Seed # 4 Florida State defeated seed # 5 Colorado, 71-53, Monday night at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis, Indiana, in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament to advance to the 2021 NCAA Tournament, Sweet 16. The confrontation was a part of the key to the Eastern Region. .
The Seminoles were led by 22 points, the best of their career, from the veteran guard Anthony Polite. His previous career record was 15 points. It was 8 to 12 (66.7%) from the floor, including 4 to 7 (57.1%) from the depths. He also made both free-throw attempts. It was the second time this season that he led the FSU scoring. He also had five rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Polite also led a great defensive effort, as tColorado’s 53 points were the second lowest production of the season. They scored 96 points in their victory in the first round of the NCAA tournament over 12th. Georgetown. It was a low season at points allowed by FSU. The 53 points allowed by the Seminoles are the lowest number of points allowed by the State of Florida in an NCAA Tournament game.
“I thought we had a tremendous team effort on the offensive side from the point of view of execution in our game plan, and on the defensive side with the leadership that MJ Walker gave us tonight and talking and communicating with the players, I thought that really made a big difference in the game, “FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said after the game. “This is a very, very good team, University of Colorado, and they defied all of our defensive principles and, obviously, McKinley [Wright] it’s as good as anyone we’ve played against in years. He’s explosive, smart and heavy. It took a tremendous effort to hold it in for a while. But I was very proud of our players. I thought that defensively we made a tremendous effort, and I think that everyone who played in our team made a contribution in some way that gave us the chance to win a very, very important victory.
“Anthony is one of the best defenders we’ve trained in Florida. It is fundamentally solid. He has a high IQ in basketball. He’s a Seminole, “added Hamilton in Polite.” He plays with himself. You hardly ever see him forcing a shot. He counters, suffers deflections and steals.“
FSU (18-6) advances to Sweet 16 for the third consecutive time in the last three NCAA tournaments. This will mark the FSU’s fourth trip to Sweet 16 under Hamilton, and the seventh overall trip for the second weekend in the school’s history. They are now 1-0 over the Buffaloes (23-9) of all time. It was Pac-12’s first defeat at the 2021 NCAA tournament.
The Seminoles led the majority of the game and never lost by more than two points. They went to the locker room at halftime with a 24-20 lead.
Colorado narrowed the gap to 36-35 with 11:35 remaining, after scoring 3 consecutive points. FSU would respond by entering a 11-3 run to open his biggest advantage of the game, 47-38, with 7:55 remaining.
The Seminoles would extend their leadership after the Colorado coach Tad Boyle was called for a technical foul after a Colorado player committed a foul RaiQuan Gray. Gray and MJ Walker each hit 1 of 2 on the free-throw line. Anthony Polite then he drained a 3-point open and FSU found himself 55-41 in the middle of an 8-0 run, his longest run of the game, in a 1:10 interval. Colorado used a time limit of 5:59 to the end, as the game was escaping the Buffaloes.
FSU would increase his lead to up to 19 points in the final minutes, by winning on the free-throw line.
Malik Osborne was the only other Seminole in double digits, scoring 11 points.
The Seminoles were 24 to 46 (52.2%) from the ground and 6 to 17 (35.3%) from the depths of the night. They were 17-to-21 (81.0%) of the line. FSU had 16 assists in the night, led by five assists from Scottie Barnes. They made 15 turns, but did a good job in the final 30 minutes of valuing basketball after a difficult start in that category. FSU also had 10 steals, including Polite’s four, and three blocks.
Colorado, which led by 13 points in D’Shawn Schwartz, was 20 to 56 (35.7%) of the ground, but only 6 to 25 (24.0%) of the perimeter – a game after they hit 16 points out of 3 and hit 64.0% of the perimeter. They hit 7 out of 11 (63.6%) on the line – after entering the game as the best free-throw team in the country. The Seminoles lost the battle of the plates, 35-27, to the Buffaloes. The Buffs had 12 assists, but turned 19 times – with FSU turning those turns into 17 points. THE 19 the volume of business committed by Colorado was the second highest this year for the Buffs, who averaged just 10.2% in the last seven games. They also recorded five steals and two blocks.
FSU bothered Colorado’s senior guard McKinley Wright – its greatest scorer and one of the best distributors in the country – throughout the night. He finished with 10 points, but was only 4 out of 12 (33.3%) on the field. He only had one assist, compared to his average of almost six assists per game, when he committed five turnovers.
“They sped us up,” said Wright. “They did a good job of denying us and putting pressure on us. Their plan was to get me out of the game and keep two on me whenever we got the ball and forced someone else to touch it. We just didn’t find a way to slow down tonight and run very well in defense, especially in the second half. “
It was a team effort to crack down on Wright, led by people like Polite and Barnes. The work they did on Wright set the tone for the overall defensive effort of the night.
“This is something that we repeat almost every day, defense, defense. This is what wins championships, defense. The Scouting report is trying to take the guard away and we stick to it,” said Polite. “They still did a great job, but it was more difficult for them to find the kicks and get into the rhythm. We just followed the game plan and managed to make good stops.”
FSU moves forward to face seed # 1 Michigan on Sunday at Sweet 16. The Wolverines advanced by defeating the No. 8 seed LSU, 86-78, early Monday evening.
“We started looking at what we did at the end of the season, now is not the time to bow any more. You are right. This is not the time. It is kind of where we are,” said Hamilton after the game when asked if he reflects about what the program accomplished by making a third sweet 16 in a row. “If we are just satisfied with where we are now, then I think we can pack up and go home.
“These guys are very focused and one indication is that no one was jumping and clapping or getting too excited in the locker room,” continued Hamilton. “Everyone was sitting calm, focused, as if we were here before, and these are the signs of a team maturing and with a purpose.”
The Seminoles and Wolverines will play at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Sunday, March 28 at 5pm. This game will be broadcast on CBS with Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill and Tracy Wolfson on the broadcast team.