Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 19, 1993 TAG: 9303190106
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ORLANDO, FLA. LENGTH: Medium
FSU TOO STRONG FOR ACES
A No. 3 seed has been upset by a No. 14 eight times in the past eight NCAA men's basketball tournaments, but it wasn't in the cards at Orlando Arena on Thursday.Evansville had its Aces, but Florida State had too many good hands.
The Seminoles dealt Evansville an 82-70 defeat in the opening game of the Southeast Region's first round.
Florida State (23-9), the ACC's regular-season runner-up, used defense and ball movement to pack the Purple Aces' bags.
"It seemed like every time we came off a cut to square up to shoot, not only were your guy's hands in there, but other guys' were, too. They were very disruptive," Evansville guard Scott Shreffler said.
Florida State bolted from an 18-18 tie with 18 straight points in 3:03 lead by 18 with six minutes left in the first half. Included in the run were four 3-pointers.
While the 11th-ranked Seminoles were converting on seven of eight possessions, the Aces (23-7) missed four shots and had four turnovers.
"That was the game," Evansville coach Jim Crews said. "We thought we had them backing off a bit, and then they not only hit those threes, but they had a couple of steals in there, too."
Florida State coach Pat Kennedy raved about his team's play, and rightfully so. Coming off a putrid performance in an ACC Tournament quarterfinal loss to Clemson a week ago, Florida State shot 54 percent, and, when it wasn't forcing the tempo, was pass-happy in its half-court offense.
"Our ball movement was as good as I've seen," said Kennedy, whose team meets Tulane at 2:25 p.m. in Saturday's second round. "Defensively, we almost played to perfection, like we were back when we had that stretch of 13 wins in 14 games."
The Seminoles rolled even without a typical offensive day from swingman Bob Sura, the ACC's No. 2 scorer who averages 20 points per game. The sophomore was only 2-for-9, but his defense on Aces scoring whiz Parrish Casebier was significant.
"The hands thing, that's just a takeoff on us playing hard," Sura said. "When we're playing hard, it can seem like we have more than five guys out there."
The only Ace the Seminoles couldn't stop was 7-foot-1 center Sascha Hupmann, who finished his career with a 20-point, 12-rebound day. Otherwise, Florida State helped force Evansville's top three scorers - Casebier, Andy Elkins and Shreffler - into a combined 9-for-32.
Evansville, the Midwestern Collegiate Conference Tournament champion, cut Florida State's lead to nine in the final minute, but Crews said his struggling offense spent too much energy trying to play catch-up.
Although Kennedy's team had four double-figure scorers, led by Sam Cassell's 18 points, Crews felt the performance of ACC football player of the year Charlie Ward was most significant. The Aces chose to let the quarterback-point guard roam free on the perimeter.
"We dropped off Ward, and he really hurt us with his shot [3-for-4 on 3-point attempts]," Crews said. "They hit those shots and gave us more to worry about than we already had.
"I think Florida State is capable of going a long way in this tournament. They're so explosive. They just have a lot of weapons, and a team like us has to leave a hole somewhere.
"What they did was blow that hole open for us. They're a really good team. Then, when you're in the ACC and you finish second, you expect that. That's playing at the highest level." \
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