At 18-2 and ranked sixth in the country, Florida State was brought back down to reality on Wednesday night. The Seminoles were hit in the mouth, falling behind by 28 points in the first before ultimately losing at Georgia Tech, 78-56.
The drubbing was hardly Florida State’s finest hour, but the cause for panic should also be minimal. FSU did few things well with a season-low 56 points, a 29 percent mark from the field and being outrebounded by 14. Those were the low lights in what was ultimately the Seminoles’ most dismal effort of the season.
While it’s easy to look at what FSU did wrong, Georgia Tech deserves credit for what it did right. The Yellow Jackets were more efficient than usual offensively, excellent on the defensive end, aggressive on the glass and mostly smart with the basketball down the stretch to help preserve the victory.
New head coach Josh Pastner also deserves a lot of credit for making Georgia Tech into a legitimate NCAA Tournament contender. Despite losing four scorers who averaged in double-figures and being picked to finish ahead of only Boston College in the ACC, the Yellow Jackets are 12-8 and 4-4 in conference with victories by at least 12 points over the likes of FSU and North Carolina.
So far when it comes to dealing with adversity, the Seminoles have handled it very well. After blowing an 18-point lead on Thanksgiving Day in what now looks like a bad loss to Temple, FSU responded with a win over Illinois the next day that would spur a 12-game winning streak.
After falling to North Carolina on the road earlier this month, FSU responded with back-to-back victories over ranked teams in Notre Dame and Louisville.
The bigger issue for Florida State might be learning to play away from Tallahassee. While the Seminoles are 14-0 at the Donald L. Tucker Center, they’re just 4-3 on the road or neutral courts. Winning at Virginia on Dec. 31 was certainly impressive, but FSU’s other victories away from home have come on neutral courts against the likes of Manhattan (7-14 overall), George Washington (11-9 overall) and Illinois, who is 13-8 and 3-5 in Big Ten play. FSU also lost in Brooklyn to a Temple team that is just 11-10 and 2-6 in American Athletic Conference play.
As embarrassing as Wednesday’s loss was, it does nothing to alter FSU’s chances of putting together a special season. If most FSU fans were polled prior to the season and asked if they would be happy with an 18-3 overall record and 6-2 mark in ACC play in late January, the results would have been overwhelming yes. Upsets happen in college basketball and that includes blowout upsets to unranked teams.
For example, the Seminoles’ 21-point victory over Notre Dame last season didn’t keep the Fighting Irish from making the Elite Eight. FSU’s 81-65 throttling of Georgia Tech in February 2004 didn’t keep the Yellow Jackets from playing for the national championship.
FSU didn’t make the NCAA Tournament in either of those two seasons and there’s no guarantee that Georgia Tech will this season. Still, the Yellow Jackets’ handling of Florida State on Wednesday night likely won’t have any long-term effects on FSU.
With a No. 6 ranking next to their name, the Seminoles are brand new to playing with a bulls’ eye across their chest. Wednesday’s blowout loss will likely end up being just part of the learning process.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
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