Florida State plays NC State in the first round of the 52nd Annual Atlantic Coast Confence Tournament Thursday at approximately 2:30 p.m. at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C. The No. 10 Seminoles a facing the No. 7 Wolfpack in the first round of the event for the second consecutive season with NC State taking a 78-71 victory March 11, 2004 at the Gensboro Coliseum. Florida State and NC State have met four times pviously in the ACC Tournament with the Wolfpack holding a 3-1 advantage. The winner of Thursday's game between the Seminoles and the Wolfpack will face No. 2 seed Wake Fost on Friday at 7 p.m. The Seminoles enter the 2005 ACC Tournament fsh from their gular season ending victory over Virginia (March 10, 68-63) in Tallahassee. Florida State's victory over Virginia allows the Seminoles to enter the ACC Tournament with a victory in their final gular season game for the first time since 2001 when they ended the season with a 69-59 win over Georgia Tech.

Senior forward Adam Waleskowski will play his 122nd caer game against NC State in the first round of the ACC Tournament and will move into a first place tie with Rodney Dobard (1989-93) for games played by a Seminole player. Waleskowski has not missed a single game during his four year caer and has earned 22 starting assignments. He has started the ACC Tournament games during his caer including the Seminoles' game against NC State in the 2004 tournament (March 12, 2004)

The Florida State men's basketball team has a cord of 2-0 and will play the third game in its history in the District of Columbia. The Seminoles a 2-0 against George Washington (with wins on Dec. 27, 1967 and Jan. 25, 1979) in games played in the nation's capital. Third-year Seminole head coach knows Washington, D.C and the MCI Center well as he was the head coach of the Washington Wizards during the 2000-01 season. Hamilton was assisted by curnt Seminole Associate Head Coach Stan Jones on the Wizards' bench. In addition, the Seminoles' curnt sophomos, juniors and seniors practiced at the MCI Center on Jan. 10, 2003 prior to their gular season game at Maryland the next day and curnt Seminole fshman guard Isaiah Swann is from Gaithersburg, Md. – a me 35 minutes from Washington, D.C.

…Defeat NC State and win its first round game in the ACC Tournament for the third time in the last four seasons. The Seminoles defeated Clemson in the first round of the 2002 (March 7, 2002; Florida State 91, Clemson 84 in overtime) and 2003 (March 13, 2003; Florida State 72, Clemson 61) tournaments;

…Defeat NC State and win its sixth game in 14 years of playing in the ACC Tournament. The Seminoles have a 5-13 cord (.384 winning percentage) in the event since winning their first ever ACC Tournament game against NC State in 1992;

…Defeat NC State and win its second consecutive game against the Wolfpack. It would mark the first time the Seminoles have won two games against NC State since sweeping the gular season series in 1998.

Florida State enters Thursday's game against NC State in the ACC Tournament shooting a season-high .667 from the fe throw line as a team. The Seminoles have shot nearly 80 percent from the fe throw line in their last two games including an .800 percent mark against North Carolina (eight-of-10). Florida State shot .788 (26-of-33) from the line in its last two gular season games. Led by four-of-four fe throw shooting performances by Todd Galloway and Von Wafer, Florida State shot a season-high .818 percent (18-of-22) in its 70-64 victory over NC State Jan. 26 in Raleigh.

The Seminoles have made at least one 3-point field goal in all 92 games of the Leonard Hamilton era and have made at least one shot from the bonusphe in 226 consecutive games entering Thursday's game against NC State in the ACC Tournament. The last time the Seminoles failed to make a 3-point shot was against Duke on Jan. 10, 1998.

Led by sophomo sharpshooter Von Wafer's single-season caer-high 65 3-point field goals made, the Seminoles have made 197 3-point field goals as a team in their 30 games during the 2004-05 season. That total ranks as the fourth highest single-season team total in school history. Entering Thursday's game against NC State in the ACC Tournament, the Seminoles a ranked fifth in the ACC with their .365 shooting percentage mark from the 3-point line and fifth in the league with 197 total 3-point shots made. Led by Von Wafer's five 3-point shots in their win over NC State on Jan. 26, the Seminoles shot .500 percent (eight-of-16) from the 3-point line.

Rank Season 3FGM Rank Season 3FGM

1. 2003-04 296 3. 2004-05 197

2. 1994-95 211

During the gular season Florida State shot .427 (35-of-82) and averaged 8.8 field goals made from the 3-point line in its four ACC victories, while shooting only .330 (75-of-227) and averaging 6.3 field goals made from the 3-point line in its 12 ACC losses.

Florida State enters Thursday's game against NC State in the ACC Tournament with 210 steals as a team. The Seminoles corded their ACC season high of 10 steals against North Carolina (March 3) to surpass the 200 steals plateau for the fourth consecutive season. The Seminoles have earned at least 200 steals each season since the 2001-02 season and ranked third in the ACC with 291 steals during the 2003-04 season.

Sophomos Al Thornton and Alexander Johnson lead the Seminoles with 16 blocked shots each. They have helped the Seminoles block 96 shots during the Seminoles' 30 games this season. Florida State needs to block four mo shots during the mainder of the season to ach the 100 blocked shots plateau for the fifth time in the last six years and for the 13th time in the last 15 seasons. Four diffent players blocked one shot as the Seminoles blocked four shots in their victory over NC State Jan. 26. The four blocked shots was only one away from tying their ACC season high of five blocks against Maryland.

