Wahoos hope to extend winning streak at FSU tonight

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Virginia will attempt to keep its seven-game winning streak going tonight when the Cavaliers take on Florida State in Tallahassee (8 p.m., televised by The CW).

UVA, 18-5, 9-3, enters the game in second place in the ACC, while FSU, 13-9, 7-4, is tied for fourth. The Seminoles have lost three of their last five games including a puzzling 101-92 defeat at Louisville a week ago. Since then, Coach Leonard Hamilton’s team nipped Boston College, 63-62 this week.

Tony Bennett’s team is now being perceived around the league as a team that lives and dies with the 3-pointer because the Cavaliers boast two of the top six highest-percentaged snipers in the nation in Isaac McKneely and Jake Groves. Groves is actually shooting 50.8 percent from the arc on the season, including 14 of his last 20 over the past our games, while McKneeley is averaging 46.6 percent (54 triples on the season).

Florida State is averaging 76.6 points per game, just under what a high-scoring Miami team (80.0) averaged before it was held to a season-low 38 points at UVA on Monday night.

The Seminoles are led by several standouts in Hamilton’s 12-man rotation, including 6-5 senior Darin Green (12 ppg, shooting 39.1 from the arc), 6-7 point guard Jamir Watkins (13.7 ppg, 5.8 rebounds) and 6-3 junior transfer guard Primo Spears (11.4 ppg) from Georgetown.

Virginia is 9-17 all-time in Tallahassee, but swept the Seminoles in the two-game series last season.