FSU vs. Virginia: Game thread, preview, how to watch

Florida State Seminoles basketball, which has notched just one win in its last nine games, is on the road today to wrap up its ACC away game schedule with a matchup vs. the Virginia Cavaliers.

The Seminoles, who at 14-13 (7-10 ACC) sit just one game above .500 with the regular season wrapping up, head into another game depleted, as newbies and new names are called upon to bear the load left by injured starters.

“We’ve shown signs of playing well with them, but they go through periods where it’s obvious that they’re still learning,” head coach Leonard Hamilton said this week. “But I think it’s valuable experience that they are getting.”

“There are times when maybe if we had different, more experienced guys, we could change and maybe slow down a little bit, I’ve done that before. But right now, we’re trying to teach our system. For the long haul, I think we’re better off sticking with who we are and trying to get better at it.”

It’s not going to be an easy night to get a win vs. the Cavaliers (17-11, 11-7 ACC), who’ll be hosting Senior Night. Virginia, who recently dropped a close game to Duke, needs to pad wins to try and secure an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

“We’ve got to be on our best game in order to go into any game on the road in the ACC and come away with a victory,” Hamilton said. “We got to be more patient on the offensive end and make sure we take high percentage shots because against Virginia it’s not going to be that many possessions. Plus, they are going to eliminate a lot of what you normally do in terms of driving to the basket — and they don’t foul.”

FSU vs. Virginia tips off at 4 p.m. and is set to be broadcast on ESPN2

Channel

ESPN2

Stream

ESPN, Hulu, FuboTV

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According to DraftKings, the Seminoles are 8.5 point underdogs to Virginia.

Game notes via FSU

HAMILTON, FLORIDA STATE WITH TWO NATIONAL HISTORICAL RECORDS

Under Head Coach Leonard Hamilton, the Seminoles have won a NCAA record 13 consecutive overtime games. The streak began with a 101-90 double overtime win over Syracuse on January 13, 2018 and continued on January 18, 2022 with their 79-78 overtime win over Duke; …Speaking to the ability of Head Coach Leonard Hamilton and how he develops talent, Hamilton has now won an NCAA record 55 games over ranked teams while his teams were unranked. Hamilton’s 55th win over a ranked team as the coach of an unranked team came as a 79-78 overtime win over No. 5 Duke on January 18.

HAMILTON IS THE FIFTH WINNINGEST COACH IN ACC HISTORY

Seminole Head Coach Leonard Hamilton is the fifth winningest coach in ACC history with 391 career wins and ranked fifth in ACC history with 174 career ACC wins at Florida State.

HAMILTON TO BE INDUCTED INTO FLORIDA STATE HALL OF FAME

The Florida State University’s Athletics Hall of Fame will induct nine new members on Friday, April 8, including men’s basketball coach Leonard Hamilton and All-Americans from six different sports. Hamilton, who is the Seminoles’ all-time winningest basketball coach and currently the fifth all-time winningest coach in ACC history, will be inducted along with one of his former players in star point guard Toney Douglas.

FLORIDA STATE’S SUCCESS AGAINST VIRGINIA

Beginning with a 69-62 win over Virginia on January 17, 2016 in Tallahassee, Florida State is one of only two teams in the ACC with a winning record against Virginia since the start of the 2015-16 season.

PRIETO NAMED TO THE ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM

Redshirt senior Harrison Prieto, who earned a double double of 13 points and 13 rebounds against Wake Forest on February 5, has been named to the 2022 Academic All-District 4 Men’s Basketball team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors (CoSIDA) of America. The 2021-22 Academic All-District Men’s Basketball recognizes the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom. Prieto earned a 3.61 GPA as an undergraduate in Meteorology and holds a 3.58 GPA as a graduate student.

SEMINOLES’ COLLEGE BASKETBALL RECORD OVERTIME WINNING STREAK

Florida State defeated Duke, 79-70, in overtime on January 18 in Tallahassee for its all-time college basketball record 13th consecutive overtime victory. The Seminoles have won each of their overtime decisions since a 101-90 double overtime win over Syracuse on January 13, 2018 in a game played at the Donald L. Tucker Center in Tallahassee. Florida State has defeated 11 teams during their overtime streak and are 2-0 in OT games this year.

