February 16, 2008

Warchant.com

Senior guard Ralph Mims led the Seminoles with 15 points in the first half and was key to opening a 40-32 lead going into the break at Maryland. Despite a strong second half effort from Mims, the Seminoles once again failed to protect a lead as Maryland rallied in the second half to beat Florida State 82-72 on Saturday afternoon.

"I can't fault our guy's effort," Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton said. "I think we had about seven or eight plays where we just didn't make them."

Maryland sophomore point guard Greivis Vasquez led the Terrapins with 20 points and eight assists. Sophomore forward Landon Milbourne added a career-high 18 points. Senior James Gist scored 17 points and Bambale Osby contributed 14 points for the Terrapins, as they improved to 17-9 overall and 7-4 in the ACC.

Mims finished with a career-high 26 points for Florida State but it wasn't enough as the Seminoles fell to 14-12 overall and 3-8 in the ACC. They also lost for the fifth time in six games.

"Ralph has been one of our more consistent players," Hamilton said. "He really gave tremendous effort. He really felt like he didn't play up to par against Wake Forest. He wanted to come out and show his character and I thought he did."

The senior guard wasn't alone in double figures for Florida State. He was joined by senior point guard Toney Douglas who added 17 points. Fellow senior Jason Rich had 12 points rounding out the Seminoles in double figures.

Maryland overcame an erratic first half to take control down the stretch, going 14-for-23 from the floor in the second half. The Terrapins also benefited from 19 more free throw attempts in the game as compared to the Seminoles, who only went to the line 10 times all evening.

"That was a concern of mine as we played the game," Hamilton said of the free throw shooting. "I thought we had an inability to get to the free throw line. We had plenty of opportunities and I am not real sure there wasn't contact made but we failed to get those calls today."

The Seminoles did themselves no favors as the second half began. A rash of turnovers allowed Maryland to close an eight-point gap immediately and also got the Comcast Center to their feet. An 11-2 run that opened the second half and turned around an eight-point halftime deficit was sparked by Vasquez capitalizing on costly turnovers by the Seminoles.

"We turned the ball over early in the second half maybe six times in the first nine minutes and they were basically self-inflicted turnovers," Hamilton said. "We turned it over on the first possession (of the second half) and got the crowd back into the game."

Vasquez knocked down three straight 3-pointers for a 43-42 Maryland lead with 17:55 left. Florida State kept it close before a 3-point play by Osby started a 10-2 Terrapin spree that wiped away the Seminoles' 57-56 lead, their final one of the game.

Florida State returns home to host Clemson on Tuesday at 7 p.m. It will mark the Seminoles third game in a six-day period.

"I guess that is one thing good about playing three games in six days," Hamilton said. "You are not going to be able to wallow in self-pity."

The game will be broadcast by Fox Sports Network-Florida.

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