So much for slowing things down. UVa. outrunned and outgunned an athletic Florida State team for the second time in two weeks, and posted its fourth double-digit ACC win in five games.
That this all comes on the heels of what was the nadir of the Virginia program’s existence in the Tony Bennett era, an embarrassing 87-52 loss at Tennessee on Dec. 30, speaks volumes about the 2013-2014 Cavs.
That loss dropped UVa. to a middling 9-4 at the conclusion to the nonconference portion of the season, with losses at home to VCU and Wisconsin, and losses on the road at Green Bay and ut.
This for a team that was a preseason Top 25 pick, and was picked by the ACC media to finish in the top four in the most rugged of conferences this year, was underachieving, to say the least.
The first win over Florida State, a 62-50 decision in Tallahassee two Saturdays ago, was a key turning point. Joe Harris, the team’s heart and soul, and leading scorer, played just two minutes against FSU in that one, after suffering a concussion on an inbounds play.
A 74-51 home win over a Wake Forest team that had just knocked off UNC followed, then Virginia went down to NC State, a place that has been tough to say the least for UVa. teams in recent years, and won 76-45.
Even the lone loss so far in ACC play this season, a 69-65 defeat at Duke, was nothing to hang the team’s collective head over, with Virginia rallying from down 11 in the final four minutes to take the lead with 36.5 seconds left before Duke pulled that game out in the end.
A second double-digit win over a quality Florida State team on Saturday, 78-66, puts Virginia in an interesting position. This is finally the team that fans thought was a Top 25 team nationally and a top four team in the ACC. Stay injury-free, and don’t forget the sting of that ugly loss in Knoxville, and this team’s potential is limitless.
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Chris Graham
