Florida State Seminoles hold off Virginia Cavaliers, win eighth straight

TALLAHASSEE — Devin Vassell scored 18, including a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws in the final seconds, and No. 9 Florida State won its eighth straight, 54-50 over Virginia on Wednesday night.

Anthony Polite came off the bench to drill four 3-pointers for the Seminoles (15-2, 5-1 ACC), who have won 15 of their past 16.

Mamadi Diakite scored 16 on 6-of-8 shooting for Virginia (11-5, 3-3), which had 18 turnovers and made just 21 shots from the floor. Tomas Woldetensae was 3-of-4 from 3-point range, but the rest of the Cavaliers were 0-for-11 from beyond the arc.

Virginia, the defending national champion, has lost three straight.

Trent Forrest had five points, seven rebounds, seven assists and four steals for FSU. The Seminoles had 10 steals and five blocks.

BIG PICTURE

Virginia: It was undone by its own mistakes as it made 12 shots from the floor but had 11 turnovers in the first half alone.

Florida State: It has defeated three ranked teams — then-No. 6 Florida, then-No. 7 Louisville and then No. 16-Tennessee. Virginia fell out of the rankings this week.

UP NEXT

Virginia: At Georgia Tech on Saturday.

Florida State: At Miami on Saturday.