Gonzaga Ices FSU at the Line

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Gonzaga wasn't exactly trying to give one away, but it didn't seem very eager for a while to keep Florida State from taking it from them.

The Seminoles never did catch the eighth-seeded Bulldogs, though, after falling behind by 18 in the first half and 16 at intermission. The closest Florida State got, after finally reacquainting itself with the basket, was four points, 59-55, with 2:15 left in its first-round West Regional matchup. After being completely overmatched physically in the first half, Florida State reasserted itself and rode a late hot hand by reserve sophomore guard Deividas Dulkys, who hit three second-half 3-pointers.

The difference in the final frantic minutes was free throws. Gonzaga hit eight of 10 in the last 1:21, while Florida State freshman Michael Snaer missed three in a row at the worst possible time, the first when the deficit was five, the next two when it was down to four with 1:37 left. The result was a 67-60 Gonzaga escape and a ticket to the second round.

Dulkys led Florida State (22-10) with 14 points, the last three on a banked three off one leg from in front of the Seminoles' bench with 2:15 left to slice the lead to four.

"I really thought we had a chance,'' said Dulkys, who hit 39 percent on threes during the season. "We hit a lot of tough shots in the second half, and we missed a lot of them, a lot of open looks, in the first half. Some of them had to fall. I'll take it -- I banked it in, I'll take it.''

The hole Gonzaga (27-6) dug for the Seminoles in the first half was just too deep. Even though it seemed equal in size, and with Florida State having the more skilled 7-footer in Solomon Alabi, Gonzaga neutered them on the boards, ran around and through them and shot over them the whole first half. They got open shots at will and hit them, primarily Elias Harris (11 of his 13 points) and Steven Gray (nine of his 15). Gonzaga shot 52 percent in the half, Florida State a brutal 21.4 percent, and its rebounding deserted it to the point that it routinely got only one shot per possession.

"We ended up outrebounding them and had a big edge on the glass at halftime. I think when we're in that frame of mind, that's probably when we're at our best,'' Gonzaga coach Mark Few said.

Florida State warmed up in the second half enough to get within single digits, with eight minutes left, at 51-42. That was in the middle of a six-minute run in which Gonzaga did not hit a basket. "We got a little panicked, rushed, forced some passes we probably shouldn't have thrown,'' admitted Gray. "I think it was a combination of giving them easy baskets on one end and turning it over on the other.''

"We just wanted to win the four-minute segments,'' Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. "We won just about all the four-minute segments until the last several minutes.''

Key Element

Statistically, and via the eyeball test against their own conference, the Seminoles are one of the best defensive teams in the country. They guard the ball, block shots and control the boards. Gonzaga ignored all of that throughout the first half, and that gave them enough of a cushion to survive when Florida State, especially Dulkys, started hitting. Alabi managed 13 points and six rebounds through constant foul trouble, but forward Chris Singleton managed just eight and four in 30 minutes; fellow forward Ryan Reid went 0-for-8 from the floor. Harris and center Robert Sacre each scored 13.

Game Ball Goes To

Matt Bouldin. The Gonzaga guard scored nine of his team's first 11 points of the second half and led all scorers with 17. He also tracked down the rebound off Snaer's missed free throw with 1:37 left, and got a steal off an inbound with 58 seconds left to help lock up the win.

Heart Goes Out To

Snaer, who had a solid freshman year, hit some big shots during Florida State's late run but gagged on those free throws down the stretch. Snaer shot a not-awful 68 percent from the line in the regular season. Guess what he'll be practicing this summer?

What's Next

Gonzaga faces the winner of the Syracuse-Vermont game on Sunday, for its second straight Sweet 16 berth and its fourth overall.

Quotable

Sacre, a Canada native and hockey fan, on how Gonzaga had to deal with Florida State's size and strength: "Going in, you just knew you were going to hit bodies. We knew coming to Buffalo, it's gonna be a Buffalo Sabres game, basically.''