In the first meeting with Florida State this season, the Virginia men’s basketball team struggled to knock down shots from anywhere in the first half and from 3-point range throughout the game. The Hoos had no such trouble in the rematch Saturday.
The Cavaliers scorched the nets from the outside and added repeated trips to the rim in Tallahassee to cruise to a 67-58 win. The margin hovered in that range all day long as UVA pushed out to an eight-point lead in the first 5:10 and then held it between eight and 16 points for all but a minute and a half the rest of the way. That included a double-digit lead for the majority of the second half.
“Good mood – coming to Florida State is always a hard to place they said so coming out here and getting the win is good,” UVA’s Ryan Dunn said on the Virginia Sports Radio Network. “Everyone is enjoying the win right now. We’ve just got to come back and get ready for Virginia Tech.”
Indeed, the Hoos got the offense on track quickly. They posted two layups followed by two 3-pointers to take the lead for good on the first of those 3’s at the 16:55 mark. Two more triples followed to extend the advantage to 17-9 at the 14:50 mark of the first half and the rest of the day essentially became an exercise in lead maintenance.
By the end of the game, the Cavaliers had drilled 11 of 22 3-pointers (50%) as they consistently broke down the defense off the dribble and then moved the ball to good shooting spots. Armaan Franklin and Ben Vander Plas, who started in place of Kadin Shedrick, provided the biggest punch from behind the arc. Franklin hit 4 of 7 triples, while Vander Plas made 3 of 6. They keyed the early surge as they alterned made 3’s on four straight possessions between 16:55 and 14:50 to go in the first half. Reece Beekman went converted 2-3 from 3-point range too, while Isaac McKneely and Dunn each went 1-2.
When the Wahoos weren’t connecting from deep, they were attacking the rim. They matched the 11 3’s with 11 layups and added 2 dunks for good measure. Kihei Clark did a lot of the damage in this department with several quick bursts to the basket, but Beekman, Franklin, and Dunn had paint points too.
Franklin led all scorers with 20 points and he added 7 rebounds too. Vander Plas was the only other player in double figures with 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists. Clark posted 9 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists, while Dunn had 9 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots. Beekman tallied 8 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds.
All in all, it was a strong performance offensively against a team and scheme (FSU switches screens frequently) that often causes headaches for Virginia. Instead, this game had a bit of a ho-hum business-like feel as UVA shot 45.0% overall (27-60), dished out 14 assists, and committed only 6 turnovers.
“I thought we got off to, obviously, a really good start offensively,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said on the Virginia Sports Radio Network. “And it was, of course, making some threes but I liked how I thought we had them a little confused. You know, they’re a tricky team to play against I told John [Freeman] in the pregame, the way they switch with their length. This is the second time we played them, we mixed some things up with our attack, but I thought we got good looks.”
While Virginia clicked on offense early and often, Florida State could only find a rhythm in short stretches. The Seminoles shot 39.6% overall (21-53) and 26.3% from 3-point range (5-19). Only an 11-14 performance from the free throw line kept the scoreboard within shouting distance. Cameron Corhen, Caleb Mills, and Matthew Cleveland all posted double figures. Corhen had 15 points, while Mills and Cleveland added 14 and 10 respectively.
Still, FSU produced half as many layups or dunks (6) and half as many 3-pointers (5). That made it difficult to make a real run of any kind as most of the offense had to be created against a set and engaged Virginia defense.
The Cavaliers improved to 5-2 in the ACC and a road win after back-to-back road losses at Miami and Pittsburgh was a welcomed result.
“I thought Ben had a terrific game for the game, Ryan gave us a great lift, and then we guarded collectively as a team,” Bennett said on the Virginia Sports Radio Network. “For the most part, we were hard to get the ball into the paint [against]. I thought at the end of some drives and some plays, we were a little undisciplined, but we made it hard for them and 6 turnovers was a good sign too.”
