Top-seeded Virginia Falls to FSU in ACC Semifinal Round

 

By Scott Ratcliffe

CHARLOTTE — Virginia’s ACC Tournament came to an end Friday night, as No. 4 seed Florida State out-toughed, out-hustled, and bottom line outplayed the top-seeded Cavaliers, 69-59, in the semifinals at the Spectrum Center.

The Cavaliers (29-3) will now await their NCAA Tournament seeding and site when the bracket is announced Sunday, as the Seminoles (27-6) won their 14th game out of the last 15. FSU will play either No. 2 North Carolina or No. 3 Duke in Saturday night’s final at 8:30 p.m.

Florida State led for 38 minutes and 14 seconds Saturday, and dominated the battle of the boards, 35-20. Reserve senior guard David Nichols, who came in averaging 6.3 points a game, scored 8 of his game-high 14 points during a crucial 13-1 run midway through the second half after UVA cut it to 1 point, 49-48, on a Ty Jerome stepback 3-pointer at the 12-minute mark, just his second made field goal of the weekend.

“I don’t know, sometimes the ball doesn’t go in,” said Jerome, when asked about his subpar shooting (5 for 24) in Charlotte this week, adding that he’s ready to get back home and get in the gym.

Every time the Wahoos started to chip away, FSU had an answer. To make matters worse for Tony Bennett’s bunch, seemingly every loose ball down the stretch bounced into the hands of the Seminoles. Bennett admitted afterwards that the ‘Noles were the better squad on this particular night.

“We had some chances to win the game, I think we went up [1 point],” the coach recalled, “but Florida State played well, they defended well, they were sound, and tonight they were the tougher team, or more physical, they’re physical that way.

“So we look at the things we can clean up and you always have a growth mindset, that’s the way it is.”

Trent Forrest scored inside and then buried a wide-open 3-pointer to give FSU an early 20-10 lead, but the Cavaliers responded with 7 straight, capped by Kyle Guy’s first bucket of the night, a 3-ball with 6:24 left in the opening half.

The Seminoles quickly pushed their lead back to 10, but another UVA spurt late in the half got the ‘Hoos within four at the break, 35-31.

A Jerome steal led to a Kihei Clark triple from the corner early in the second half, and then the ‘Hoos took their first lead since it was 8-7 on a tough basket in traffic by De’Andre Hunter, 43-42, with 14:25 remaining.

After the big FSU second-half run, the closest the Cavs would get the rest of the way was 6 points with just 55 seconds left, but Terance Mann’s breakaway dunk in the closing seconds put the icing on the cake.

“[The Seminoles] were the tougher team,” said Guy. “They were trying to penetrate and kick out or finish at the rim, and they got to the paint a lot, and that bothers us, and it’s very repetitive, but we’ll watch the tape and we’ll be better from it.”

Hunter led Virginia with 13 points, while Guy added 11 and Jerome finished with 10.

FSU had three other double-figure scorers in addition to Nichols, as Phil Cofer had 11 and Forrest and Mfiondu Kabengele each added 10.

“We’re just playing connected basketball,” said Nichols. “We’re doing a good job of driving the ball downhill. … Lanes were just opening up and I was the fortunate one to get the ball when the lanes opened up and I just drove to the basket.”

The NCAA Selection Show begins at 6 p.m. Sunday on CBS, with Virginia still a strong choice for one of the No. 1 seeds.