No. 1 Virginia ousted by Florida State in ACC Tournament semifinals, 69-59

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Virginia was torched by hot shooting Florida State Friday night in the ACC Semifinals, 69-59.  

The Wahoos, the No. 1 seed heading into tonight's game, were favored to beat the 4th-seeded Seminoles, but Florida State shot 56.5 percent from the floor to join Duke as the only teams to defeat Virginia this year. UVA falls to 29-3 with the loss.  

"We had some chances when the game, I think we went up one. But Florida State played well. They defend it well, as I said, tonight they were the tougher team. They're more physical that way," Virginia coach Tony Bennett said.

De'Andre Hunter was the top scorer for Virginia securing them 13 points, with Seminoles senior David Nichols coming off the bench to lead Florida State with 14 points. Florida State held Virginia to just 21 percent shooting from 3-point range.

 "They played great defense, we were missing some shots, we were turning the ball over, they were getting a lot of offensive rebounds. It was just a lot of breakdowns on our part," Hunter said.

"Yeah, their defense was probably it. They're very physical team but they figured out defensively what we were doing and they played it well, so props to them," VIrginia center Jay Huff said.

Despite the loss, Virginia is still projected to be a top seed in the NCAA tournament when the selection Sunday brackets come out.

"It's going to be painful not to play tomorrow. I remember we cut down the nets in the ACC tournament last year and we didn't like the way our season ended so this isn't the end all be all by any means so just about tying to figure out how much better we can get between now and Thursday or Friday," Virginia guard Ty Jerome said.

"A loss isn't always a loss. Sometimes it's a lesson. So well just come into it and try to fix some things and it's a good thing we're losing now and not in the tournament so well definitely correct some things for sure," Virginia forward Braxton Key said.

Florida State will now face 3-seed Duke for the ACC tournament title on Saturday night.

 

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