TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- In the past 12 days, the Virginia Tech men's basketball team experienced a number of things that hadn't happened to the program in some time, or even ever.

The program's first win at Duke. Its first victory over North Carolina since the 1960s. Its first win over a No. 1 team in 24 years. Cracking the polls for the first time in 11 years.

On Wednesday, the Hokies experienced something else for the first time in a long time -- a certain serenade.

"Over-rated!" Florida State students chanted in the final minute.

Al Thornton scored all 27 of his points in the second half to help the Seminoles fend off the No. 23 Hokies 82-73 at the Donald Tucker Center. The senior forward also had 11 of his 13 rebounds in the second half.

"He just took over the game," said Tech guard Jamon Gordon, who had eight points, seven assists and four turnovers. "We couldn't do nothing with him."

"He imposed his will to win on the game in terms of coming up with big rebounds and big shots," Tech coach Seth Greenberg said. "He was quicker to the ball than we were."

Tech (13-5, 3-1 ACC) had won four straight games, including wins over then-No. 5 Duke and then-No. 1 UNC. But the Hokies fell at FSU (13-5, 1-3) for the fifth straight time, including the third time since they joined the ACC. They never led Wednesday, and trailed 39-23 at halftime.

The Hokies cracked the polls Monday, but their stay could be short-lived.

"Guys were happy that we were ranked finally, but I think we kind of got content," said guard Zabian Dowdell, who had 23 points. "That was part of the reason we came out so flat. Guys were pretty much thinking that because they were 0-3, they were just going to lay down.

"They came out and played harder than us tonight. That was definitely one thing I wasn't pleased with."

Trailing by 18 points early in the second half, the Hokies whittled the lead to 52-51 with 9:33 left.

The Seminoles answered with a 20-6 run to build a 72-57 cushion with 2:41 to go. Thornton had 16 points in the run, including a 35-footer with the shot clock winding down.

"We switched to that zone [in the second half] and we were kind of having trouble getting to him out of the zone and matching up to him boxing out," said center Coleman Collins, who had 15 points.

Thornton entered the game averaging 22.7 points in ACC play but was 0-of-1 from the field in the first half.

"The first half, ... every time I looked like I wanted to put the ball on the floor, they sent defenders and made it real hard," Thornton said. "The second half, ... I don't think they were sending that much help. If they was, it was late, so I was able to get in a groove."

Thornton was 10-of-11 from the free-throw line in the second half.

The Seminoles jumped to a 15-5 lead. Tech cut the deficit to 18-16, but FSU answered with a 17-2 run to build a 35-18 cushion with 4:08 left in the first half. FSU shot 57.9 percent from the field and sank 13 of 14 free throws in the half.

"They came out and played way harder than we did," Gordon said. "We just weren't playing with ... energy" in the first half.

"First half, I didn't think we guarded anyone," Greenberg said.

Switching to the zone defense worked for the first part of the second half. The Hokies shot 70.8 percent from the field in the half to FSU's 40 percent.

"We started attacking the rim in the second half," Gordon said.

Deron Washington had 18 points for the Hokies. FSU guard Toney Douglas had 14 of his 22 points in the first half.

VIRGINIA TECH (13-5)

Washington 7-11 2-4 18, Witcher 0-0 0-0 0, Collins 6-7 3-4 15, Dowdell 6-14 10-14 23, Gordon 4-7 0-0 8, Krabbendam 0-1 0-0 0, Sailes 0-2 2-4 2, Munson 2-3 0-0 4, Diakite 0-0 0-0 0, Vassallo 1-1 0-0 3, Tucker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-46 17-26 73.

FLORIDA ST. (13-5)

Thornton 8-14 10-11 27, Echefu 1-1 3-3 6, Swann 3-6 2-2 8, Douglas 6-11 9-11 22, Rich 3-8 2-2 9, Allen 1-4 2-2 5, Breeden 0-1 0-0 0, Mims 0-2 2-2 2, Reid 1-2 1-1 3. Totals 23-49 31-34 82.

Halftime--Florida State 39-23. 3-Point Goals--Virginia Tech 4-11 (Washington 2-3, Vassallo 1-1, Dowdell 1-5, Krabbendam 0-1, Munson 0-1), Florida St. 5-15 (Echefu 1-1, Thornton 1-2, Rich 1-2, Allen 1-3, Douglas 1-4, Swann 0-3). Fouled Out--Gordon, Vassallo. Rebounds--Virginia Tech 22 (Collins 6), Florida St. 30 (Thornton 13). Assists--Virginia Tech 20 (Gordon 7), Florida St. 10 (Rich 3). Total Fouls--Virginia Tech 24, Florida St. 24. A--8,360.