The Gold Out at the Gola Tuesday night.

It’s not often that a team from a BCS league comes to 20th and Olney. But anyone who saw La Salle’s 65-61 loss to Florida State on Tuesday night had to wonder: What was up with the Seminoles in the first half? They turned the ball over 13 times. They shot 23.8 percent from the field. And after taking a 7-0 lead because La Salle missed its first 11 shots, they didn’t score for about a week. This from a team in the ACC? Against La Salle? Really?

What was it? Were the ‘Noles spooked by that gargantuan 1954 NCAA Championship banner that hangs at the one end of Tom Gola Arena? Were they perhaps distracted by the thought of possibly seeing a guy zipping up his fly as he exits the men’s room that happens to be not far from the basket at that same end of the floor? Were they just thrown off by that full-throated throng of, oh, 2,000 students who dressed up for the not-exactly-original Gold Out? One couldn’t help but wonder what it will be like when FSU — which has six freshmen, including two who started Tuesday night — has to go to a really crazy gym like Cameron Indoor Stadium, which is on its schedule March 3.

In all seriousness, there was a real energy last night at the Gola, and La Salle really did play good defense for much of the game. Defensive breakdowns had been a real concern for the Explorers at the end of last season, but with the arrival of 6-9 Mississippi State transfer Vernon Goodridge, it’s obvious the Explorers are better in the paint. Goodridge is not going to wow anyone with his offensive skills, but he is a tenacious defender who can rebound. Yves Mekongo Mbala, who led La Salle with 13 points and 11 boards, also played well at both ends.

Afterward, coach John Giannini said it was past the time for La Salle to take a game like this as a positive, to treat a close loss to a good team as a cliched “step in the right direction.” He’s right, but the Catch-22 is that the Explorers aren’t going to be viewed by most observers any other way until they actually do break through and win a game against a solid program. La Salle gets another opportunity to “play up” in its next outing: The Explorers leave today for the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Paradise Jam Classic, which they open Friday night against UConn, which happens to be ranked No. 2 in the country.