Florida State went into Atlanta on Sunday night with six scholarship players - and four of them were shorter than 6-foot-4.

The Seminoles came out with the victory after one of the four veteran guards - Jason Rich - knocked down a game-winning jumper with 4.3 seconds left against Georgia Tech.

"It's not exactly the situation we wanted, but we wanted to fight through it and I thought we did that," Rich said.

`Noles 7-foot freshman Solomon Alabi had surgery yesterday and will out for the rest of the season due to a stress fracture in his right leg while 6-foot-10 Julian Vaughn is out indefinitely with a medical issue.

Another frontcourt player, 6-foot-9 Ryan Reid, has been suspended since the Nov. 27 win against Minnesota.

"We're who we are, but we've got to make adjustments," Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said.

Hamilton loved the effort in the 66-64 win over the Yellow Jackets on Sunday night and he's hoping to have Reid back in the fold soon. However, for now it's a bunch of little guards along with 6-foot-9 junior Uche Echefu.

"You know that saying that when life hands you lemons, you've got to make lemonade," Rich said. "That's what we're trying to do."

"We have six guys that have experience and we've all played together," he added. "That makes a difference."

LONG-AWAITED DEBUTS

Texas freshman power forward Gary Johnson made his regular-season debut in a 67-59 victory over TCU last night and finished with five points and five rebounds in 21 minutes.

Johnson has missed the first 13 games of his freshmen season due to a heart issue and he continues to be monitored in practice and in games.

Northwestern sophomore Kevin Coble, who led the team in scoring and rebounding a year ago, made his first appearance of the season in a loss to Penn State and finished with 11 points.

Coble didn't play in the first semester in order to be with his mother, Carlys, back in Phoenix as she was going through cancer treatments.

BULLISH IN TAMPA

Stan Heath has also hit the double-digit victory mark and it took the first-year South Florida coach just one game to get his first Big East win.

The Bulls got a big night from senior Kentrell Gransberry (20 points, 17 rebounds) in a 68-45 rout over Rutgers last night.

"I didn't know what we had coming into the season," Heath said. "But now I know that we handle the ball and can shoot it."

One of the keys has been the quick emergence of freshman guard Dominique Jones, who had a team-high 24 points against Rutgers.

Jones is physically able to play right now because of his body (6-4, 210) and strength. He's also good with the ball and wants it in his hands with the game on the line.

Heath said he actually recruited Jones while he was at Arkansas, but didn't end up pursuing the 6-foot-4 Florida native.

"If I had to do it all over again, I would have really gone after him," Heath said. "But I'm glad I didn't now."

JAMES MADISON GETS HUGE WIN

Juwann James' layup as the buzzer sounded against VCU also gave James Madison coach Dean Keener his signature victory.

The Dukes have won their first two games in the CAA and are 9-3 overall.

"We showed some character and some toughness and we made plays when we needed it," Keener said.

James, who entered the game as a 54 percent free throw shooter, made a pair with 58 seconds left in the game to give JMU a 60-59 lead. VCU came down and regained the lead with 10 seconds left, but Pierre Curtis found James as time expired.

The Dukes are off to their best start in more than two decades and have also won their first two conference games for the first time since 1994-95, when they won their first four in league play.

RANDOM NOTES: My favorite name in college basketball just may be that of Chief Kickingstallionsims, a 7-foot-1 junior at Alabama State. Kickingstallionsims had 11 points and 11 rebounds in a loss to UAB last night. ... Speaking of UAB, guard Channing Toney is expected to return on Jan. 16 against Southern Mississippi. However, the status of Walter Sharpe, who has missed the last three games due to academics, remains up in the air. ... Forgot to mention last week that Northeastern coach Bill Coen and his staff have added "Skinny" Vinny Lima, a 6-foot-9 Cape Verde native who will become eligible on Jan. 12. "That'll give him some time to learn the system," Coen said. "He's skilled and has a great attitude."