Florida State 58, Virginia 55
Tough, hard-fought loss by the Hoos in Tallahassee today. Both teams really battled on the defensive end and points were hard to come by for most of the game, especially for the Hoos. FSU led 44-31 with 7:34 left in the game but the Cavaliers stormed back with a 14-0 run to take a brief 45-44 lead with just over four minutes to go. FSU made just enough plays down the stretch to pull out the win, however, none of which was probably bigger than a 25-foot 3-pointer by Michael Snaer with two minutes to go to give FSU a 53-48 lead. Jontel Evans heaved a half-court shot at the end of the game to tie it that nearly went in, but bounced off the backboard then rim. Even if he had made it, it was close to not counting anyway -- I think time ran out before it left his hands. Virginia now has four losses on the year by a total of 10 points.
Mike Scott was an absolute beast for the Hoos in the first half as he had 14 of Virginia 22 first-half points (FSU led 23-22 at the break). But he struggled in the second half as the Seminoles got very physical with him and triple-teamed him. The fifth-year senior finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds, but also turned the ball over seven times. Joe Harris stepped up for the Hoos and had 16 points on 5 of 12 shooting, including 3 of 8 from 3-point land. Freshman Malcolm Brogdon also had a pretty good outing, especially in the latter stages of the game, to keep it close for the Hoos. He finished with 10 points, just his third game in double figures this year. Jontel Evans was looking bad at first, and ended up with four turnovers, but finished with a pretty good stat line, as he had eight points and five assists. Akil Mitchell and Darion Atkins were banged around pretty good down low by FSU's big men and finished with zero points. Besides one 3-pointer, Sammy Zeglinski was once again a non-factor on the offensive end and launched up about four air balls. Zeglinski's confidence is shot at this point but he is probably still valuable to the team in other ways, such as with assists or his knowledge of the defense. However, he is shooting 27 percent from 3 in ACC play and I think it is time for coach Tony Bennett to give Brogdon more of Zeglinski's minutes. Brogdon played 22 minutes vs. FSU while Zeglinski got 37. Brogdon made some mistakes in this game but was more productive offensively than Zeglinski and is a freshman who should continue to get better if given more time. At this point, Zeglinski is just throwing up bricks and air balls. Maybe Zeglinski could focus better if he was given less time, and took fewer -- but better -- shots. In order to beat some of the big guns of the ACC, we will probably need Zeglinski to get hot, but I don't know if that is going to happen with him in this current rotation where he gets tons of minutes. Maybe he could be more valauble and fresher as a sixth man off the bench. Would Bennett look into/experiment with that at this point of the season?
Florida State is a very solid team which is getting lots of publicity right now for its seven-game win streak and position atop the ACC. It was a solid and courageous effort by the Cavs, especially the way they showed heart during the comeback. The team had absolutely nothing going offensively and could have give up but they didn't. The Hoos went for about a five-minute stretch without scoring in the second half and I think under past coaches Pete Gillen and Dave Leitao, this one could have gotten ugly and ended with about a 20-point FSU win. Gillen would have had no answer and Leitao just would have blown his lid with his incredible temper and lost the team, which would have lost even more confidence. I think Bennett's ability to get what he did out of the team against FSU speaks volumes about his ability as a coach and motivator.
We've reached the halfway point of the ACC season and as we inch closer to the end of the regular season in March, here is the rest of Virginia's schedule:
Wednesday home vs. Wake Forest
next Saturday at UNC
Feb. 14 at Clemson
Feb. 18 home vs. Maryland
Feb. 21 at VT
Feb. 25 home vs. UNC
March 1 home vs. FSU
March 4 at Maryland
The reason a win today would have been so huge is because UVa has one of the toughest ACC schedules left in the conference. Getting a win from FSU at home, or in one of the UNC games, is going to be very tough. I think UVa has to get to 10 wins in the ACC to feel safe about make the NCAA tournament but nine might do it, too. If Virginia goes 0-3 vs. FSU and UNC, but 5-0 in its other games, that would be 10 wins. I think it is more likely that the Hoos will go 4-1, maybe 3-2, in those other games. Every win UVa could eek out in that group of three vs. UNC and FSU, the less pressure there is on the Hoos to be perfect in the other games, which are going to be tough, especially at Maryland, at Va. Tech, and at Clemson. And even though losses to teams below them in the standings would be bad (Maryland, VT, Clemson), a win or two over UNC or FSU would be huge for Virginia's RPI and tournament resume and largely overshadow bad losses.
For now, the Hoos should be proud of their effort in this game but look toward improving. They have a big game next Saturday at UNC, but shouldn't overlook Wake at home Wednesday, a team that beat them last year for its only ACC win of the season. Bennett and the Hoos went 4-4 in the second half of the ACC last year without Mike Scott after going 3-5 in the first half of the ACC season, a solid feat. This season, hopefully Bennett can have another good second half (as good or better than the first), this time without Assane Sene, who won't be back until sometime in early March.
