The Seminole basketball team went on the road last week hoping to continue their momentum in the ACC and they did find some success splitting two road games.

Since returning from Boston College last Saturday, Florida State has had a rare seven-day layoff. During that down week, Florida State (11-3, 2-2) has had time to reflect on what brought them success and failure during the early part of the ACC schedule.

"Overall, I feel like our team is making progress," Hamilton stated during

his weekly media teleconference. "But we have to get out of that mode where we're

playing games against good-caliber teams and coming up a little short."

One early area of concern has been the struggles in the half-court on offense. Prior to the road trip to Virginia and Boston College, the 'Noles focused on improving the half-court offense and that extra work seems to have paid off.

"I think it was good," Diego Romero commented on the offensive production during

the road trip. "We scored 77 in regulation at Virginia and 87 at Boston

College. Our offense is good, the offense has improved. I think we need to

improve our defense right now."

Diego Romero isn't the only player to realize that as the offense

improves, the defense must also improve to find success in the ACC.

"I think we just sagged off on defense and I think that is why we didn't

come out of Boston College with a win," Todd Galloway said. "When somebody scores 90 points on you

that just isn't good. We just have got put everything together, offense with defense, offense with rebounding, and we just have to put it all together and come out with victories."

So this week as the 'Noles prepare for North Carolina (10-4, 2-2) they have returned to practicing the basic fundamental on defense.

"Tuesday we focused a lot on our defense," Galloway remarked after Wednesday's practice. "We just worked on getting our principles back and understanding the small things matter when we are playing on defense."

Defense will be a likely focus of the game on Sunday as FSU will be playing an opponent who leads the ACC in field goal percentage defense in the ACC - UNC has held its opponents to a 39.3 percent shooting percentage. On FSU's end, the 'Noles are currently tied for fourth in ACC play with 7.5 steals per game while UNC is last in the league with a -6.75 turnover margin.

Another key to victory will be the 'Noles performance on the boards. Florida State is 10-1 on the season when they out-rebound the opponent with the lone loss coming to Boston College - Florida State had a slight 30-29 rebounding advantage.

Led by All-ACC candidate Al Thornton's career-high 7.8 rebounds per game average, FSU enters Sunday's game having been out-rebounded only three times over 14 games (against Florida, Purdue and Clemson) and have out-rebounded six of their opponents by 10 or more rebounds. The Tar Heels on the other hand are 1-2 on the season when being out-rebounded.

North Carolina enters Sunday's match-up after consecutive ACC losses; at home against Miami last Saturday and on Thursday in a road loss to Virginia. Despite the Heels modest record on the season and recent struggles, the Seminoles still regard them as quite the formidable opponent.

"They are a young team, hungry team that plays hard every possession," Romero said. "It is going to be an interesting match-up."

Todd Galloway shared a similar respect for North Carolina.

"I know they are going to play hard because of the tradition that they have

when they put on their uniforms," Galloway said. "They have a great

coaching system who has won and they are going to play with a lot of pride."

If the Seminoles are successful on Sunday and earn their 12th win, it will match their win total from

last season. A victory would also mark the first time FSU defeated North Carolina since it's dramatic come from behind victory over a No. 7 UNC team back on Jan. 22, 2004.

Fabulous Freshman Tyler Hansbrough

There are great freshman and then there is North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough. The 6-foot-9 forward has scored 14 or more points in nine games in a row and leads all ACC freshmen in scoring at 17.7 points per game and rebounds 7.4 per game. These stats have resulted in Hansbrough being named ACC Rookie of the Week five times. What's more impressive is the respect the freshman has earned from his opponents only 14 games into the season.

"Everybody thought Sean May was a great player and supposed to go in the Top

10 of the NBA draft and Hansbrough is averaging more points as a freshman

than May did as a junior," Romero said. "When you watch film on him he

always has great position, he always sees where the ball is at, and he is

always trying to establish himself for the pass or the next pass. He is

thinking ahead of the game and that shows a great basketball IQ because he

knows what he doing on the floor every time."

Romero isn't the only one in the Seminole camp impressed with the Tar Heel freshman.

"Obviously he's a load, there's no question about that," Hamilton said. "He's way beyond his years in maturity. for whatever reason, he has had less of a transition period than most freshmen. Regardless of sometimes how talented youngsters are, there seems to be a transition period where he

seems to have skipped his."

Most ACC opponents would probably agree with Diego Romero's scouting report

of the big man.

"He is going to be a handful."

