Virginia Visits Florida State For ACC Game On Saturday

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CHARLOTTESVILLE-The Virginia men’s basketball team plays its third Atlantic Coast Conference road game in the last four games on Saturday when the Cavaliers play at Florida State in a game that is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.

The Regional Sports Networks of the ACC, including Comcast SportsNet, will televise Saturday’s game and it will also be broadcast on the Virginia Sports Radio Network.

Virginia takes an overall record of 12-11 and a 3-6 record in the ACC into the game at Florida State. The Cavaliers are coming off a 70-68 overtime loss at Miami on Feb. 5. UVa has lost its last four road games and its last 13 games in the state of Florida.

Senior guard Mustapha Farrakhan led three Virginia players scoring in double figures with 20 points in the loss at Miami. Farrakhan has scored at least 20 points in each of the last two games and has scored in double figures in nine of the last 10 games.

Freshman guard Joe Harris added 18 points and red-shirt junior guard Sammy Zeglinski scored 11 points for the Cavaliers against Miami. Junior center Assane Sene led UVa with eight rebounds and had six points, and sophomore guard Jontel Evans had a team-high five assists and scored nine points. It’s the ninth time this season Evans has had five or more assists in a game.

Fouls on two Miami three-point attempts in the final minute of regulation and missed free throws hurt the Cavaliers. Virginia made just 40.9 percent (9-22) of its free throw attempts in the game, its lowest free throw percentage of the season.

Leading by seven points (53-46), UVa was 3-6 from the free throw line in the final 1:52 of regulation, including missing the front end of two one-and-one situations. Miami was 17-22 (77.3 percent) from the free throw line in the game and 5-6 in the final 38 seconds.

Farrakhan and Harris are both averaging in double figures in scoring for the Cavaliers. Farrakhan is averaging 13.4 points a game for the season and 14.9 points a game in ACC games. Harris is averaging 10.3 points a game for the season and leads UVa in three-point field goals with 45. His 45 three-point field goals rank fourth on Virginia’s list of three-point field goals by freshmen in a season.

Freshman guard KT Harrell is averaging 9.5 points a game for the Cavaliers and junior center Assane Sene is averaging 5.5 rebounds a game. Sophomore guard Jontel Evans leads UVa in assists (84, 3.7 apg.) and steals (33, 1.4 spg.).

Evans ranks eighth in the ACC in assists, tied for eighth in steals and he is ninth in assist to turnover ratio (1.9). Harris ranks 10th in the conference in three-point field goals made (2.0 pg.) and Farrakhan ranks 14th in scoring.

As a team Virginia is second in the conference in three-point field goal percentage (38.8 percent), fourth in scoring defense (63.3 ppg.) and fourth in three-point field goals made (7.2 pg.).

Florida State leads the series with Virginia 18-17. The Seminoles have won the last four games in the series and seven of the last eight. UVa’s only win during that stretch was a 73-70 victory at home during the 2006-07 season. Florida State defeated the Cavaliers 69-50 in Charlottesville last season in the only game played between the two teams in 2009-10.

The Seminoles lead 11-6 in games played on their home court in the series and have won the last seven games in the series played in Tallahassee. Virginia’s last victory at Florida State was a 69-66 win during the 2000-01 season.

Florida State enters Saturday’s game with an overall record of 17-7 and a 7-3 record in the ACC. The Seminoles are coming off a 72-63 victory at Georgia Tech on Thursday (Feb. 10).

Junior forward Chris Singleton leads Florida State in scoring and rebounding. Singleton is averaging 14.0 points and 7.4 rebounds a game.

Senior guard Derwin Kitchen is averaging 10.2 points a game for the Seminoles and leads the team in assists with 87 (3.6 apg.). Kitchen is also averaging 5.8 rebounds a game.

Among the other leading scorers for Florida State are sophomore guard Michael Snaer (8.4 ppg.), junior forward Bernard James (8.0 ppg.) and junior guard Deividas Dulkys (7.3 ppg.).

The Seminoles’ defensive efforts have been a key part of their success. Opponents are shooting 36.1 percent (491-1362) from the field against Florida State, including 29.7 percent (159-536) from three-point range, and averaging 61.9 points a game.

Leonard Hamilton is in his ninth season as the head coach at Florida State. His Seminole teams have compiled an overall record of 170-113 and have participated in postseason tournaments six times (2 NCAA, 4 NIT), including each of the last five years. Florida State has participated in the NCAA Tournament each of the last two seasons.

After playing at Florida State the Cavaliers return home to play Duke on Wednesday (Feb. 16). The Duke game, which is sold out, is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. and will be televised by ESPN2.