INDIANAPOLIS -- The head coach was in a walking boot. The leading scorer didn't hit a shot outside of a foot all game.

The outside shooters didn't hit anything at all.

And yet the Florida State Seminoles are still dancing in the 2021 NCAA Tournament.

You can call it ugly if you want. It certainly wasn't an aesthetic masterpiece offensively.

But the FSU men's basketball team played perhaps its best defensive game of the year, RaiQuan Gray continued to prove he's one of the best players in college basketball, and the Seminoles moved on to the second round with a 64-54 victory over UNC-Greensboro on Saturday afternoon.

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FSU will face Colorado in the Round of 32 on Monday at 7:45 p.m. ET. The game will be played at Indiana Farmers Coliseum and air on TBS.

"We're junkyard dogs," Gray said after Saturday's victory. "We get after it on the defensive end. ... I think our defense is going to take us to where we need to be."

It certainly got them to the second round. Because the shooting wasn't going to do it.

The Seminoles were the best 3-point shooting team in the ACC this season and one of the most dangerous offensive teams in the country. But on Saturday afternoon, they were 0-for-9 from beyond the arc, and truthfully none of the nine were close.

They attempted just one 3-pointer in the second half, and it barely got out of Anthony Polite's hand before it was blocked.

So, no, the shooting wasn't where the Seminoles hoped it would be. And M.J. Walker scored just four points. Yet, the defense made sure those offensive struggles didn't end up costing FSU its season.

It was a performance reminiscent of Hamilton's defensive-minded teams of the past.

"Regardless of how our offense is, we can always fall back on our defensive effort," Gray said. "That's what they preach to us."

And on Saturday they said, "Amen."

North Carolina-Greensboro was just 19-of-60 from the floor. The Spartans were 7-of-27 from 3-point range. They also had two shot-clock violations and had to hoist three or four wild shots to avoid more.

It was as good as FSU has looked on that side of the floor all year.

"On the defensive end, we were energetic, we contained the dribble, stuck to the game plan," FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton said. "Not only did we have to contest shots, but we had to contain the dribble."

They did both very well.

Just ask senior guard Isaiah Miller. The Spartans' leading scorer finished with 17 points on Saturday, but he took 18 shots to get them. And many of those shots were with Balsa Koprivica guarding him.

Remember, Koprivica is 7-foot-1. Miller is more than a foot shorter. And he's also lightning quick with the ball in his hands.

Yet every time the FSU big man got switched on Miller, he kept a hand in his face, moved his feet, and made the future pro have to hoist tough shots over him.

It's the kind of stuff that doesn't show up in a box score. But when another part of the box score -- the one that counts 3-point makes -- has a big, fat zero in it, you need all the other stuff you can get.

Koprivica also finished with 13 points and nine rebounds.

"We depend on him a lot," Gray said. "He's a huge part of our team. And when he's going, I definitely think we're a high-level team."

Meanwhile, Gray is just a high, high-level player.

After being primarily a role player earlier in his Florida State career, Gray has blossomed into a terrific college basketball player this season. He's not just a steadying force for the Seminoles, he's becoming a dominant one.

Gray had 17 points, seven rebounds and three assists in the win.

And truthfully, we've written so much about him this year that it's becoming redundant. So, I'll quit showering him with praise for now.

Instead, I'll write a little bit more about his head coach.

Hamilton, if you weren't aware, ruptured his Achilles' tendon on Sunday when he tripped while getting off the team bus.

He was asked if he wanted a scooter to move around in Indianapolis. And I wish I had been there to see his reaction to that question.

"A scooter? I'm Leonard F'n Hamilton. I don't 'scoot' anywhere."

Instead, he wore a protective walking boot. And just coached like nothing was bothering him. Much like he did two years ago when he coached the same day he underwent a kidney stone procedure. Yikes!

"Pain is temporary," Hamilton said. "It's not something that's going to last all the time. We have a job to do, and we're going to work through whatever challenges we have ... I have been injured very few times in my life.

"We're in the NCAA Tournament. ... My guys are depending on me. I didn't even know I had the boot on once the game started. It's a nuisance. It's a challenge. There are more important things than worrying about me having a little pain."

Yeah. Like still being in the tournament.

The truth is the Seminoles can't shoot like they did on Saturday and win another game. The teams are just too good from here on out.

M.J. Walker and Scottie Barnes, both of whom were grimacing and limping for much of the game because of leg issues, are almost certainly going to have to score more than 8 points combined for this team to win another game.

But you know what? They're going to get a chance to do exactly that.

Because the defense was terrific, Gray was Gray, Balsa was a stopper, and the head coach toughed it out and proved to everyone he's not about that scooter life.

FSU will have to play better on Monday to stay here in Indianapolis another week. We all understand that. But as Hamilton said on Saturday, you can't win anything unless you win the first one.

Which is what made Saturday's victory a thing of beauty.

"You just want to survive and advance," Hamilton said. "We probably could have played a little better ... but every team in America starts the season off wanting to be in the NCAA Tournament.

"And in order to be No. 1, we've got to be one of 32. So, now we're moving to being one of 32."

Contact senior writer Corey Clark at corey@warchant.com and follow @Corey_Clark on Twitter.

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