Final
No. 6 Virginia downs FSU to reach ACC semis
Mar 14, 2014 - 8:59 PM Greensboro, NC (SportsNetwork.com) - Joe Harris scored 20 points and Anthony Gill added 16, leading sixth-ranked Virginia to a 64-51 victory over Florida State in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals.No other Cavalier scored more than six, but the strong team effort was enough to send Virginia into its first ACC Tournament semifinal since 1995. The Cavaliers (26-6) will next play Pittsburgh, an 80-75 winner over No. 15 North Carolina.
Virginia was coming off an overtime loss at Maryland in its regular-season finale last Sunday, a setback that ended a 13-game winning streak. The Cavaliers, however, had already secured the top seed in the ACC Tournament for the first time since 1981. Their lone tournament title came way back in 1976.
"We hadn't played for a while," said Virginia coach Tony Bennett. "This is a great opportunity for us. I thought our guys were ready. We wanted to set the tone."
Okaro White scored 17 points and Aaron Thomas chipped in 13 for the Seminoles (19-13), who beat Maryland in the second round on Thursday and now sit squarely on the bubble for an at-large NCAA Tournament bid.
Virginia carried a 32-27 lead to the intermission and London Perrantes drilled a 3-pointer to start the second half. The Seminoles never really recovered.
Florida State trimmed the deficit to six a few times, the last at 39-33 on a jumper by Ian Miller. A basket by Devon Bookert a few minutes later kept the Seminoles within single digits, but the Cavaliers put it away with the next seven points.
Harris ignited the burst with three and Darion Atkins scored the next four, canning two from the stripe with 9:51 remaining for a 52-37 cushion.
The Seminoles trailed by double-digits the rest of the way.
"I was pleased with the first 15 or so minutes of the game," said Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton. "The second half, it was obvious that the quality of their depth took its toll on us. We didn't quite have nearly the energy to fight those screens for the long periods of time. And I thought that really made the difference."
Florida State opened the game with the first two buckets and built a 9-5 lead early, but Harris keyed a 9-2 burst with a three as Virginia moved in front by a 14-11 margin midway through the first half.
A triple by Perrantes snapped a 23-23 tie with just over three minutes left and Virginia never trailed again. The Cavaliers went into the break with a 32-27 advantage after Gill drained a jumper from the lane at the buzzer.
Game Notes
Virginia snapped a four-game ACC tourney losing streak ... Perrantes' only points came on his two triples ... Atkins also finished with six points, while Malcolm Brogdon overcame a 2-for-10 shooting effort with nine rebounds for the Cavaliers ... Miller finished with 10 points in defeat ... The Seminoles lost all three meetings with Virginia this season, falling by 12 points in each of the regular-season matchups ... This marked the first meeting between Virginia and Florida State in the ACC Tournament.
- FLORIDA STATE: 51
VIRGINIA: 64
Final
Mar 14 2:03 PM - FLORIDA STATE: 27
VIRGINIA: 32
Halftime
Mar 14 12:55 PM - FLORIDA STATE: 0
VIRGINIA: 0
1st Half - 20:00
Mar 14 12:10 PM
Related News
- Fans Blast NCAA Tournament Committee Following Virginia Performance Mar 20
- Shohei Ohtani, March Madness, and Clemson Football Highlight Sports Illustrated Today Mar 20
- FSU outlasts Winthrop in low-scoring affair Dec 22
- Five takeaways from UVA women’s basketball’s bounce back win over Fordham Dec 22
- Jim Boeheim says UVA basketball’s talent “isn’t anywhere near where it’s been” Dec 21
- Report: Keon Coleman declares for NFL Draft Dec 21
- Florida State dominates UNF thanks to disruptive defense and big night from Darin Green, Jr Dec 19
- Five takeaways from UVA basketball’s 23-point loss to #23 Memphis Dec 19
- Stock up, stock down from Virginia’s blowout loss to Memphis Dec 19
- FSU vs. UNF: How to stream, watch, notes, game thread Dec 19
- Virginia basketball vs Memphis GAME THREAD Dec 19
- Five things: North Florida Dec 18