FSU 57 UVa 60 The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
The Good
If you like close back and forth games, this was your kind of game with 15 lead changes and 4 ties. FSU's largest lead was four, 28-24. UVa's largest margin was 41-33 with 14:41 left in the game. Virginia held a 5 to 6 point lead over the next several minutes before the Seminoles made a push closing the gap and took a 46-45 lead at the 8:16 mark. And then it was back to another flurry of lead changes and ties. Unfortunately, UVa made the plays down in the final minutes to hand the Seminoles another loss.
The closeness of tonight's game just reflects the competitiveness of the series. The game tonight was the 58th meeting of the two teams. UVa now owns a 30-28 lead which is now separated in favor of Virginia by a grand total of six points, 3,840 points for UVa and 3,834 for FSU.
Jamir Watkins ..... again ...... leading the 'Noles with 18 points and 8 rebounds to go along with 5 assists.
Honorable mention to Christian Nitu who had a good game around the rim with a perfect 4 of 4 from the floor for a career high 8 points.
The FSU bench outscoring the Cavaliers 20-0.
Offensively the Seminoles owned the paint 30-16.
FSU played well enough to win the game especially on defense with 9 blocked shots (4 by Dequan Davis), 7 steals, and forcing Virginia into an uncharacteristic 14 turnovers good for 12 points.
Plays of the game: The two Cavalier possessions where the 'Noles' defense caused two shot clock violations. It was a blocked shot by Taylor Bol Bowen from behind of an Anthony Robinson attempted slam dunk that forced the first violation. Alier Maluk starting off the scoring for FSU with back to back baskets. Nitu with a finger roll, 12-13. Nitu with a putback to give FSU a 14-13 lead. Clearly by now you can see that the Seminoles were able to get the ball deep inside the Cavs defense. A sticky FSU defense that kept the Cavs stuck on 24 for 6:10 of the late first period. Nitu with the offensive putback to give FSU, 46-45 lead. Bol Bowen left all alone for the three from the right wing to take back the lead, 49-47. Davis' three to once again take the lead back, 52-50 with 4:23 to play when the defender was faked and moved the other way giving Davis the clean look at the rim. Justin Thomas' steal and making the quick outlet pass to Watkins for the slam dunk with 11.8 seconds on the clock, 58-57, giving the 'Noles a chance at picking up the W.
The Bad
FSU's record now falls to 16-14 overall, 7-12 ACC. It was the Seminoles' fourth straight loss and fifth of its last six games. Worse yet, the loss would appear to have secured a double digit seed for the ACC tournament. Meaning the 'Noles will play on the opening day of the tournament on Tuesday. Winning five consecutive games would be FSU's only shot at reaching the NCAA.
Malique Ewin out once again with the injury. FSU really could have used his presence tonight as his skills are such that he would likely have been very problematic for UVa to deal with.
A lot of standing around when FSU was on offense and a took number of quick shots. Watkins in particular seemed to fall into that trap launching threes as soon as he touched the ball. His immediate three attempt from the left corner was all air. FSU was really struggling at that point and smarter shot selection was definitely needed.
Andrew Rohde falling OB as he was hoisting a three shot attempt that somehow found the bottom of the net giving UVa a 58-55 lead with :58 remaining. It was not like he wasn't being guarded either.
The double foul involving Watkins and UVa's Elijah Saunders. Really?? A double foul? It was either a foul on Watkins for planting his elbow into the chin of Saunders or Saunders fouling Watkins on the shot attempt. Turning that into a double foul was quite a reach there IMO. Even FSU's radio broadcasters were saying how the refs were looking for something to make the Cavs happy.
Dai Dai (so good his parents named him twice) Ames gets the inbound pass and is quickly trapped in the corner. That is until both defenders pivot in the wrong direction allowing Ames to get up the floor forcing Davis to foul him. Ames' two FTs made it the final margin of defeat, 60-57.
While three point shooting by FSU was not horrible, there were occasions where that ball was not finding the basket. Especially in the first half with 2 of 9. For the game, FSU was 7 of 22 (32%).
Virginia was about to do a tribute to Leonard Hamilton when the microphone chose that moment to malfunction.
The Ugly
As the first half ended, the two teams over the latter third of the first period were a combined 2 of 18 from the floor.
That did not continue for the Cavs whose scoring pace picked up after intermission. For FSU, it did not as the first few minutes of the second half were anything but crisply played. An offense that looked out of sync, turnovers, poor shots, a defense not looking like it did in the first half. In essence, the wheels were starting to come off. FSU fortunately recovered.
Florida State had just over three seconds to take one final shot to tie the game (ironic that it came down to a three, something FSU is not particularly adept at). Never got it off however as Jerry Deng made a tad too much contact with the Cav defender.
I could not help but watch before our game the trainwreck that has become the Miami Hurricanes. OMG!!! That was some of the least effort you will ever see from a sports team. Needless to say they did not beat GT. Not even close. That is a team that has quit.
Up Next
FSU will finish out the regular season at home on Saturday at 4 PM when they host former FSU assistant and current SMU head coach Any Enfield and his Mustang team. Squarely on the bubble, SMU (22-8, 13-6) needs the win. FSU needs the win to give Hamilton his 200th ACC regular season win. It will be his last chance at it. When we last saw SMU (tonight in fact), they were eight points down at the half but came from behind to beat Syracuse, 77-75. The Mustangs are 3-3 in their last six games. The game will be broadcast on The U.
