No. 13 Virginia Downs Florida State on the Road 67-58

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — No. 13 Virginia (13-3, 5-2) started hot from 3-point range and never really cooled off Saturday in a 67-58 win over ACC rival Florida State (5-13, 3-4) at the Donald L. Tucker Center.

UVA went ahead to stay on a trey by Ben Vander Plas about three minutes into the game and rarely faltered thereafter. During the Cavaliers’ 14 seasons under head coach Tony Bennett, they’ve often struggled in this college town, but they dominated the Seminoles on Saturday.

Virginia finished 11-of-22 from beyond the arc. Armaan Franklin was 4-for-7, Vander Plas was 3-for-6, and Reece Beekman was 2-for-3. Armaan Franklin led the Hoos with 20 points, and Vander Plas added 15. Each grabbed seven rebounds. Virginia’s other standouts included Ryan Dunn, a 6-foot-8 freshman who came off the bench to contribute nine points, four rebounds and three blocked shots.

The win was the Wahoos’ first at FSU since February 2018 and only their third under Bennett in Tallahassee. None of Virginia’s current players had won at the Donald L. Tucker Center.

UVA opened ACC play Dec. 3 with a 62-57 win over FSU at John Paul Jones Arena.

HOW IT HAPPENED
UVA hit five of its first seven shots from the floor, including three 3-pointers, and led 14-9 at the first TV timeout. A baseline floater by Franklin made it 24-11 at the 8:59 mark. The Seminoles answered with eight straight points, but Virginia steadied itself and went into the break up 33-25.

Franklin and Vander Plas, who started in place of 6-foot-11 Kadin Shedrick, hit three treys apiece in the first half to lead the Hoos.

FSU twice cut its deficit to six early in the second half, but each time UVA answered. Point guard Kihei Clark’s three-pointer with 16:26 remaining pushed the Cavaliers’ lead back to 41-31, and the Noles never seriously threatened the rest of the way.

UP NEXT

The first of UVA’s two regular-season games with Virginia Tech is Wednesday at 7 p.m. at John Paul Jones Arena. ESPNU is carrying the game.

The Hokies (11-6, 1-5), who are off this weekend, have lost five straight since defeating Grambling on Dec. 17.

UVA leads the series 96-58 and has won five of the teams’ past seven meetings. The Hoos and the Hokies split their two games in 2021-22, with each winning at home.

The rematch is Feb. 4 in Blacksburg.