Maryland Pulls Away To Beat Florida State 78-62
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) -- Florida State's latest loss on the road against Maryland all but ruined the Seminoles' chances of winning their first Atlantic Coast Conference basketball title.
Freshman Terrell Stoglin scored 17 points, Jordan Williams had 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Maryland used a strong second half to beat Florida State 78-62 on Wednesday night.
The Seminoles have lost eight straight at Maryland since February 2001. The last time FSU beat the Terps on the road was when Maryland played at old Cole Field House.
Derwin Kitchen scored 16 and Deividas Dulkys had 14 points for the Seminoles (19-8, 9-4), who trail first-place Duke by three games with three games to play.
FSU played a second straight game without junior forward Chris Singleton, who broke his foot on Feb. 12 during a win over Virginia. Singleton is the only player on the Florida State roster averaging double figures in scoring.
"We told our kids we're still alive," said coach Leonard Hamilton, who is winless at Maryland. "We still feel like we have enough games to go to put ourselves in good position."
The Terrapins (18-10, 7-6) had five players score in double figures. Dino Gregory scored 14, Adrian Bowie added 12 and Sean Mosley chipped in 10.
But it was the defense that made the difference. Maryland forced 17 turnovers and limited Florida State to 39 percent shooting in the pivotal second half.
"We played great defense. I thought I played the best defense since I've been here in the second half," Williams said. "There was a stretch when I missed four layups in a row, but it didn't matter because we were playing such good defense."
It was the 21st double-double of the season for Williams, who became the seventh sophomore in ACC history to collect at least 600 rebounds in his career.
Maryland opened the second half with a 22-10 run to go up 60-47 with 10:23 left. Stoglin and Gregory each scored seven points in the surge and Williams contributed two baskets and a free throw.
Florida State would not reach the 60-point mark until there was less than two minutes to go.
Maryland shot 52 percent (25 of 48) against the nation's top-rated team in field goal percentage defense. It was only the second time this season a team made at least half its shots against the Seminoles.
"They shot lights out," FSU forward Bernard James said of Maryland. "Our defense wasn't up to par, and hit a lot of contested shots."
After leading by seven and trailing by nine, the Seminoles ended the first half with a 10-2 run to close to 38-37.
Florida State raced to a 9-2 lead behind Dulkys, who hit a pair of 3-pointers and a three-point play in the opening two minutes.
Dulkys came in averaging 7.6 points per game.
Hounded underneath the basket by the Seminoles' big men, Williams went more than eight minutes before getting off his first shot. He was fouled on the play and made two free throws to spark 6-0 spurt that put the Terrapins up 19-18.
Minutes later, Williams and freshman Pe'Shon Howard each scored three points in an 8-1 spree that made it 34-25.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