Game notes via Virginia

For Openers

• UVA (11-7) is tied for fifth in the ACC, while FSU (7-10) is ninth.

• The Cavaliers will honor Kihei Clark, Jayden Nixon and Kody Stattmann, and managers Chris McGahren and Shane Nelson in a pre-game Senior Day ceremony.

• A win over Florida State would give the Cavaliers 12 or more ACC wins for the fourth straight year.

• In the 53-game series with Florida State, 20 of the 53 games have been decided by 5 points or less.

Hoo Are These Cavaliers?

• The Cavaliers play defense, take good shots, share and take care of the basketball, rebound, and play more defense.

• UVA is led by its backcourt of Kihei Clark (10.5 ppg & 4.2 apg) and Reece Beekman (7.9 ppg, 5.0 apg, 3.5 rpg & 2.0 spg), and the additions of transfers Jayden Gardner (15.3 ppg & 7.0 rpg) and Armaan Franklin (11.4 ppg).

• The Cavaliers added transfers Gardner (East Carolina) and Franklin (Indiana) to fill the void left by standouts Sam Hauser (16 ppg), Jay Huff (13 ppg) and Trey Murphy III (11.3 ppg).

• Gardner averaged 18.5 points and 8.9 rebounds in 79 career games at East Carolina, while Franklin averaged 11.4 points and shot 42.5 percent from 3-point range in 2020-21.

• Francisco Caffaro (4.5 ppg & 4.5 rpg) and Kadin Shedrick (7.0 ppg, 5.4 rpg & 2.2 bpg) anchor the paint. Shedrick started the first 16 games, while Caffaro has started the last 12 contests.

• Kody Stattmann (37.8% 3FGs), Malachi Poindexter, Taine Murray, Igor Miliĉić Jr. and Carson McCorkle provide perimeter depth off the bench.

Virginia All-Time vs. Florida State

• Virginia is 26-27 all-time vs. Florida State, including a 16-9 mark in Charlottesville, in a series that began in 1991-92.

• UVA dropped an 81-60 decision to FSU last season.

• The Cavaliers have a two-game winning streak against FSU in Charlottesville and are 5-1 in their last games vs. the Seminoles at John Paul Jones Arena.

• UVA has limited Florida State to fewer than 70 points in 19 of the last 20 meetings.

• Head coach Tony Bennett is 10-9 all-time vs. Florida State.

Last Time vs. The Seminoles

• M.J. Walker scored 17 points and RaiQuan Gray added 15 as then-No. 16 Florida State defeated then-No. 7 Virginia 81-60 in ACC action on Feb. 15, 2021, in Tallahassee.

• The Seminoles jumped to a 45-25 halftime lead before Kihei Clark led Virginia’s 16-3 run to start the second half.

• Clark scored all 12 of his points in the second stanza, joining Trey Murphy III (13), Tomas Woldetensae (12) and Sam Hauser (11) in double figures.

• FSU outrebounded UVA 31-25 and drilled 13 of 24 3-pointers.

• FSU’s 81 points were its most against Virginia since scoring 87 in an overtime win against the Cavaliers on Jan. 11, 2006.

• UVA shot 46.8 percent and 9 of 23 from 3-point range.

Last Time Out

• Kihei Clark scored a career-high 25 points, but No. 7 Duke edged Virginia 65-61 in ACC action on Wednesday, Feb. 23 at John Paul Jones Arena.

• Jeremy Roach scored 15 points off the bench for the Blue Devils (24-4, 14-3 ACC) and A.J. Griffin added 13.

• Jayden Gardner tallied 16 points and Reece Beekman chipped in 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists for the Cavaliers (17-11, 11-7 ACC).

• Duke outrebounded UVA 33-31 and owned a 28-20 advantage in the paint.