The Florida State Seminoles (11-12, 4-6) played host to the No. 15 Virginia Cavaliers (20-3, 9-2) on Tuesday, looking to continue their winning streak by taking on one of the top squads in the ACC. The Cavaliers also
came into the matchup hot, having won their last four contests.
Florida State and Virginia went head-to-head in the first half, with a very defensive game leading to a tied score at halftime. Florida State led for over 27 minutes and looked to be on its way to its first major upset of the Luke Loucks era, but some offensive miscues by FSU and a second-half takeover by Virginia guard Jacari White led the Cavaliers to a grinding win in Tallahassee, 61-58, with the Seminoles barely losing a game they should’ve and could’ve won.
First Half
The energy was high in the Donald Tucker Center from the tip-off. Both teams started off letting it go from three. The Cavaliers began the game looking like the better team, making their three-point attempts while also applying pressure on the defensive end.
Lajae Jones provided a huge spark for the Seminoles with a three followed by a transition slam. The Cavaliers continued to answer back immediately with their own scoring, mainly by big men De Ridder and Grunloh. Jones hit another transition three for the Seminoles to tie the game at 15 all with 13:04 to go in the first half.
The Florida State defense put up defensive possession after defensive possession, rotating well and logging 2 blocks and a steal early on. Lajae Jones continued to dominate, making a heavily contested layup plus the foul, and after the made and-one, he was up to 12 points. This put Florida State up 17-15 with 10:46 to go.
Virginia seemingly couldn’t get anything to go, going on a 4:05 scoring drought. Robert McCray V hit a huge 3, starting off 3/3, with 9 total points. Florida State led by 5 with 7:46 to go in the first half. The Cavaliers brought it back with a couple of buckets, making it 26-24 FSU with 4:00 to go in the half.
Florida State’s defense continued to make its presence felt, with Thomas Bassong making two deflections on the same possession, leading to a Virginia shot clock violation. Robert McCray V hit a posterizing dunk that got everyone out of their seat. Sam Lewis hit an important Virginia three with 29 seconds to go in the half to tie things up at 32-32, which remained the score heading into half.
It seemed as if both squads came in with intentions to make it a slow game, with the first half marked by defensive aggression, tight rotations by both teams and deflections galore. Florida State held the advantage on the defensive side with 3 blocks and 5 steals, while Virginia outrebounded the Seminoles 23 to 18.
Second Half
Robert McCray V got started quick with an immediate three coming out of the half, putting him up to 16 points. He then followed up with a block, leading to a smooth assist underneath to Alex Steen for the bucket. He fired a dart across the court to Lajae Jones in the corner for a three, making the score 41-34 Seminoles with 17:06 to go in the second half.
Virginia guard Jacari White hit two huge isolation threes to get things back to a 2-point game. Both Virginia and Florida State went on huge scoring droughts, both extending over 2 minutes. Virginia’s Chance Mallory hit a layup to tie the game 45-45 with 12:12 to go in the second half. Florida State’s drought extended to over 4 minutes, before Kobe Magee hit a layup to put the Seminoles up by two.
Both teams continued their cold shooting, a theme in this game. With 9 minutes to go, both teams were shooting 35% or lower. Robert McCray changed this with his and-one to put the Seminoles up by 9 with 8:22 to go. Jacari White, as he had all game, hit another huge end of the shot clock three to keep the Cavaliers in the game.
Lajae Jones responded to a Jacari White layup with a huge three. White wouldn’t go away as he hit another three off of an offensive rebound by Virginia. The Cavaliers led in the offensive rebound category 12-7 after that board. With the ball in his hands again, White was blocked by McCray V in the corner to create a shot clock violation and important turnover for the Seminoles.
Jacari White hit a huge layup followed bye two Robert McCray V missed shots. De Ridder finally made some noise with his own floater off the glass to put Virginia up 3. The Seminoles looked rushed in their possessions towards the end.
Lajae Jones heaved up an attempted three with 11 seconds left that was missed. It seemed all over until Virginia Guard Sam Lewis let the ball slip out of his hand and gave it back to Florida State with 7 seconds to go, down 61-58. This gave Florida State one more opportunity. The opportunity faded away as Robert McCray missed a double-clutch three in the corner to end the Seminoles’ hopes of an upset.
The story in the second half, as it was in the first, was defense. Both teams struggled to make shots while also showing prowess on the defensive end. Florida State’s 29% from the field was a season-low, shooting a lackluster 18% from the three-point line. Despite the poor performance on the offensive side of things, FSU’s ability to turn turnovers into points kept them close, ultimately losing to the hot hand of Freshman Guard Jacari White. White scored 19 points, shooting 5/9 from three. His shots were timely and significant. That was enough to lose the Seminoles this one.
Player of the Game
Robert McCray V — with the ball in his hands he was lethal. Tonight, he put up a stat line of 20 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists, while defensively recording 3 blocks and 2 steals. He was the key to this offense, and really showcased his ability to do it all, recording a posterizing dunk, some stellar assists, and a 2 threes of his own. If McCray could clean up some of the mistakes when it comes to taking care of the ball, his offensive game elevates this Florida State offense in big ways when he is on.
What’s Next?
The Seminoles fall to 11-13 overall, and 4-7 in ACC play. Florida State will travel to Blacksburg, Virginia to take on the Hokies of Virginia Tech on Saturday, February 14th at 2:00 p.m. ET. This game will be aired on ACC Network.