The Good
If you like close back and forth games, this was your kind of game with 15 lead changes and 4 ties. FSU's largest lead was four, 28-24. UVa's largest margin was 41-33 with 14:41 left in the game. Virginia held a 5 to 6 point lead over the next several minutes before the Seminoles made a push closing the gap and took a 46-45 lead at the 8:16 mark. And then it was back to another flurry of lead changes and ties. Unfortunately, UVa made the plays down in the final minutes to hand the Seminoles another loss.
The closeness of tonight's game just reflects the competitiveness of the series. The game tonight was the 58th meeting of the two teams. UVa now owns a 30-28 lead which is now separated in favor of Virginia by a grand total of six points, 3,840 points for UVa and 3,834 for FSU.
Jamir Watkins ..... again ...... leading the 'Noles with 18 points and 8 rebounds to go along with 5 assists.
Honorable mention to Christian Nitu who had a good game around the rim with a perfect 4 of 4 from the floor for a career high 8 points.
The FSU bench outscoring the Cavaliers 20-0.
Offensively the Seminoles owned the paint 30-16.
FSU played well enough to win the game especially on defense with 9 blocked shots (4 by Dequan Davis), 7 steals, and forcing Virginia into an uncharacteristic 14 turnovers good for 12 points.
Plays of the game: The two Cavalier possessions where the 'Noles' defense caused two shot clock violations. It was a blocked shot by Taylor Bol Bowen from behind of an Anthony Robinson attempted slam dunk that forced the first violation. Alier Maluk starting off the scoring for FSU with back to back baskets. Nitu with a finger roll, 12-13. Nitu with a putback to give FSU a 14-13 lead. Clearly by now you can see that the Seminoles were able to get the ball deep inside the Cavs defense. A sticky FSU defense that kept the Cavs stuck on 24 for 6:10 of the late first period. Nitu with the offensive putback to give FSU, 46-45 lead. Bol Bowen left all alone for the three from the right wing to take back the lead, 49-47. Davis' three to once again take the lead back, 52-50 with 4:23 to play when the defender was faked and moved the other way giving Davis the clean look at the rim. Justin Thomas' steal and making the quick outlet pass to Watkins for the slam dunk with 11.8 seconds on the clock, 58-57, giving the 'Noles a chance at picking up the W.
The Bad
FSU's record now falls to 16-14 overall, 7-12 ACC. It was the Seminoles' fourth straight loss and fifth of its last six games. Worse yet, the loss would appear to have secured a double digit seed for the ACC tournament. Meaning the 'Noles will play on the opening day of the tournament on Tuesday. Winning five consecutive games would be FSU's only shot at reaching the NCAA.
Malique Ewin out once again with the injury. FSU really could have used his presence tonight as his skills are such that he would likely have been very problematic for UVa to deal with.
A lot of standing around when FSU was on offense and a took number of quick shots. Watkins in particular seemed to fall into that trap launching threes as soon as he touched the ball. His immediate three attempt from the left corner was all air. FSU was really struggling at that point and smarter shot selection was definitely needed.
Andrew Rohde falling OB as he was hoisting a three shot attempt that somehow found the bottom of the net giving UVa a 58-55 lead with :58 remaining. It was not like he wasn't being guarded either.
The double foul involving Watkins and UVa's Elijah Saunders. Really?? A double foul? It was either a foul on Watkins for planting his elbow into the chin of Saunders or Saunders fouling Watkins on the shot attempt. Turning that into a double foul was quite a reach there IMO. Even FSU's radio broadcasters were saying how the refs were looking for something to make the Cavs happy.
Dai Dai (so good his parents named him twice) Ames gets the inbound pass and is quickly trapped in the corner. That is until both defenders pivot in the wrong direction allowing Ames to get up the floor forcing Davis to foul him. Ames' two FTs made it the final margin of defeat, 60-57.
While three point shooting by FSU was not horrible, there were occasions where that ball was not finding the basket. Especially in the first half with 2 of 9. For the game, FSU was 7 of 22 (32%).
Virginia was about to do a tribute to Leonard Hamilton when the microphone chose that moment to malfunction.
The Ugly
As the first half ended, the two teams over the latter third of the first period were a combined 2 of 18 from the floor.
That did not continue for the Cavs whose scoring pace picked up after intermission. For FSU, it did not as the first few minutes of the second half were anything but crisply played. An offense that looked out of sync, turnovers, poor shots, a defense not looking like it did in the first half. In essence, the wheels were starting to come off. FSU fortunately recovered.
Florida State had just over three seconds to take one final shot to tie the game (ironic that it came down to a three, something FSU is not particularly adept at). Never got it off however as Jerry Deng made a tad too much contact with the Cav defender.
I could not help but watch before our game the trainwreck that has become the Miami Hurricanes. OMG!!! That was some of the least effort you will ever see from a sports team. Needless to say they did not beat GT. Not even close. That is a team that has quit.
Up Next
FSU will finish out the regular season at home on Saturday at 4 PM when they host former FSU assistant and current SMU head coach Any Enfield and his Mustang team. Squarely on the bubble, SMU (22-8, 13-6) needs the win. FSU needs the win to give Hamilton his 200th ACC regular season win. It will be his last chance at it. When we last saw SMU (tonight in fact), they were eight points down at the half but came from behind to beat Syracuse, 77-75. The Mustangs are 3-3 in their last six games. The game will be broadcast on The U.
