'Hoos Heading Home to Regroup
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By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com
CHARLOTTE, N.C.– Virginia’s players and coaches haven’t forgotten what happened last March in Brooklyn, N.Y. UVA won three games at Barclays Center to capture the ACC tournament for the second time under head coach Tony Bennett. In the process, though, one of the Cavaliers’ best players, De’Andre Hunter, suffered a season-ending injury.
And so top-seeded UVA, though disappointed, was not despondent Friday night after losing 69-59 to fourth-seeded Florida State in the first ACC semifinal at the Spectrum Center. The Cavaliers, who were looking to advance to the ACC championship game for the fourth time in six seasons, will head back to Charlottesville humbled but healthy Saturday.
“It’s going to be painful not to play [Saturday night],” Virginia junior guard Ty Jerome said, “but I remember we cut down the nets in the ACC tournament last year and we didn’t like the way our season ended. So this isn’t the end all, be all, by any means. It’s about trying to figure out how much better we can get from now to [Virginia’s first game in the NCAA tournament] Thursday or Friday.”
This was the second meeting between Virginia and FSU this season. In the first, Jan. 5 at John Paul Jones Arena, the Wahoos built a 29-point lead in the second half before the Seminoles rallied in the final 2:35 against a lineup composed of reserves and walk-ons.
FSU scored the game’s last 16 points but still lost 65-52.
“We had a lot of issues in that particular game,” Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton said Friday night.
In the rematch, the 12th-ranked ‘Noles shot 56.5 percent against one of the nation’s premier defenses and outrebounded second-ranked UVA 35-20. Florida State (27-6) tied its program record for victories in a season and advanced to the ACC title game for the first time since 2012.
“It was obvious that our kids were really locked in for this game,” Hamilton said, “and a lot of it is because we have such a tremendous amount of respect for the job that Tony does and the legacy that he’s built there at Virginia … I think that the combination of the respect we had for them and our guys being locked in executing offensively and defensively gave us an opportunity to win a very important game for us.”
Virginia (29-3), which trailed by four at the break, twice regained the lead in the second half, at 43-42 and 45-44. Each time, though, the Seminoles responded on their next possession.
“They were just the tougher team tonight,” Jerome said. “More physical tonight. All of it.”
When told that FSU shot 56 percent from the floor, UVA redshirt junior Mamadi Diakite shook his head.
“We were breaking down too many times,” he said. “I think that’s why they got to that number. We didn’t play like Virginia … They just out-toughed us, and we paid the price for it.”
The loss ended UVA’s nine-game winning streak. The ‘Hoos almost certainly will be awarded one of the No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament when the field is announced Sunday night, but they’ll leave Charlotte knowing they have some issues to address.
“We’ll take a look at the film and see how we can get better, because we can’t play like that,” said fifth-year senior center Jack Salt, who starred in UVA’s quarterfinal win over NC State on Thursday afternoon and played well against Florida State, too.
“We get another chance [in the NCAA tournament], but it sucks to lose this one, an opportunity to get into the ACC championship final.”
Jerome, a second-team All-ACC selection, was 1 for 11 from the floor against NC State but made up for his poor shooting with brilliant playmaking and stellar defense. Against the ‘Noles, the 6-5 junior made only 4 of 13 field-goal attempts and didn’t score until the 11:58 mark of the second half.
“Sometimes the ball doesn’t go in,” Jerome said, who added that he’ll “get back to Charlottesville, get back in the gym and get ready for our next game.”
Hunter, a 6-7 redshirt sophomore, led the Cavaliers with 13 points. Junior guard Kyle Guy added 11 points but was scoreless in the second half. The ‘Hoos, who entered the game shooting 48 percent from the floor, shot 41.5 percent against FSU and finished with only eight assists.
His biggest takeaway from the game, Jerome said, was that the Cavaliers are “susceptible to losing when we’re not the tougher team and we don’t do what we have to do, especially on the defensive side. Shots aren’t going to go in all the time. I know the way we defended, the way we got out-toughed, we got out-rebounded … was not acceptable.”
Even so, the Cavaliers know they’re still well-positioned as they prepare for the NCAA tournament.
‘We’ve been around the block a few times,” redshirt sophomore Jay Huff said. “I think we’ll be just fine. We’re going to come out more focused and more determined [at the next] practice, whenever that is, and be ready to go, wherever we play [in the NCAAs].”
Bennett noted that in 2017-18 his team was “fortunate to win the [ACC] regular-season title and the conference tournament. This year we weren’t. Now we go into another tournament. We always talk about it [how the postseason is] 40-minute territory. That’s kind of what we have been talking about, and if you’re not sharp for the majority of those minutes or possessions, you get beat. And then you’re out of that tournament.”
The ‘Hoos, who bowed out in the first round of last year’s NCAA tourney, are determined to avoid a similar fate this season.
“We’ve got a great group of guys,” Salt said. “I think we’ll do anything to get back on track. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to practice the next couple days and get ready for our first game [in the NCAAs].”
LOOKING AHEAD: The ACC announced Friday that it will tip off the 2019-20 men’s basketball season with seven conference games. Four will be televised on the new ACC Network, including UVA’s Nov. 6 opener against Syracuse in the Carrier Dome.
The ACC is moving to a 20-game conference schedule in 2019-20. This is the seventh season in which each ACC team played 18 league games.
THEY SAID IT: Florida State became the first team other than Duke to defeat UVA this season. Among the postgame comments Friday night:
* Jerome on the Cavaliers’ response to adversity: “Our coaching staff does a great job of showing us the film, breaking down the film. No one points fingers. Everyone takes accountability. So we have a growth mindset, and that’s a key for moving past games like this.”
* Hamilton on FSU’s loss in Charlottesville: “[The Cavaliers] really outplayed us every way, we weren’t prepared, we hadn’t really practiced [with a full complement of players], and it was just one of those games that in college basketball, it happens and the day gave us. We were pretty healthy today, and I thought it represented the progress that we have made during the season.”
* Hamilton: “We’re kind of an unknown team. Not very many people felt that we could even have a chance to win this game. That’s part of the journey that we’re on. When you’re in a conference with the quality teams that are in the ACC, and you’re a team that’s trying to find a way to get into that hierarchy, it’s challenging. And so sometimes you get overlooked and you don’t get sometimes the proper respect, but that’s one thing about respect: You have to go earn it, and hopefully this gives us an opportunity to earn a little bit more respect and maybe people will look [and] have a little better feeling about us in the future.”