Seminoles Stop Virginia

Virginia rolled into Tallahassee on Saturday with a game plan in tow to deal with match-up problems against Florida State. In an effort to neutralize FSU’s inside players, the strategy was to heavily utilize a 2-3 zone. Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, the Seminoles spent much of the afternoon, including a scorching second-half stretch, in the zone offensively en route to a 76-62 ACC victory.

Florida State knocked down 55 percent of its 3-pointers in the game, making 11 of 20 attempts. At one point in the second half, the Noles converted on 7 straight treys as they led by as many as 19 points. Andrew Wilson, who hit 3 of those 7 consecutive makes, was the leader of the long-bomb brigade, sinking 7 of 11 trifectas on the day. That performance matched his career-high from behind the arc as he poured in 21 points.

Todd Galloway hit 2 of 3 treys and 5 of 6 shots overall to add 12 points, while Al Thornton (10 points) and Ralph Mims (4 points) each had 1 3-pointer. Alexander Johnson added 15 points on 4-of-9 shooting; he also had 13 rebounds and 5 blocks. Jason Rich made 5 of 10 shots to contribute 10 points.

“They shot the ball well today,” UVa coach Dave Leitao told the Virginia Sports Network after the game. “They moved the ball well, got open shots and we were lethargic and didn’t get to our spots quick enough.”

While FSU (16-7, 6-6 ACC) scored more often than not (51.9 percent shooting), the Cavs (13-10, 6-6) could not find their offensive touch for much of the day (39.3 percent shooting). The struggles started at the top of the scoring charts where Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds combined for 30 points on 9-of-27 shooting. Singletary, who battled foul trouble in the first half, did not score until the 15:40 mark of the second half and he finished 4-of-14 shooting.

UVa’s Adrian Joseph posted 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting against Florida State.

With Florida State smothering its two offensive standouts, Virginia could not find other options consistently. Adrian Joseph eventually tallied 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting, but his offensive output was spread throughout the game and could not help the Cavaliers make a significant push. Jason Cain added 8 points and 12 rebounds, while T.J. Bannister had 6 points and 2 assists.

The offensive doldrums allowed the Seminoles to take control of the game early and they never really let the Cavs back in it. FSU pulled ahead by 13 points midway through the first half before an 8-0 Virginia run, which was capped by a Cain rebound and score, cut the lead to 24-19.

But moments later, Florida State forced back-to-back turnovers and converted those into points to push the lead back to 28-19. That was a recurring theme throughout the contest as the Seminoles took advantage of 16 UVa turnovers.

Virginia managed to cut the lead to six points a couple of times at 28-22 and 30-24, but a pair of 3-pointers from Wilson and Galloway helped FSU lead by 11 at the half, 39-28. Any budding hopes of a second-half comeback were thwarted quickly by the hosts as Thornton hit a 3 to start the stanza, which was followed by a Galloway bucket and two more Thornton baskets to make the lead 46-29. Virginia could never make a sustained run after that point and the Noles took the comfortable win.

The loss continued Virginia’s road struggles on the season. Leitao’s team is 1-5 in ACC road games and has won just twice on the road all season. Against FSU, Virginia has lost six straight games at the Donald L. Tucker Center.

“You can’t, especially on the road, you can’t play without intensity,” Leitao said. “The first few minutes of the game dictated the last 35 minutes because we didn’t match their level of intensity.”

Note: Laurynas Mikalauskas was injured during the game. Leitao said it was too early to tell if Mikalauskas would be available for the Boston College game on Tuesday.