7:00 PM EST, ESPN – Line: Virginia -1, Over/Under: 115

A pair of teams heading in opposite directions meet in a rematch as the No. 5 Florida State Seminoles battle the reigning National Champion, Virginia Cavaliers, from John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia. In a season in which the typical hierarchy of the Atlantic Coast Conference has been disrupted, perhaps the most surprising claimant to the throne has been Florida State (17-2, 7-1 in ACC), who apart from a narrow 61-63 loss to Pittsburgh in the Season Opener, has won all but one of their last eighteen contests, including each of their last seven outings in conference play. Sitting just a half-game behind Louisville within the league, the Seminoles, who have advanced to the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight in the past two NCAA Tournaments, looks poised to advance even further as they challenge for what would be their first ACC Championship since joining the conference back in 1991. Indeed, at Fifth Overall in the Polls, this is the highest position that the program has enjoyed since it was an Independent back in 1972-73, and only the sixth time since joining a conference forty-four years ago. Now in his eighteenth term with the school, Leonard Hamilton is off to his best since arriving in Tallahassee back in 2002, with a group that largely typifies the successful teams that he’s had in the past; this incarnation of Florida State is long, tall, and athletic, while playing very much at their own pace in which they can squeeze their opponents into long periods of frustration. On the season, they rank dead-last in the ACC in Field Goal Attempts (59.8), only to execute efficiently in shooting 44.6% from the field (4th in ACC), including a stellar 40.4% from beyond the arc (2nd in ACC). Furthermore, this is a team that has no problems stepping up tot he Charity Stripe and knocking down Free-Throws, leading the conference in that category (78.6%), which is certainly something that will aid them come the Postseason Tournaments. Defensively, the ‘Noles lead the league in Blocks (6.5), all the while yielding the fewest Two-Point Field Goals (14.0) and Attempts (32.3), along with the fewest Field Goal Attempts (54.5) in general in the ACC. This is a sign of their activity around the rim, where they do an excellent job of collapsing to shut down driving lanes. However, as their opponent can attest, a byproduct of this style of play is that you will no doubt find yourself in many close contests, which is something that has occurred in greater frequency of late for these kids. Their last three outings, all wins, have been decided by a combined Nine Points, including last weekend’s narrow 85-84 victory at home over Notre Dame. The visitors led by as many as eleven early, but an 18-0 run saw the hosts race into lead, heading into Halftime with a 47-37 advantage. However, Florida State very nearly wasted it all, as the visitors crept back into the affair the affair by getting to the Free-Throw Line, where they knocked down 22-of-27 Attempts (81.5%), outscoring the hosts by Nine Points. In turn, Hamilton’s charges struggled down the stretch, particularly to score in the Paint, relying instead on their talents from downtown, where they netted 12-of-18 Threes (66.7%), five of which came courtesy of Sophomore Forward, Wyatt Wilkes (3.2 Points, 39.1% FG, 36.1% 3FG, 1.1 REB, 15.2 PER), who came off the Bench to lead the team with a career-high Nineteen Points in nineteen minutes of play. Senior Guard, Trent Forrest (11.8 PTS, 44.9% FG, 31.3% 3FG, 4.1 REB, 4.3 AST, 1.8 STL, 18.5 PER), added Thirteen Points on 3-of-9 shooting (33.3%), becoming just the forty-eighth player in school history to surpass 1,000 Points. Saturday’s game also saw the return of Freshman Center, Balsa Koprivica (6.0 PTS, 74.5% FG, 2.8 REB, 27.1 PER), who had missed the previous four games due to injury, with the towering Serbian contributing with Six Points, Six Rebounds, four of the offensive variety, helping the Seminoles establish an early 23-11 advantage on the glass. Tonight’s meeting with Virginia will mark the second such encounter in the past two weeks, as Florida State edged them 54-50 in Tallahassee on January 15th, a game in which the hosts needed a late 10-3 run to close out the affair. In one of the slowest matchups that you’ll ever see, the Seminoles overcame 37.0% shooting from the field and Sixteen Turnovers largely due to their prowess from deep (Plus-15) and their work on the offensive glass (Plus-7). Sophomore Forward, Devin Vassell (13.1 PTS, 49.5% FG, 39.1% 3FG, 5.2 REB, 1.6 AST, 1.6 STL, 1.1 BLK, 26.0 PER), led the way to victory with eighteen Points on 7-of-15 Shooting (46.7%), Five Rebounds, Three Assists, and a Steal.

