Hokies face emerging Florida State team

Going into the first meeting this year with Virginia Tech, Florida State was a basketball team searching for its identity. The Seminoles had lost three of their last four games before showing up at Cassell Coliseum on Jan. 10.

"We didn't know where we were," said FSU coach Leonard Hamilton, whose team hosts the Hokies tonight at 7 p.m. "We were coming off a very disheartening loss at Clemson when we got beat by 20. I'm not real sure Virginia Tech knew who we were and we didn't know who we were ourselves at the time."

Florida State figured it out. It won that game 63-59 and started a seven-game Atlantic Coast Conference win streak, including upsets of Duke and North Carolina.

And while Hamilton insists the Seminoles (17-7, 8-2 ACC) still are figuring out exactly who they are, Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg believes FSU has arrived.

"The last three years, it seems like they went from kind of knocking on the door to breaking through the door," Greenberg said.

They certainly have the strength to bust through barriers. Hamilton's team boasts an imposing frontcourt led by 6-foot-10 Bernard James and 6-11 Xavier Gibson.

Florida State leads the ACC in field goal defense. Opponents connect on just 37.5 percent of their shots against the Seminoles. FSU also is third in scoring defense, giving up 61.3 points per game, fourth in rebounding margin (plus 4.4 per game) and second in blocked shots (6 per game).

"They're extremely disciplined on the defensive end," Greenberg said. "And if you make a mistake, it's nice to have people behind you that can challenge shots. … We're going to have to post defend for 40 minutes. We're going to have to rebound for 40 minutes."

Guard Michael Snaer, one of the smaller Seminoles at 6-foot-5, leads the team in scoring at 13.8 points per game, 10th in the ACC.

James adds 10.6 points and 8.4 rebounds per outing, and ranks third in the league in blocked shots at 2.2 per game.

Hamilton says his team is still developing. "Unfortunately for us, we're still evolving," Hamilton said. "Even though we had a little hot stretch here, I still believe that we can continue to improve."

The Hokies are 5-15 all-time at FSU and haven't won there since Feb. 24, 1990.

"Tallahassee has been a tough place for us to play," Greenberg said. "I'd like to put my finger on it but the only thing I can point to is, they have really good players. They're big, they're physical. They're long. They defend."

Virginia Tech likely will have to lean on Victor Davila and Cadarian Raines to match up with the Seminoles' big bodies. Its already thin frontcourt could be without forward C.J. Barksdale, who injured his left ankle Sunday and didn't practice this week. He is a game-time decision tonight.

Tech is coming off a pulsating 66-65 win over Boston College on Sunday, a game the Hokies won on freshman forward Dorian Finney-Smith's stick-back in the waning seconds.