Mann among men. Terrance Mann led the ‘Noles with 22 points and nine rebounds as they continue to roll early in the season beating No. 21 Virginia Tech 93-78 at home.
Florida State (15-1, 3-0 ACC) has won 11-games in a row matching the longest winning streak in school history. Virginia Tech (12-3, 1-2 ACC) kept things interesting early, but bench production was absent in Tallahassee for the injured Hokies and that would be the difference maker.
The Seminoles bench outscored Virginia Tech’s 35-6. Seth Allen is battling a concussion and did not make the trip for the Hokies, Allen was averaging 10-points off the bench for a Tech team that has very short bench depth as is. Virginia Tech head coach Buzz Williams would not accept the injury card in his post-game press conference.
“Well I think an injury is a part of sport, not just our sport any sport so that’s never justifiable, because it’s not controllable,” head coah Buzz Williams said following the loss. “I think we have to figure out defensively how to do better and our turnover rate has to significantly drop. We are doing some good things on defense, but the things we are doing bad we are doing really bad.”
The depth that Florida State has is going to be a handful for any team. 10 different ‘Noles hit a field goal, five of which finished in double figures.
“Well, I think it is very important that they are going to sustain the level of energy that we have to play with in order to be competitive within the ACC. It is important that we have guys that can go in and get those guys some rest,” head coah Leonard Hamilton said following the victory. “Having the ability to come off the bench with confidence and play with a tremendous amount of energy… it has been tremendous for us.”
Dwayne Bacon finished with 17-points, and P.J. Savoy who has become a star from behind the arc had 11-points of his own hitting 3-6 from deep.
Off to the best start since the 1988-89 season, the Seminoles have remained composed, making it clear that as a team they are not even close to the level that they inted to be on as we get deeper into the season.
“In order for these three wins to mean something you have to keep winning. No one is going to the NCAA tournament with three conference wins,” Hamilton said. “I am not ready to take any bows right now I just want to get through this press conference and get back to the office and work for the next game.”
Florida State will look to remain undefeated on Tuesday night when they square off with the No. 8 Duke Blue Devils at 8 P.M.