Meanwhile, after finally breaking through and winning the program’s first National Championship, Virginia (13-6, 5th in ACC) has fallen back to the pack in a season that has quite frankly been rather disappointing. After winning twenty-nine or more games in five of the previous six years, the Cavaliers have finally succumbed to that dreaded “transition year” that so often hits teams after experiencing championship glory. To his credit, Tony Bennett has done a remarkable job of keeping his kids in school longer than most of his contemporaries, and as a result has greatly benefitted from the consistency and chemistry that is afforded by experienced players continuing to build upon prior experiences together. However, cutting down the nets nearly one year ago, he’s been forced to replace his three leading scorers from last year’s unit, as the likes of Kyle Guy, DeAndre Hunter, and Ty Jerome are all plying their trade in the NBA these days. That’s a lot of production, experience, and most importantly, leadership leaving Charlottesville in one Offseason, which while being an annual problem solved by virtually all of the elite programs in the country, is very much something new for Virginia. So with that said, it’s been a bit of a jarring transition to the next class of players, namely Seniors Mamadi Diakite (13.2 PTS, 47.4% FG, 35.1% 3FG, 6.5 REB, 1.3 BLK, 20.6 PER) and Braxton Key (10.0 PTS, 42.6% FG, 17.8% 3FG, 7.3 REB, 1.6 AST, 1.8 STL, 17.5 PER), alongside towering Junior Center, Jay Huff (8.7 PTS, 59.8% FG, 33.3% 3FG, 6.0 REB, 1.5 BLK, 24.3 PER), to lead the Cavs into this post-championship wilderness. As we hinted at earlier, this is a team that plays a very particular style, with nobody doing it better over the past few seasons, which is something that they can continue to hang their proverbial hat in 2019-2020; Bennett’s charges have relinquished the fewest points in the country, allowing just 50.4 Points per Game (1st Overall) on 35.6% shooting from the field (1st Overall), including 40.8% shooting from inside the arc (3rd Overall) and 29.2% beyond it (25th Overall). Simply put, they limit possessions by slowing the pace of play to a glacial crawl, and defend like hell in their opponent’s half. However, the problem that sometimes arises is that any team that adopts such a doctrine must also make the most of their own limited volume of possessions, forcing them to be efficient and execute at a high level offensively. If that doesn’t happen, then….. well you have this year’s Cavaliers. To say that Virginia has been bad on the offensive end of the court would be an insult to bad offensive teams, for this group ranks in the bottom percentile in most offensive categories; there are 353 teams in Division-1, and these kids rank 351st in Points (56.0), 333rd in Field Goal Percentage (40.1%), 349th in Three-Point Shooting (26.7%), and 323rd in Assists (11.2). Simply put, that’s not enough to get it done, folks, which has only been underlined during league play where they’re struggling at 5-4, and losers of four of their last six outings. That very well could have been five out of six had it not been for a furious rally down the stretch to force Overtime in last weekend’s 65-63 victory at Wake Forest. Down twelve early in the Second Half, the visitors did everything in their power not to win the game late, nearly spoiling a comeback in which they shot a dreadful 9-of-30 from the field, kept fouling the Demon Deacons (21-of-24 FT). Leading by three points with just 10.7 remaining in Regulation, Bennett played the percentages and implored his troops to foul, though he didn’t necessarily mean for them to foul the hosts in the process of shooting a three. That’s precisely what happened, and thus the game went to Overtime where they would get a shot at redemption; Wake trailed by two coming out of a timeout with just 8.2 seconds left to play, but couldn’t even get a good look off as the visiting side closed down the driving lanes and snuffed out their opponent’s final attempt. The aforementioned Diakite was solid in scoring Sixteen Points on an efficient 7-of-10 shooting (70.0%), with Seven Rebounds and an Assist, though the star of the game was Junior Guard, Tomas Woldetensae (5.4 PTS, 33.0% FG, 35.5% 3FG2.3 REB, 8.5 PER), who dropped a career-high Twenty-One Points on 7-of-15 shooting (46.7%), including 7-of-14 from long range (50.0%), and accounted for that walk-off defensive stop to clinch a sorely-needed victory. Perhaps Woldetensae’s breakout is a sign of things to come for an offense that absolutely needs some kind of positive factor, particularly after the Guard only shot 32.0% from Three this season, though has shown improvement in knocking down 8-of-21 (38.0%) over the previous four games. At this point, we’re sure that Bennett will take anything he can get offensively…