Cavaliers Host Florida State Saturday In ACC Encounter
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CHARLOTTESVILLE–After playing three of its first four Atlantic Coast Conference games of the 2008-09 season on the road, the Virginia men’s basketball team returns to John Paul Jones Arena on Saturday (Jan. 24) for a conference game with Florida State.
Saturday’s game is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. and will be televised on the Regional Sports Networks (Comcast SportsNet in Virginia).
Reserved seat tickets are available for the game at a cost of $30 each.
Virginia is coming off an 84-78 loss at Maryland on Tuesday (Jan. 20). It was the third consecutive loss for the Cavaliers. UVa is now 7-8 overall and 1-3 in the ACC.
Junior forward Jamil Tucker scored a career-high 21 points against the Terrapins and sophomore forward Mike Scott had his sixth double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Scott made all 10 of his free throws against the Terrapins. Junior guard Calvin Baker added a season-high 16 points against Maryland and freshman guard Sylven Landesberg had a career-high 11 rebounds.
Five Virginia players are averaging in double figures in scoring in the Cavaliers’ four ACC games. Those players are Landesberg (13.8 ppg.), Scott (13.5 ppg.), Tucker (13.3 ppg.), Baker (10.8 ppg.) and sophomore guard Mustapha Farrakhan (10.3 ppg.).
Overall, Landesberg is Virginia’s leading scorer with an average of 16.6 points per game for the season. Scott is averaging 11.9 points a game and sophomore guard Sammy Zeglinski is averaging 10.1 points a game.
Scott ranks second in the ACC in rebounding at 8.9 rebounds a game and is first in the conference in offensive rebounding with an average of 4.2 offensive rebounds a game.
Zeglinski leads the team in assists with an average of 3.7 assists a game.
Tucker has been Virginia’s leading scorer in each of the last two games and is averaging 8.5 points a game for the season, while Baker is averaging 8.3 points a game.
Florida State enters Saturday’s game with an overall record of 15-4 and a 2-2 record in the ACC. The Seminoles have won four of their last six games, but are coming off a 75-69 loss at Miami on Wednesday (Jan. 21).
Senior guard Toney Douglas is the only player averaging in double figures in scoring for Florida State. Douglas is averaging 19.5 points a game and ranks third in the ACC in scoring. He also leads the Seminoles in assists with an average of 2.6 a game.
Freshman forward Chris Singleton is averaging 9.1 points a game and leads Florida State in rebounding with an average of 5.8 a game.
Leonard Hamilton is in his seventh season as the Seminoles’ head coach. His Florida State teams have compiled an overall record of 121-90. The 2008-09 season is his 21st as a collegiate head coach and his teams have compiled an overall record of 321-300. Hamilton has also been the head coach at Oklahoma State (four years) and Miami (10 years).
Virginia leads the series with Florida State 17-15 and the Cavaliers are 11-5 against the Seminoles in Charlottesville. In the only previous game between the two teams at John Paul Jones Arena, the Cavaliers defeated Florida State 73-70 during the 2006-07 season. The Seminoles have won four of the last five games in the series, including a 69-67 win last season in Tallahassee.
After the Florida State game, Virginia doesn’t return to action until Feb. 1 when the Cavaliers play at nationally-ranked Duke. That game is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. and will be televised nationally by Fox Sports Net.