Harris Leads Virginia Past Florida State, 78-66

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Jan. 18, 2014

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) – Joe Harris scored 18 points and Virginia used an early 22-5 run to take command on its way to a 78-66 victory against Florida State on Saturday and a sweep of its season series against the Seminoles.

Malcolm Brogdon added 16 points for the Cavaliers (13-5, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who won 62-50 at Florida State on Jan. 4. The sweep is the first for the Cavaliers since the 2000-01 season.

Okaro White and Aaron Thomas scored 15 each for Florida State (12-5, 3-2). The Seminoles arrived second in the ACC defensively, allowing teams to make just 36.3 percent of their field goal attempts, but the Cavaliers shot better than 55 percent in the first half in bolting to 45-26 lead by halftime.

The Cavaliers also closed the half with an 11-3 burst that featured five points from Akil Mitchell.

The Seminoles trailed by as many as 21 in the second half, and got no closer than 12.

Virginia used the same blueprint in the rematch as it had in Tallahassee, but this time had the benefit of having Harris in the lineup. In Florida, Harris sustained a concussion after just two minutes on the court and watched the rest of the game as Justin Anderson and London Perrantes took charge.

This time, he had 10 points by halftime and finished the game 6-for-8 with four 3-pointers in five attempts.

After an opening 3-pointer by Devon Bookert for the Seminoles, Virginia scored 22 of the next 27 points. Brogdon had eight and he and Justin Anderson both hit 3-pointers, while the Seminoles turned the ball over at least three times and went more than six minutes between their first field goal and second.

The Seminoles also turned the ball over 18 times, leading to 26 points for the Cavaliers.