The Terps were outrebounded by the Seminoles, but lost because of timely Florida State three-pointers that cut off any runs. The Terps struggled on defense.

TALLAHASSEE – Some losses just hurt.

You could see it in the Terrapin men’s basketball players faces last night as Florida State jabbed them with timely 3-pointers early in the game and easy baskets in the second half on the way to a 71-60 decision at the Donald L. Tucker Center.

Losing to this Seminole team (17-7, 7-6 ACC) – which became the first since 1992-93 to get more than six conference wins – isn’t disgraceful. But the loss was detrimental in terms of the Terps’ postseason chances.

With the defeat, the Terps (16-10, 6-7) significantly harmed their chances of earning an NCAA tournament at-large bid, causing coach Gary Williams to suggest the team has to win its remaining three games.

“I was disappointed in the way we executed our offense,” said Williams, who spent a good deal of the second half with his hands on his hips as the Terps dropped to 1-6 on the road. “This time of year you’d like to think you could do the same thing on the road that you do at home in terms of how you play. We haven’t done that yet.”

At the root of the Terps’ struggles were some of the other usual issues – turnovers and getting off to a slow second-half start – but again it was allowing painful perimeter jumpers that put them behind early.

This time, though, it wasn’t the quantity of Florida State 3-pointers that sunk the Terps as much as when they fell.

After the Terps appeared to be gaining some momentum eight minutes into the game, Al Thornton (27 points, 12 rebounds) drilled a back-breaking 3-pointer late in the shot clock. Unlikely snipers Jerel Allen and Uche Echefu followed suit in the following two and a half minutes, and Todd Galloway converted on the Seminoles’ sixth 3-pointer of the half to give Florida State a 37-23 lead with just less than four minutes remaining before halftime.

“It’s frustrating, but it was mostly our fault,” junior guard D.J. Strawberry said. “We didn’t fly at their shooters. Anybody in college basketball can make an open three if you don’t fly at them.”

The Terps received a sign that the second half wouldn’t go much better when senior forward Nik Caner-Medley pulled his own dunk attempt out of the net by yanking down on the rim with two hands.

Shortly after, the Seminoles stretched their league lead from 6 back to 14 before a vocal crowd of 8,751.

“They did a really good job of sustaining a lead,” Caner-Medley said. “Every time we tried to fight our way back in they just had countershots and counter-runs. They played well tonight and they deserved to win the game because they played better than us.”

Moving ahead of .500 in the conference, the Seminoles added some more believers last night. Williams suggested after the game that there is “no reason why they shouldn’t be an NCAA tournament team.”

And while Florida State seemingly made every shot they needed, the Terps went just 3-for-11 from beyond the arc, which included an Ekene Ibekwe heave in the final seconds.

The Terps scored more than half of their points (32) in the paint, as Ibekwe (15 points), Will Bowers (8) and Caner-Medley (19) finished when given opportunities inside.

But those chances were too few, largely because the Terps gave the ball away 18 times.

Neither team was able to maintain a consistent flow offensively, as a total of 43 fouls were whistled. The officials caught the brunt of a lot of Williams’ frustration and the players didn’t hesitate to take out theirs on each other.

Parrish Brown had words with Bowers after the big man failed to grab a rebound on a missed Seminole free throw, and Bowers jabbed right back at the guard.

Brown said after the game that the Terps didn’t lose because of miscommunication, but it was clear that the team didn’t play smoothly.

“It was one of those nights where you don’t shoot well, but I don’t think we executed well either,” Williams said. “It’s a team thing. Everybody on the court has to take responsibility.”

GAME TRACK

TEAM STATS

 TerpsFLA ST.

Field Goal %40.744.4

3Pt %27.341.2

Free Throw %65.059.3

Rebounds3230

Off. rebounds79

Assists1214

Turnovers1817

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

TERPS

SCORINGFGMFGAPTS

Nik Caner-Medley71619

REBOUNDSOFFDEFTOT

Ekene Ibekwe268

ASSISTSTOAST

D.J. Strawberry35

FLA St.

SCORINGFGMFGAPTS

Al Thornton101527

REBOUNDSOFFDEFTOT

Al Thornton3912

ASSISTSTOAST

Isaiah Swann24

Contact reporter David Selig at dseligdbk@gmail.com.