistled for 14 personal fouls, offsetting a rough first half in which the Demon Deacons had seven field goals and six turnovers. But the Demon Deacons warmed up to 48% from the field after halftime, but they got to the line just 10 times.TIP-INSTrent Forrest had 14 points and 10 rebounds for FSU, posting his second career double-double. ... Wake Forest coach Danny Manning offered no clear timeline on when Brown might be ready to play again. ... The Demon Deacons committed 11 second-half turnovers that led to 11 second-half points for FSU. ... Florida State made just 6 of 23 3-pointers and shot 43.5% for the game.UP NEXTFlorida State: The Seminoles return to action next Wednesday at home against 18th-ranked and reigning national champion Virginia.Wake Forest: The Demon Deacons stay in their home state and visit second-ranked Duke on Saturday night.---More college basketball: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and http://www.twitter.com/-Top25---Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap)
Jan 07, 2020No. 10 Florida State wary of Wake ForestFlorida State has turned into one of the country's early surprise teams, rising to a No. 10 ranking.That doesn't do a whole lot for coach Leonard Hamilton unless the Seminoles show they're capable of maintaining that level of play."We have to realize we're 3-1 (in the Atlantic Coast Conference)," Hamilton said. "If we're only going to win three games in the ACC, that's not going to get you very far." The next assignment for Florida State (13-2) comes Wednesday night with a road game against Wake Forest at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, N. C.The Demon Deacons (8-5, 1-2) have pulled a few recent surprises as well, but nothing yet to the degree of what the Seminoles have done.Florida State secured a 78-65 victory at Louisville on Saturday with a performance that looked dominant at times. It seems unlikely that the Seminoles will be able to sneak up on another team after knocking off a top 10 performer for the second time this season."No one has picked us for the championship," Hamilton said of conference forecasts. "We haven't done anything other than win a few games. We have to keep tacking on victories." Wake Forest's three-game winning streak includes toppling then-nationally ranked Xavier and pulling off Saturday's comeback victory at Pittsburgh. The Demon Deacons trailed the Panthers by 16 points in the first half before charging back.The outcome wasn't secure until the last second, when Olivier Sarr blocked a would-be tying shot, then Brandon Childress sank a couple of free throws to nail down the 69-65 victory.Wake Forest coach Danny Manning said he liked how Childress, a senior guard, came to the forefront even without a big game in terms of point production."We don't win that game without Brandon's floor game," he said. "Down the stretch, he nailed some free throws to seal the game for us. He wanted the ball in pressure situations like he always does." Depth is what stands out for Florida State. Hamilton said that's an area that helps the team thrive."We're still kind of working on our rotation a little," he said. "That's who we are. That's the system we've used. ... We've played a longer bench because that's what we had to do." So the Seminoles, who hold a six-game winning streak, can be difficult to scout and devise a game plan for because the key contributors come from all angles."You've got crazy athleticism with Florida State," Manning said. "The first thing that jumps out at me is the athleticism and their length and their depth. They don't have a particular scorer who's putting up crazy numbers because they're so deep." The depth showed in several ways last week. Florida State's M. J. Walker sat out a victory against Georgia Tech with a hip injury. He was back in action for 23 points and three assists at Louisville in 27 minutes off the bench.Across a 2 1/2-week span, Wake Forest has played only once. That Pittsburgh game attracted Hamilton's attention because his team opened the season with a 63-61 loss on the same court."A place we lost at, and (Wake Forest) won there," he said.--Field Level Media
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