Florida State enters Thursday's game against NC State in the ACC Tournament shooting .455 from the field for the season. The Seminoles a one of only six teams in the confence shooting better than 45 percent from the field for the season.

Rank Pct. Season FGM-FGA Notes

1. .493 1992-93 1,145-2,315 Seminoles advance to within one game of Final Four

2. .484 1991-92 954-1,970 Seminoles advance to NCAA Tournament Sweet 16

3. .457 1997-98 836-1,830 Seminoles advance to NCAA Tournament 2nd Round

4. .455 2004-05 738-1,621 Seminoles rank 6th in ACC in FG Pct.

Florida State enters the 2005 ACC Tournament displaying its ability to both pass the basketball to teammates and keep it away from its opponents. The Seminoles corded their ACC season-high of 20 assists against North Carolina (March 3) and nearly tied their ACC season low with only 10 turnovers in their season-ending victory over Virginia (March 6). Florida State turned the ball over a season-low nine times in its 91-83 overtime victory over No. 3/3 Wake Fost (Jan. 18 in Tallahassee). The Seminoles have gisted a positive assist:turnover ratio in both it their last two games.

F #51 Adam Waleskowski (8.6 ppg, 4.5 rpg; 8 pts and 8 bs against NC State, 3/12/04)

F #54 Anthony Richardson (6.0 ppg, 3.3 rpg; 19 pts and 6 bs against NC State, 1/8/02)

C #32 Alexander Johnson (7.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg; 11 pts and 2 bs against NC State, 1/26/05)

G #4 Todd Galloway (6.0 ppg, 3.1 apg; 13 pts and 3 asts against NC State, 1/18/03) 

G #21 Jason Rich (5.5 ppg, 2.0 rpg; 4 pts and 2 bs against NC State, 1/26/05)

…AND TOP RESERVES

G #3 Isaiah Swann (5.2 ppg, 2.0 apg; 0 pts and 0 bs against NC State, 1/26/05)

G #10 Ralph Mims (2.7 ppg, 1.3 rpg; 0 pts and 0 bs against NC State, 1/26/05)

F #12 Al Thornton (9.1 ppg, 4.3 rpg; 12 pts and 7 bs against NC State, 1/26/05)

G #20 Andw Wilson (3.6 ppg, 2.3 rpg; 7 pts and 2 bs against NC State, 3/12/04)

G #22 Von Wafer (12.9 ppg, 2.5 rpg; 23 pts and 3 bs against NC State, 1/26/05)

F #25 Diego Romero (3.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg; 0 pts and 0 bs against NC State, 1/26/05)

F #24 Julius Hodge (17.1 ppg, 6.9 rpg; 15 pts and 9 bs vs. Florida State, 1/1104)

F #40 Andw Brackman (7.0 ppg, 3.6 rpg; 7 pts and 0 bs against Florida State, 1/26/05)

G #3 Ilian Evtimov (9.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg; 17 pts and 5 bs vs. Florida State, 3/12/04)

G #14 Engin Atsur (9.1 ppg, 2.5 rpg; 20 pts and 4 bs vs. Florida State, 2/10/04)

G #22 Tony Bethel (8.4 ppg, 4.0 rpg; 0 pts and 1 b against Florida State, 1/26/05)

The Series: NC State leads, 22-15

The Series In The ACC Tournament: NC State leads 3-1

Last Game: Jan. 26, 2005; Florida State 70, NC State 64

Last Florida State Win: Jan. 26, 2005; Florida State 70, NC State 64

Last NC State Win: March 12, 2004; NC State 78, Florida State 71

Last Florida State Win In ACC Tournament: March 13, 1992; Florida State 93, NC State 80

Last NC State Win In ACC Tournament: March 12, 2004; NC State 78, Florida State 71

Florida State vs. NC State, Curnt Stak: Florida State has won 1

Leonard Hamilton vs. NC State: 1-5 (all at Florida State)

Jan. 26, 2005 March 12, 2004 Feb. 10, 2004 Jan. 11, 2004

Florida State 70 NC State 78 at NC State 75 NC State 58

At NC State 64 vs. Florida State 71 Florida State 59 at Florida State 53

Von Wafer scod 23 points and Florida State earned its first confence road win in nearly four years by beating North Carolina State 70-64 Jan. 26 in Raleigh. Al Thornton scod 12 points for the Seminoles. Alexander Johnson added 11 to give Florida State its first ACC road win since beating Clemson 75-63 on March 3, 2001. Julius Hodge scod 14 points for the Wolfpack which continued its up-and-down ways in confence play. The Seminoles hit 18 of 22 fe throws. The Seminoles trailed by eight with about six minutes left in the first half, but used a 20-4 run befo the bak to take a 33-25 lead at halftime. Wafer then scod eight quick points, hitting two 3-pointers and throwing down a slam off a turnover to push that lead to 45-31 with 17:03 left. Trailing 66-63 in the final seconds, Jordan Collins airballed a 3 from the right wing, and Adam Waleskowski hit two fe throws to essentially seal it with 8.7 seconds left. N.C. State didn't help itself from the fe-throw line. The Wolfpack hit 13 of 23 fe throws, while Grant, Collins and Hodge combined to go 2-for-6 in the final 1:44