Hard Work Paying Off for Al

"Growing up, I hated basketball."

When asked about his love for the game as a youngster that was the first

comment Al Thornton could think of following practice on Wednesday. Looking

at the ACC Player of the Week during his junior campaign, you never would

have thought he would utter those words.

The junior All-ACC candidate enters Sunday's game averaging a career-high 16.9 points per game. He is averaging nearly eight points a game more this season than he did as a sophomore. He is among five players in the ACC who rank in the top 10 for scoring, rebounding and field goal shooting percentage. He is joined by some good company, Sheldon Williams of Duke, Craig Smith and Jared Dudley of Boston College and Coleman Collins of Virginia Tech.

Somewhere between there and here, Thornton found a love for the game and

an appreciation for practicing the sport which he now loves.

"Coming in I had some flaws and I had to get better, I wanted to be one of

the best and so I stayed in the gym," Thornton said, "I try to work on my

game because teams are going to come out and try to stop certain things and

you always want to have some kind of move or something else that you have

been working on that the defense doesn't really know about. I try to work on

different areas of my game and throw the defense off when they are taking

away some of my main strengths."

Thornton says the hard work is paying off this year as he gave a modest review of

the success he has had this season.

"I am having a pretty good, consistent season," he said. "That was one of my goals

coming into the season. Last year I dropped off, sometimes I would have a

big game and then I would just disappear," Thornton continued, "It was one

of my goals this season and I feel like I am doing well at attaining that

goal and staying consistent."

Head coach Leonard Hamilton is not at all surprised by the improved play and consistency from his junior forward.

"I think one thing that makes him what he is, is that he has a tremendous desire to get better," Hamilton said. "He's extremely competitive, and he works at his game as much as any player that I have ever seen. He's always in the gym working on areas of his game where he wants to get better. He is a very committed youngster that seems to get highly motivated for each game. He's been very consistent with practices and games. And I think a guy with that kind of attitude - you know is going to continue to keep getting

better."

The Second Option Emerging?

Entering ACC play, Leonard Hamilton and his players spoke of how crucial it was for the Seminoles to find a second scoring option to Al Thornton. Over the past few games sophomore guard Isaiah Swann has stepped up to the challenge and may be stepping into that much needed role.

The sophomore guard nearly earned his first career triple-double against Boston College scoring 14 points, was credited with eight assists and pulled down seven rebounds. While compiling his lofty statistics, Swann established career-high numbers for offensive rebounds with four, total rebounds with seven, assists with eight and free throws made with six. He tied his career-high for free throws made with four.

In four ACC Games, Swann has averaged 11.3 points per game including a career-high of 17 points in FSU's overtime win at Virginia. He also made a career-high 4-of-6 3-point field goal attempts in the overtime victory at Virginia. Most of all, he has simply stepped up his play to compliment Thornton.

"I think he has just gotten more comfortable and more confident and is allowing himself to have his talents take over," teammate Todd Galloway remarked. "He knows what he can do and he is not second guessing himself. He is just going out there and playing and it is showing how talented he is."

Galloway is not the only player who has noticed the Swann's mark improvement.

"He (Swann) didn't start off so well at the beginning of the season he is stepping it up and he is getting a better feel for the game," Romero said. "He is comfortable out there and I feel he can really step up."

Swann has scored in double figures five times this season in 14 games, which matches the number of times he scored double-digits in his freshman campaign. His scoring average has also elevated from 5.2 points per game last season to 9.0 this season. Finally, Swann, who had struggles with turnovers last season, currently ranks third in ACC play with the third best assist-to-turnover ratio.

Seminoles On The Mend

A couple of Seminoles have been bouncing back from injuries and other ailments and gave an update of their status heading into the North Carolina game.

Diego Romero who was overweight following off-season knee surgery updated

his current status: "I feel pretty good. I think I have bounced back pretty

quickly and I feel like I am getting a better feel for the game. I am not

that tired now in the games. I feel like I could play more minutes."

Todd Galloway who injured his wrist during the Delta State exhibition game: "My wrist is feeling almost one hundred percent," Galloway exclaimed, "It has been a while since I have been able to play without tape."

Tickets Going Fast

As of late Friday afternoon there were only a limited number of tickets

available for the North Carolina game. By tip-off, the game is likely to be

the first sellout for Florida State this season.

Florida State tips off against North Carolina on Sunday night at 6:30 PM at

Virginia. The game is being televised on Fox Sports Net ACC Sunday Night

Hoops National Broadcast.