For the second time this week, the Florida State men’s basketball team faced off against a top-five team on Saturday afternoon.
Despite the team’s well-documented struggles this season, the Seminoles went out and led No. 3 Virginia 22-21 at the half of their Saturday ACC opener.
Unfortunately for the Seminoles, these games last 40 minutes. And a relentless centerpiece in the second half wiped out FSU’s upset bid.
The third-ranked Cavaliers (7-0, 1-0 in ACC) overcame their slow start to outlast the Seminoles (1-9, 0-1) 62-57 at the John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Va. Saturday afternoon.
After UVA led by as many as 12 points on multiple occasions, the Seminoles cut the deficit to just four in the final minute and had possession with a chance to cut it back to less. However, Caleb Mills’ ensuing inbound pass led to a turnover and possibly injury to Cam’Ron Fletcher as he landed with the ball.
The Seminoles went two separate periods over four minutes without scoring in the second half. They held their own against the Cavaliers in quite a few phases. They won the rebounding battle 40-38, making 13 turnovers to UVA’s 12. But FSU’s 32.8% shooting percentage against a tough Cavaliers defense was too much to overcome.
The Seminoles also managed to hold UVA to a season-low shooting percentage of 35.3%, but that discrepancy was too great for the Seminoles to overcome.
Darin Green Jr. led FSU with 17 points in the loss, contributing to his team leading in scoring averages. He has now scored more than 10 points in three of FSU’s last four games and has scored more than 17 points in four games this season.
Matthew Cleveland also finished with his third career double-double for the Seminoles, scoring 11 points and adding 10 rebounds.
Virginia guard Kihei Clark led all scorers with 18 points.
FSU chokes Virginia’s offense early
While Virginia isn’t usually known for high scores, that was a major factor in the Cavaliers’ 6-0 start. UVA came in on Saturday with more than 70 points in every game this season and just outside the top 100 in scoring, an uncharted spot for the normally slow, methodical Virginia offense.
And yet, FSU’s defense, which played well at times but not particularly consistently, did enough to upset the Cavaliers early in Saturday’s game.
Whether it was how FSU defended or just a slow start by the Cavaliers, UVA managed just 21 points in the first half, shooting 6 of 26 from the field (23.1%).
Although FSU led at the halfway point, it couldn’t really capitalize on this slump. The Seminoles’ 25% shooting percentage in the first half wasn’t much better, preventing them from opening a lead that would have been harder to erase.
The Cavaliers made six of their seven shots in the second half, shooting a much-improved 48% from the floor in the second half.
