#Florida State tops Colorado to reach Sweet 16

Florida State advanced to its third consecutive Sweet 16 with a 71-53 win over Colorado in the East Region second round Monday night at Indianapolis.

But, after the game, Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton wanted no part of accepting and accolades for that impressive accomplishment.

“We start looking at what we accomplish at the end of the season,’’ Hamilton said. “Now is not the time to take any bows. If we are satisfied with just where we are now, then I guess we can pack our bags and go home.

“These guys are pretty focused, and one of the indications is that nobody was jumping up and down and high-fiving or getting overly excited in the locker room. Everyone was sitting there, calm, focused, like we had been here before. That’s the signs of a team maturing and with a purpose.’’

Florida State, a No. 4 seed, led No. 5 seed Colorado by just four points in the first half and then ran away from the Buffaloes in the second half with a 47-33 final 20 minutes.

The Seminoles (18-6) were led by Anthony Polite’s career-high 22 points. Polite had never scored more than 15 points in a game, but the junior shot 8 of 12 from the field, including 4 of 7 from 3-point range.

For as good as Polite was on offense, it was his defense that Hamilton raved about after the game.

“Anthony is one of the better on-the-ball defenders that we’ve ever coached at Florida State,’’ Hamilton said. “He is sound fundamentally. Has a high basketball IQ. He plays within himself. You barely ever see him forcing a shot. He rebounds, gets deflections and steals. He’s really grown into it from his freshman year.’’

Florida State will play No. 1 seed Michigan, which knocked out the Seminoles in the 2018 Elite Eight, for a chance to advance to this year’s Elite Eight.

Colorado (23-9), which was coming off a 96-73 victory over Big East Tournament champion Georgetown in the first round and was seeking its first Sweet 16 trip since 1969, was led by D’Shawn Schwartz, who scored 13 points.

McKinley Wright IV, Colorado’s leading scorer for the season with more than 15 points per game, was contained by the FSU defense and finished with 10 points on 4 of 12 shooting. He was the focal point of the FSU game plan.

“McKinley is as good as anyone we played against in a number of years,’’ Hamilton said. “He’s explosive and smart and he’s heavy. It took a tremendous effort to hold him down somewhat.’’

Polite called Wright “one of best point guards on the West Coast,’’ adding, “He’s very ball-dominant. We tried to keep the ball away from him as much as possible, and it frustrated him.’’