Virginia Falls 54-50 at No. 9 Florida State
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Virginia (11-5, 3-3 ACC) took the lead twice in the second half but couldn’t hold on as No.9 Florida State (15-2, 5-1 ACC) took the win 54-50 on Wednesday night at the Donald Tucker Civic Center.
Mamadi Diakite (Conakry, Guinea, Africa) led UVA with 16 points, going 6-for-8 from the floor, and added six rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Tomas Woldetensae (Bologna, Italy) scored nine points with three three-pointers and had three assists. Braxton Key (Charlotte, N.C.) had nine points.
Virginia shot 46 percent from the field, while holding Florida State to 37 percent. The Seminoles were 36 percent from beyond the arc. FSU won the battle on the boards, 31-29. UVA led in points in the paint (30-14). Devin Vassell led FSU with 18 points and Anthony Polite had 14 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Florida State opened the game with a three-pointer, then jumped out to an 11-2 advantage. Virginia countered with a 12-1 run to take a 14-12 lead at the 9:31 mark in the first half. It remained close until an 11-0 run for Florida State sent UVA into the half down 31-24.
The Cavaliers scored first out of the break and took a 37-35 lead after a 13-4 run to open the second half. Florida State was back in front when Woldetensae hit his second three of the night to spark an 8-0 run to give UVA a 47-44 lead with 3:11 to play. UVA hit just one more shot as Florida State closed the game on a 10-3 run.
NOTES
• UVA has lost three consecutive games for the first time since losing four straight from Feb. 12-20, 2017 (Virginia Tech, Duke, UNC, Miami).
• The teams will meet again in Charlottesville on Tuesday, Jan. 28
• UVA is 1-1 vs. ranked opponents in 2019-20 (both top-10 foes)
• Tomas Woldetensae (9 points) had a season-best three assists and matched a season high with a trio of 3-pointers
• Jay Huff had a team-high seven rebounds off the bench
• Kihei Clark had a career-high nine turnovers
UP NEXT
Virginia remains on the road in ACC play, traveling to Atlanta to face Georgia Tech on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 8 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network.