With the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament fast approaching, both Florida State and Virginia are looking to close out the regular season strong and build momentum heading into the postseason.
The Seminoles (16-13, 7-11 ACC) could use a boost as they travel to Charlottesville, Va., to face the Cavaliers (14-15, 7-11) on Tuesday. Florida State has dropped three straight, including the last two — 96-85 against North Carolina on Feb. 24, 100-65 at No. 2 Duke on Saturday — that featured the most points allowed by Florida State all season.
Opponents took advantage of the glass in those two games, outrebounding the Seminoles 84-53 overall and 34-13 on the offensive end, leading to 41 second-chance points compared with just 11 for Florida State.
Speaking after the UNC loss, Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton called keeping the Tar Heels off the glass his team’s “Achilles’ heel.”
“There have been very few times in my tenure here at Florida State that we’ve depended on this many first-year guys,” said Hamilton, who is one regular-season win away from reaching 200 in ACC play — the fourth-most in conference history.
Jamir Watkins, averaging a team-best 18.5 points, has scored at least 21 in three straight games. Similarly, Jerry Deng, seeing a minutes increase, has averaged 14 points over the past two outings after scoring just 7.0 points per game prior. Malique Ewin can provide offense as well, averaging 14 points, but he missed the Duke game with a foot injury.
The Cavaliers, who have dropped three of their last four, come off Saturday’s 71-58 home loss against then-No. 13 Clemson. Virginia led by five at the half, but Clemson used a 20-2 run early in the second half to race away with the win.
Interior defense has hurt the Cavaliers over the last four games, as they have allowed an average of 44.5 points in the paint. Florida State averages the fourth-most points in the paint this season in the ACC.
“That’s just experience,” said Virginia interim coach Ron Sanchez. “We don’t have older guys in there trying to get the job done. … As far as us, we just gotta continue to improve, continue to teach, to get better in that area. We’ve got to get more of a defensive presence, absolutely, from our big guys on the inside.”
Isaac McKneely has averaged more than 19 points over the past six games, while attempting to keep Virginia from finishing below .500 for the first time since 2010. The Cavaliers have also seen the emergence of Dai Dai Ames, who has averaged 15 ppg over the last eight contests.
–Field Level Media
