FSU drops their ACC opener, 62-50

When you play Virginia you know that there aren't going to be many possessions. The Hoos do everything they can within the rules to shorten the game. So a wasted possession means a lot more than it does in an uptempo game. FSU, which hadn't lost at home to UVA since 2001, was careless with the ball in the first half, committing a remarkable 13 turnovers in just 30 possessions. They trailed at the half 30-17.

In the 2nd half FSU did a much better job taking care of the ball, but in the early going they just couldn't get any stops. With less than 14 minutes to play, UVA stretched their lead out to 21. But then FSU got hot. A Nole run cut the UVA lead to 7 with three minutes left to play. Okaro White had an open three to cut the lead even more, but back rimmed it. At that point FSU had to go into desperation foul mode instead of watching the Hoos take 35 seconds off the clock with every possession, and they just couldn't close the gap.

In the end, Virginia won 62-50. The Noles (9-4, 0-1) dropped their ACC opener, and are now in last place with Duke.

Okaro White led FSU with 15 points and 7 boards despite sitting a long stretch of the first half with two fouls. Aaron Thomas had 9 points and 6 rebounds (including three NBA moves, two for posters, and one beautiful baseline reverse through three players). Ian Miller struggled, committing seven turnovers, which is two more than FSU's defense forced all night.

Now the Noles have to regroup and face another national top 10 defense. They travel on Thursday to face a much improved Clemson team.