Florida State started the ACC Tournament on Tuesday night against the Syracuse Orange, hoping to go on a run of winning five games in five days in Leonard Hamilton's final season. They had already beaten Syracuse at home 90-74 in early January;

Leonard Hamilton, the conference’s longest-tenured men’s basketball coach, ended his collegiate career with an opening-round loss to Syracuse on Tuesday night at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, not far from where he grew up in Gastonia.

Leonard Hamilton's legendary career at Florida State ended Tuesday with an early-round exit from the men's ACC tournament. What he said:

FSU is seeded 11th in the ACC Tournament that opens Tuesday in Charlotte, North Carolina, and runs through Saturday.

The Florida State Seminoles realized they needed to find a new head coach at the beginning of February when Leonard Hamilton announced he would not return as the program’s head coach next year. The Seminoles acted quickly, hiring former player Luke Loucks as their new leader last week.

Florida State returned home for its final regular season game, and Coach Leonard Hamilton’s final game at the Tucker Center, to play the SMU Mustangs, led by former FSU assistant Andy Enfield. Plenty of former players showed up in support of Coach Hamilton,

Both teams combined 4 for 24 from the 3-point line. Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. Syracuse controlled most of the game by attacking the paint. It won the physical battle by scoring 44 points in the paint and grabbing 42 rebounds.