RALEIGH — Florida State coach Steve Robinson said his basketball team “struggled some” on Sunday.
That’s putting it mildly. Like General Custer struggled some at the Little Big Horn or the Titanic struggled some on that maiden voyage.
Two Seminoles actually collided in warm-ups, which may never have happened prior to an ACC game. That unscheduled meeting of the noggins set the tone for one of the more inauspicious outings in hoops history.
Florida State was battered 71-46 by up-and-down N.C. State in front of 14,000 at the Entertainment and Sports Arena, but to be honest, the Seminoles would have had their hands full with any five people wearing identical clothing — including the Partridge Family.
The Seminoles’ list of sins was long and deadly. They shot 6 percent (1-for-15) on 3-pointers, 31 percent from the field and 45 percent from the line. They had an embarrassing total of seven assists, which means not only did they shoot badly, they shot incredibly badly going one-on-one or one-on-two.
Throw in 20 FSU turnovers against a Wolfpack team that applied little fullcourt pressure and you’ve got an effort almost perfect in its putridness.
“We never got the tempo or the pace,” sighed Robinson. “We were a step or two slow all day.”
The Seminoles (7-20, 2-12) were just the right medicine for the Pack (13-13), which plays pretty well on its home floor and needed to pick on someone after getting leveled on the road at Duke, Georgia Tech and Maryland in three of its last four games.
“The thing about us is we’re not going to quit,” said Pack guard Archie Miller. “You hang in there long enough and good things are bound to happen for you.”
Miller hit four 3-pointers, which helped good things happen for State. Miller missed nine games with injuries, then had made just one 3-pointer in the three games in which he had played since returning. But he broke loose against the beleaguered ‘Noles.
“They wanted to slouch off us and pack in a zone,” said Wolfpack big man Damon Thornton. “Archie wouldn’t let them. It was a big spark for all of us to see Archie playing like Archie again.”
Anthony Grundy’s 20 points helped the Pack, too, as did a solid cameo by West Rowan’s Scooter Sherrill, who scored six points and dished out three assists in nine productive minutes.
Things began comically, with Florida State apparently building its game plan around 370-pound Nigel “Big Jelly” Dixon’s post maneuvers, which develop slower than most peace treaties. Two charges and one walking call later, Robinson went to Plan B.
Still, after eight agonizing minutes, the Seminoles led 10-7.
But then Sherrill entered the game for the first time and immediately sank a game-tying 3-pointer that was big for his team and even bigger for him.
“It’s been a tough time,” said Sherrill. “I came up here hoping to play right away as a freshman. It just hasn’t worked out. But I have to keep my head up. It may work out tomorrow, or maybe at the (ACC) tournament or maybe it’ll be next year.”
In his previous 11 games, Sherrill had shot 2-for-19 from the arc, sinking into the longest shooting slump of his career.
“The coaches have said to keep my head up and just keep taking the open shots,” said Sherrill. “Today, I didn’t think. I just let it go.”
Sherrill’s shot sparked a surge that carried the Pack to a 38-25 halftime advantage.
The Seminoles, who somehow upset Maryland not long ago, offered no resistance in the second half, as the Pack easily pushed the lead to as many as 27.
Sherrill dropped in his second 3-pointer of the day with 14:01 remaining. It came from exactly the same spot in the left corner where UNC’s Brendan Haywood made a game-saving block on a Sherrill shot on Jan. 28. Sherrill had gone 1-for-10 on 3s since that ill-fated attempt.
Florida State saved its worst for last, and the Wolfpack joined in the futility. Neither team scored a single point over the last 4 minutes, 24 seconds. “It was just a bad day all around,” said Florida State’s Monte Cummings. “We’d been playing OK. We just didn’t see this one coming.”
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NOTES:Touted FSU freshman Michael Joiner shot 3-for-14. ... Point guard Delvon Arrington, who’s being pushed for All-ACC honors, had eight turnovers and two assists. ... FSU stayed in the area and practiced Friday and Saturday after getting swamped in Chapel Hill Thursday.
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