Tough, hard-fought loss by the Hoos in Tallahassee today. Both teams really battled on the defensive end and points were hard to come by for most of the game, especially for the Hoos. FSU led 44-31 with 7:34 left in the game but the Cavaliers stormed back with a 14-0 run to take a brief 45-44 lead with just over four minutes to go. FSU made just enough plays down the stretch to pull out the win, however, none of which was probably bigger than a 25-foot 3-pointer by Michael Snaer with two minutes to go to give FSU a 53-48 lead. Jontel Evans heaved a half-court shot at the end of the game to tie it that nearly went in, but bounced off the backboard then rim. Even if he had made it, it was close to not counting anyway -- I think time ran out before it left his hands. Virginia now has four losses on the year by a total of 10 points.
Mike Scott was an absolute beast for the Hoos in the first half as he had 14 of Virginia 22 first-half points (FSU led 23-22 at the break). But he struggled in the second half as the Seminoles got very physical with him and triple-teamed him. The fifth-year senior finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds, but also turned the ball over seven times. Joe Harris stepped up for the Hoos and had 16 points on 5 of 12 shooting, including 3 of 8 from 3-point land. Freshman Malcolm Brogdon also had a pretty good outing, especially in the latter stages of the game, to keep it close for the Hoos. He finished with 10 points, just his third game in double figures this year. Jontel Evans was looking bad at first, and ended up with four turnovers, but finished with a pretty good stat line, as he had eight points and five assists. Akil Mitchell and Darion Atkins were banged around pretty good down low by FSU's big men and finished with zero points. Besides one 3-pointer, Sammy Zeglinski was once again a non-factor on the offensive end and launched up about four air balls. Zeglinski's confidence is shot at this point but he is probably still valuable to the team in other ways, such as with assists or his knowledge of the defense. However, he is shooting 27 percent from 3 in ACC play and I think it is time for coach Tony Bennett to give Brogdon more of Zeglinski's minutes. Brogdon played 22 minutes vs. FSU while Zeglinski got 37. Brogdon made some mistakes in this game but was more productive offensively than Zeglinski and is a freshman who should continue to get better if given more time. At this point, Zeglinski is just throwing up bricks and air balls. Maybe Zeglinski could focus better if he was given less time, and took fewer -- but better -- shots. In order to beat some of the big guns of the ACC, we will probably need Zeglinski to get hot, but I don't know if that is going to happen with him in this current rotation where he gets tons of minutes. Maybe he could be more valauble and fresher as a sixth man off the bench. Would Bennett look into/experiment with that at this point of the season?
Florida State is a very solid team which is getting lots of publicity right now for its seven-game win streak and position atop the ACC. It was a solid and courageous effort by the Cavs, especially the way they showed heart during the comeback. The team had absolutely nothing going offensively and could have give up but they didn't. The Hoos went for about a five-minute stretch without scoring in the second half and I think under past coaches Pete Gillen and Dave Leitao, this one could have gotten ugly and ended with about a 20-point FSU win. Gillen would have had no answer and Leitao just would have blown his lid with his incredible temper and lost the team, which would have lost even more confidence. I think Bennett's ability to get what he did out of the team against FSU speaks volumes about his ability as a coach and motivator.
We've reached the halfway point of the ACC season and as we inch closer to the end of the regular season in March, here is the rest of Virginia's schedule:
Wednesday home vs. Wake Forest
next Saturday at UNC
Feb. 14 at Clemson
Feb. 18 home vs. Maryland
Feb. 21 at VT
Feb. 25 home vs. UNC
March 1 home vs. FSU
March 4 at Maryland
The reason a win today would have been so huge is because UVa has one of the toughest ACC schedules left in the conference. Getting a win from FSU at home, or in one of the UNC games, is going to be very tough. I think UVa has to get to 10 wins in the ACC to feel safe about make the NCAA tournament but nine might do it, too. If Virginia goes 0-3 vs. FSU and UNC, but 5-0 in its other games, that would be 10 wins. I think it is more likely that the Hoos will go 4-1, maybe 3-2, in those other games. Every win UVa could eek out in that group of three vs. UNC and FSU, the less pressure there is on the Hoos to be perfect in the other games, which are going to be tough, especially at Maryland, at Va. Tech, and at Clemson. And even though losses to teams below them in the standings would be bad (Maryland, VT, Clemson), a win or two over UNC or FSU would be huge for Virginia's RPI and tournament resume and largely overshadow bad losses.
For now, the Hoos should be proud of their effort in this game but look toward improving. They have a big game next Saturday at UNC, but shouldn't overlook Wake at home Wednesday, a team that beat them last year for its only ACC win of the season. Bennett and the Hoos went 4-4 in the second half of the ACC last year without Mike Scott after going 3-5 in the first half of the ACC season, a solid feat. This season, hopefully Bennett can have another good second half (as good or better than the first), this time without Assane Sene, who won't be back until sometime in early March.
Comments
Post a Comment