» GONZAGA FALLS, MICHIGAN MOVES ON
LOS ANGELES — The dunk sent Staples Center into a frenzy.
After Florida State's Phil Cofer left the basket shaking after a two-handed putback of a missed shot late in the second half Thursday, his teammates jumped up and down. The Seminoles rooting section broke into the tomahawk chop. Music boomed. Cheerleaders pumped garnet and gold pompoms in the air.
And Florida State's coach? Leonard Hamilton rested both hands on his hips, the lone concession to the bedlam. The blank expression on his face that could fool a veteran poker player never wavered.
On the cusp of perhaps the biggest victory of 47-year coaching career, Hamilton appeared to be the most tranquil person in the arena.
Behind the coach with supernatural calm, ninth-seeded Florida State stunned fourth-seeded Gonzaga 75-60 in the Sweet 16.
"It's interesting that we probably are the only ones who believe that we're capable of doing this and it's fun because we're overcoming," Hamilton said. "We're always the underdog. We're always clawing and scratching and scratching and clawing, just trying to put ourselves in position where we feel that we're capable of going."
The Seminoles (23-11) face Michigan at Staples Center on Saturday with a trip to the Final Four at stake.
Earlier this week, Florida State trailed top-seeded Xavier by double-digits midway through the second half. The Seminoles, using the same deep bench and aggressive press that flummoxed Gonzaga, rallied for the upset.
Still, Florida State entered the arena Thursday as an underdog. The Bulldogs, after all, were in the midst of their 21st consecutive appearance in the tournament and had won 16 straight games, the nation's longest active streak.
Hamilton, 69, had never taken a team deeper than the Sweet 16 as a head coach.
"This team has had confidence all year long that we were capable of doing some good things with the opportunity that's been presented," he said. "We've had some very good games. Our youthful inexperience, I think, has raised its ugly head several times and it's cost us."
But the Seminoles jumped out to an early 12-point lead and left Gonzaga (325) playing from behind much of the game. The Bulldogs played without 6foot-10 forward Killian Tillie, a late scratch from the lineup after reaggravating a hip injury. The absence seemed to throw Gonzaga off kilter against Florida State's long lineup and bench that goes 10 deep.
The Bulldogs didn't go quietly. Midway through the first half, they used a 15-0 run to briefly take a three-point lead. But the Seminoles, who lost five of eight games to start the season, fought back.