Florida State Upsets Rival No. 4 Florida

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) _ Florida State's Al Thornton had another strong game against a tough team. Thornton scored a season-high 28 points and added nine rebounds to lift the struggling Seminoles to

Monday, December 4th 2006, 6:34 am

By: News On 6

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) _ Florida State's Al Thornton had another strong game against a tough team. Thornton scored a season-high 28 points and added nine rebounds to lift the struggling Seminoles to a 70-66 victory over No. 4 Florida on Sunday.

Last year, he scored 63 points in two games against Duke, had 37 at Boston College and got Maryland for 27 points and 12 rebounds.

However, through Florida State's first six games this season, Thornton had averaged just 15 points and scored 20 only once. And after the Seminoles lost their last two games _ at Pittsburgh and Wisconsin _ by a combined 37 points, coach Leonard Hamilton was concerned about how playing defending national champion Florida.

``We realized we had to be almost flawless,'' Hamilton said.

Thornton came close, missing just once from the field in the second half to score 18 points and finish the game shooting 10-for-16.

``It just shows if we play together what kind of team we can be,'' said Thornton, whose two free throws with 4 seconds left sealed the outcome. ``We went on the road and didn't play well, we didn't play together.''

In other games involving ranked teams, it was: No. 1 UCLA 61, UC Riverside 38; No. 2 Pittsburgh 74, Auburn 66; No. 20 Connecticut 106, Texas Southern 55; Miami 90, No. 21 Georgia Tech 82; Notre Dame 81, No. 23 Maryland 74; No. 24 Nevada 77, California 71; and No. 25 Virginia 67, N. C. State 62.

The Seminoles (5-2) led 36-31 at the half and built the lead to 55-41 before Walter Hodge's 3-pointer with 3:02 left got the Gators to 62-59 and capped an 18-7 Florida run.

Hodge hit another from long range to cut it to 68-66 with 53.2 seconds left, but Florida State's Toney Douglas blocked a 3-point attempt by Taurean Green with 4 seconds left and Thornton was fouled as he grabbed the loose ball.

``The shot we took was not a good one,'' Florida coach Billy Donovan said. ``We tried to turn it on at the end, but it wasn't good enough.''

Green scored 21 and Hodge added 17 for Florida (7-2). The Gators were without 6-foot-9 starting forward Corey Brewer, who missed his second game with mononucleosis. Joakim Noah finished with 11 after scoring just two points in the first half.

``Green was having his way with us in the first half,'' said Hamilton, whose team buckled down and held Green to six points after halftime.

Isaiah Swann added 11 points for Florida State, which shot 46 percent and committed 10 turnovers to Florida's 19.

``We dug ourselves a hole in the first half with our turnovers,'' Donovan said. ``Turnovers ... and our inability to have an answer for Al Thornton.''

No. 1 UCLA 61, UC Riverside 38

At Los Angeles, Arron Afflalo scored 13 points and UCLA improved to 6-0 for the first time since it won the 1995 national championship.

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute had 12 points and 12 rebounds in the Bruins' second blowout victory, which ended their first week as the nation's top-ranked team in 11 years. They beat Long Beach State by 30 points last Tuesday night.

Henrik Thomsen scored eight points for the Highlanders (3-5).

No. 2 Pittsburgh 74, Auburn 66

Aaron Gray had 16 points and 12 rebounds and made two key plays late to help Pittsburgh hold on.

Antonio Graves had 14 points and Ronald Ramon had 13 for the visiting Panthers (8-0), who have won 19 consecutive nonconference games.

Korvotney Barber led Auburn (6-3) with 19 points.

No. 20 UConn 106, Texas Southern 55

A.J. Price scored 20 points and Hasheem Thabeet tied a Connecticut record with 10 blocks to help the Huskies win their 26th straight home game.

Jerome Dyson added 19 points for UConn (7-0).

Leonta Matthews scored 10 points for Texas Southern (2-6).

Miami 90, No. 21 Georgia Tech 82

Jack McClinton had 22 points and Anthony Harris added 21 to help Miami beat Georgia Tech in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both schools.

The Hurricanes (5-3, 1-0) held on to stay perfect (4-0) at home this season.

Lewis Clinch scored 22 points for Georgia Tech (6-2, 0-1).

Notre Dame 81, No. 23 Maryland 74

At Washington, Kyle McAlarney scored a career-high 18 points and keyed a decisive second-half run to help Notre Dame (6-1) hand the Terrapins their first loss.

D.J. Strawberry led the Terrapins (8-1) with 17 points.

No. 24 Nevada 77, California 71

At San Jose, Calif., Ramon Sessions scored eight straight points in the final minutes, and Nevada got a victory in the Pete Newell Challenge.

Marcelus Kemp scored 20 points and Sessions finished with 19 as the Wolf Pack improved to 7-0 for the first time in 55 years.

Ayinde Ubaka scored 16 points and DeVon Hardin had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Golden Bears (6-2).

No. 25 Virginia 67, N. C. State 62

At Charlottesville, Va., Sean Singletary hit a tiebreaking 16-foot jumper with 1:03 left and Virginia won its conference opener for the first time in 12 seasons.

J.R. Reynolds and Will Harris scored 14 apiece for the Cavaliers (5-1, 1-0 ACC).

The Wolfpack (5-1, 0-1) lost for the first time under new coach Sidney Lowe. Brandon Costner had 17 points and Gavin Grant added 15 for N.C. State.