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:

Coaching his final basketball game at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center, so close to his hometown, would represent something of a full circle moment for Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton.

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.

Legendary FSU basketball coach Leonard Hamilton deserves a sold-out Donald L. Tucker Center for one last time on Saturday vs. SMU. Here's why.

JJ Starling finished with 27 points and five rebounds to help 14th-seeded Syracuse hold off No. 11 seed Florida State for a 66-62 victory on Tuesday night in the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

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.