Story Links
Jan. 16, 2001
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) – Keith Friel picked a good time for his first20-point game in three years.
Three days after falling to seventh in the Atlantic Coast Conference with ahumiliating 42-point loss at Duke, No. 13 Virginia beat Florida State 89-71Tuesday night, as Friel scored 22 points to lead five Cavaliers in doublefigures.
Virginia (12-3, 2-3) had lost two straight and three of four, so Frielcracking the 20-point barrier for only the second time in his career was huge.The first time he did it was when he scored 30 points against Syracuse while hewas a sophomore at Notre Dame in 1998.
“He made all the big plays for them,” Florida State coach Steve Robinsonsaid of Friel. “He was the difference. We had a chance to have things goingour way and he came up big for them.”
Virginia led by six points at halftime but pushed its lead to 55-40 lessthan five minutes into the second half with its 3-point shooting.
The Cavaliers, who finished 11-of-23 from beyond the arc, shot 3s on sevenof their first nine possessions in the second half, connecting on four. Frielhad three of the bombs and got fouled on his fourth attempt.
As usual, the Cavs lived off their pressure defense, converting 21 turnoversinto 30 points. The Cavaliers thrived as the game opened up in the second half,making transition baskets inside or kicking it out to the perimeter for 3-pointattempts.
Friel gave Virginia a 71-58 lead with six minutes remaining two pull-up 3sin transition. In both cases, senior point guard Donald Hand slashed throughthe scattered Seminoles defense before dishing to Friel for a wide-open look.
“He was in the zone,” Gillen said of Friel. “He said he was going to beaggressive and he was, but you’ve got to give the guys credit for findinghim.”
Virginia continued to pour it on, consistently increasing its lead to thefinal margin.
Chris Williams had 20 points, six rebounds and three steals for Virginia,while Hand had 15 points, Travis Watson 12 and Roger Mason Jr. 11.
“His shooting definitely took the pressure off other guys,” Gillen said.”It’s better sometimes to have balance than to have one guy carrying theload.”
Delvon Arrington had 23 points for the Seminoles (5-12, 0-4), who got justsix points from star freshman Michael Joiner.
Arrington’s 3-pointer gave Florida State a 25-21 lead with 7:20 left in thefirst half, but went on a 15-0 run and never trailed again.
The Cavaliers had struggled in their last four games, losing to then-No. 4Wake Forest, unranked Georgia Tech and No. 2 Duke, and barely slipping pastunranked North Carolina State. Their win over the Seminoles was not perfect,but Gillen said the Cavs are happy to be back on track.
“It was a lot closer game than the final score shows,” he said. “Anyleague win is a good win. We needed that after the last few games.”