No. 15 FSU stunned by Boston College
BOSTON (AP) -- No. 15 Florida State thought too much of itself as it climbed to the top of the Atlantic Coast Conference and not enough of a scrappy Boston College team that had lost six in a row.
"Starting off the game, what we did, not respecting that team -- we weren't as focused as we should have been and that caught up with us at the end of the game," guard Michael Snaer said Wednesday night after BC beat the Seminoles 64-60 to snap their seven-game win streak. "We get national recognition, and we didn't handle it well."
Jordan Daniels scored a career-high 19 points, hitting four 3-pointers as the Eagles upset a Florida State team that entered the night atop the ACC standings. BC (8-16, 3-7 ACC) had lost nine of its previous 11 and had not beaten a ranked team in three years.
But the Eagles took the lead midway through the first half by hitting six 3-pointers during a 23-3 run that turned a 13-point deficit into a seven-point lead. Daniels started it all off with a jumper, then hit back-to-back 3-pointers that cut the deficit from seven points to one.
"It got my whole team going. It let us be able to make plays," he said. "They had something to focus on defensively, and it let other guys open up."
Snaer scored 16 for Florida State (16-7, 7-2). But he shot 6-for-18 from the floor and made one of seven 3-point attempts.
"I'm disappointed in myself and I'm disappointed with the effort," he said. "We didn't have a sense of urgency to get to the shooters."
Matt Humphrey scored 15 points and Ryan Anderson had 14 points and six rebounds for the Eagles.
Florida State, which had attained its highest ranking in The Associated Press Top 25 since 1998, entered the night tied with North Carolina atop the ACC. The Seminoles won the head-to-head matchup.
But they couldn't beat the team that entered the night at the bottom of the conference standings.
"That's the way it is in the ACC, if you're not on your game. Somebody else will be on theirs and that showed up in the result." Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. "They were hungrier and they were motivated. ... If you don't come with that focus, everybody in the league will beat you."
The Eagles led by eight points, 55-47, midway through the second half before Florida State began sending them to the foul line. The Seminoles cut the deficit to three points, 60-57, after BC's Matt Humphrey missed the front end of a one-and-one with 1:43 to play and Okaro White made his free throws at the other end.
Bernard James blocked Anderson, and Deividas Dulkys saved the ball from going out of bounds. But with a chance to tie it or cut the deficit to one point, Luke Loucks fired up a 25-footer that clanged off the side of the rim, and BC's Lonnie Jackson grabbed the rebound; he was fouled and hit his free throws to give BC a five-point cushion.
Snaer, who bandaged his left pinky early in the second half, hit a 3-pointer with under 10 seconds left, but BC iced it from the free-throw line.
BC had eight 3-pointers in the first half for only its second halftime lead in 2012.
Florida State trailed 5-4 before scoring the next 12 points. The Seminoles led by 13, 23-10 with 8:37 left in the first half, before BC scored eight points in a row, 14 of 16 and 23 of 26 -- including six 3-pointers in a span of 4:17.