Virginia drops to .500 with loss at Florida State

Joe Harris and Jontel Evans sat next to each other in their locker stalls on Saturday night at the Tucker Center. Separated by just a few feet, the Virginia teammates expressed completely different sentiments about the Cavaliers’ 63-56 loss to Florida State. Harris, the freshman, said he was tired of the so-called “moral victories.” Evans, the sophomore, said he believed the setbacks were all a part of the improvement process.

No matter how you want to categorize Virginia’s second straight loss, this much was certain: The Wahoos fought hard, but they were overmatched.

FSU, behind 16 points and eight rebounds from sophomore Michael Snaer, overcame the loss of their top player, Chris Singleton, and held off a late Virginia rally, handing the Cavaliers their 14th-straight loss in the state of Florida.

UVa (12-12, 3-7 ACC) was without senior co-captain Will Sherrill (leg injury) and played with just eight scholarship players. At times, Virginia coach Tony Bennett was forced to employ four- and even five-guard lineups.

Still, the Wahoos were able to trim a 16-point second-half deficit all the way down to three before FSU pulled away in the final minute.

“They showed resiliency to get back into it,” Bennett said. “Certainly, with Chris [Singleton] out, we caught a break.

“It’s hard. You look at them in the locker room and say, ‘You’re fighting and getting close.’ You know, that can sound old, but what’s the alternative? Just don’t go backwards. I want them to be the best they can be. I said at some point we’re going to push through. I don’t know if it’s this year, don’t know if it’s next year -- but don’t you dare go backwards, and that’s what we’re fighting.”

Virginia got off a promising start, jumping out to a 14-7 lead after a Sammy Zeglinski 3-pointer.

However, FSU (18-7, 8-3) went on a 19-4 barrage to take a 34-23 lead at the break. Funny enough, the entire run took place with Singleton out of the game. The Seminoles’ leading scorer and rebounder injured his foot about midway through the half.

During the spurt, UVa did a terrible job of defending the 3-point line. The Seminoles drained uncontested triples on three straight possessions.

“They did a good job of reversing the ball and finding the open man out of the post trap,” said Zeglinski, who scored a game-high 19 points. “At the same time, we have to be able to scramble back and get a hand up.”

Added Bennett: “There was a stretch where we strayed from being really hard to score against...that hurt us.”

Early in the second half, a pair of free throws by Bernard James gave FSU a 45-29 lead. At that point, it seemed as if Virginia might get run off the court.

But Harris (17 points) ignited a comeback with back-to-back 3-pointers. Later, he added another to cap a 10-3 run. About that time, Zeglinski started to heat up. He downed consecutive triples, the second of which cut the lead to 55-51 with 3:02 remaining. Eight of Virginia’s 10 second-half field goals were 3-pointers.

A Harris floater in the lane would trim the deficit to 56-53 with 1:09 to play, but Virginia allowed a James bucket at the other end. Evans committed a turnover on the next UVa possession and that was pretty much it.

“I’m a second-year player -- I shouldn’t be making those mistakes during crunch time,” Evans said, “but it happens.

“I felt we really had a good chance to come back and win.”

Evans didn’t seem to be too down.

“I’m a big believer that the future is bright,” he said. “I believe in everything that Coach Bennett preaches to us.

“Keep fighting, keep knocking and one day we’re gonna be there. It’s frustrating to lose, but you can’t dwell on it. You just have to look to the next day, the next game, and the next opportunity to win.”

A few feet away, a red-faced Harris had a much different demeanor.

“We’re tired of coming close and not coming up with the win,” he said. “Coach keeps saying how we’re so close, we’re so close -- but obviously we want to win.

“These moral victories or whatever -- at some point in time you just have to forget about that. You want the actual win.”

Dunks

Sherrill did not suit up for the game. According to Bennett, the senior reinjured his leg in the Miami game last Saturday. “It’s back to where it was in terms of when he’s able to play, he can play,” Bennett said. “Hopefully he’ll be able to return soon.”...Singleton will be undergoing surgery for a broken bone in his right foot, according to an FSU spokesman. The status of his return is unknown...Virginia shot just 32 percent from the field; FSU was 45 percent...Freshman Will Regan made his first appearance since Jan. 27. He played five minutes and didn’t score...Virginia hosts Duke on Wednesday.