Virginia Falls 68-57 at No. 25 Florida State

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -Toney Douglas scored 19 points and matched a career high with seven assists Tuesday as No. 25 Florida State defeated Virginia 68-57 on Tuesday night, handing the Cavaliers their eighth consecutive loss.

Douglas, the ACC’s leading scorer in conference competition, scored 15 points in a decisive second half – including successive 3-point shots just 25 seconds apart that gave Florida State a 40-35 lead.

The Seminoles (19-5, 6-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) shook off a woeful first-half shooting effort with a blistering 70.8 percent performance in the second half.

Virginia (7-13, 1-8) was led by Sylven Landesberg’s 14 points.

Uche Echefu added 17 points and freshman Solomon Alabi had 13 for the Seminoles.

It was the first time in eight games Douglas failed to score 20 or more points. And, he had some chances late in the game, missing a pair of late free throws.

Mike Scott’s 3-pointer with 8:26 left gave Virginia its last lead at 41-40.

Jumpers by Alabi and Echefu and a breakaway layup by Douglas – all within a minute – gave the Seminoles a 49-43 lead with 5:30 left.

Virginia, which hasn’t won since a 74-50 victory over Brown on Jan. 6, stayed in it early by dominating the boards, allowing Florida State just one offensive rebound in the first half.

The Cavaliers, however, led 22-20 at halftime despite 10 turnovers and shooting just 27.8 percent.

The Seminoles, the lowest-scoring team in the ACC, shot just 26.1 percent in the first half as Douglas managed just four points after going scoreless the first 16:06 of the game.

Florida State crept into The Associated Press’ weekly rankings Monday for the first time in more than 11 years on the strength of wins last week over Georgia Tech and Clemson.