By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — When the final horn sounded, sealing Florida State's defeat, Jacari White bounded toward the Virginia bench and, with a smile spread across his face, yelled, “My state!”
White, who's from Orlando, had every reason to exult after the No. 15 Cavaliers rallied to stun the Seminoles 61-58 in his return to the Sunshine State. In front of a sizable cheering section of relatives and friends—each wearing the green Jacarmy T-shirt favored by his ever-growing fan club—the 6-foot-3 guard totaled 19 points, four rebounds and two assists in 21 minutes off the bench Tuesday night (Feb. 10) at the Donald L. Tucker Center.
“I wasn’t able to make a name for myself in high school,” White said, “so coming in I wanted to hopefully get people to be like, ‘Where is he from?’ and realize I’m from here. It just feels good to be able to perform like that.”
Led by White, the Wahoos (21-3 overall, 10-2 ACC) closed the game on an 11-1 run.
“The ball kind of kept finding him, and he kept delivering,” UVA head coach Ryan Odom said of White, a graduate transfer from North Dakota State.
"A huge credit to him," FSU head coach Luke Loucks said. "He almost single-handedly won them the game tonight."
After the Seminoles (11-13, 4-7) took their largest lead, at 54-45, with 8:22 left, White revived the Hoos. In a span of about two-and-a-half minutes, he made two 3-pointers, hit a short jumper and passed to center Ugonna Onyenso for a dunk.
Another White assist, this one to forward Thijs De Ridder, set up the basket that cut FSU’s lead to 58-57 with 2:56 to play. Then, with 1:12 remaining, White drove through the Seminoles’ defense for a vicious one-handed dunk that put Virginia up 59-58: its first lead since 15-12.
“I didn’t see anybody in the paint, so I just went for it,” White said.
FOR THE LEAD 😤
— ACC Men's Basketball (@accmbb) February 11, 2026
📺 ESPNU x @UVAMensHoops pic.twitter.com/JrVrptBUlB
No. 6 is still playing with a brace on his left wrist, which he broke in late December, but he scored eight points Saturday in UVA’s win over Syracuse, and he made 7 of 11 shots against FSU, including five treys. Of White’s 19 points, 16 came in the second half.
“He came up clutch for us today,” said Onyenso, another of UVA’s heroes in its fifth straight win over FSU. “I've never been so proud of him. With the struggle he's been going through, especially after his injury, being able to play in front of his family like that, I give him props.”
Between them, the two teams attempted 123 shots at the Tucker Center. Most missed the mark. In the first of the Cavaliers’ three straight games away from John Paul Jones Arena, they shot 37.7% from the floor. The Noles shot 29%.
“Certainly our defense kept us in it,” Odom said. “Our offense left a lot to be desired.”
The 61 points were a season low for UVA, as were its eight free throws. But Virginia outrebounded the Noles 47-37 and tightened up defensively late in the game. From beyond the arc, FSU finished 6 for 33.
“The key is defense,” Onyenso said. “It's always been defense for us, staying connected on defense.”
The 7-foot Onyenso did his part, blocking three shots and altering several others. “Ugo was dynamite protecting our basket at the rim,” Odom said.
Lajae Jones scored 21 points and Robert McCray V added 20 for the Seminoles, who are in their first season under Loucks. FSU’s record belies its talent level. The Noles were seeking their fourth straight win, and for much of the night it appeared they’d secure it.
“They're playing as well as anybody that we've played recently in the ACC,” Odom said, “and just watching these guys on film, they're clearly a connected group. They're playing with massive energy and enthusiasm, and I marveled at how fast they get the ball up the court. They had us on our heels pretty much the entire game.”
FSU opened a seven-point lead with 6:53 left in the first half, but the Cavaliers stayed connected and chipped away at their deficit. UVA junior Sam Lewis’ trey closed the scoring in the first half, and the teams went into the break tied 32-32.
In the second half, the Hoos found themselves playing from behind again almost immediately, and McCray’s three-point play with 8:22 left gave Florida State a substantial lead. But Virginia never panicked.
“It just shows our togetherness, especially in a hostile environment,” White said, “just sticking to what we do every day, listening to our coaches and sticking to our process.”
Odom said: “We have an experienced group that never feels like they're out of it. We certainly have to play better than we're playing right now if we want to challenge the best teams in the country ... but there's a toughness. When you've won, I guess it's 21 games now, they figure it out. They can win pretty. They can win ugly. And they just kind of find a way.”
White was the only Cavalier to score in double figures, but several teammates made significant contributions. Freshman point guard Chance Mallory scored seven points and had a game-high five assists in 27 minutes off the bench. Onyenso grabbed seven rebounds and played suffocating defense, and De Ridder pulled down nine rebounds, made two steals and hit two pivotal shots in the final three minutes.
It wasn’t one of De Ridder’s better performances on offense—he missed 6 of 9 shots and finished with nine points, seven under his average—but he never lost confidence. When White passed to him with UVA trailing 58-55, No. 28 didn’t hesitate, and his foul-line jumper made it a one-point game. De Ridder’s final basket, with 25.9 seconds left, closed out the scoring.
“He always thinks he's OK, and sometimes he's not OK,” Odom said, smiling, “and I have to remind him, ‘Hey, we need to get you back to being OK.’ ”