No. 2 Virginia Upset 69-59 by FSU in 2019 ACC Tournament Semifinals
March 16, 2019
The fourth-seeded Florida State Seminoles looked more like the top seed in a 69-59 upset over the actual No. 1 Virginia Cavaliers in the ACC tournament semifinals Friday.
The Seminoles turned the game on its head in the second half. Senior guard David Nichols took charge off of the bench, and 10 of his game-leading 14 points came in the second half.
Down by 11 with less than seven minutes to go, Virginia was improbably forced to double-team Nichols. However, Florida State was too strong as a unit for the focus on Nichols to make the difference. Florida State outperformed Virginia by shooting 56.5 percent from the field, opposed to Virginia's 41.5 percent.
Florida State's bench outscored Virginia's 28-8 with seven players making at least one field goal and nine players seeing 10-plus minutes of game action.
Sophomore guard De'Andre Hunter led the Cavaliers with 13 points.
Prior to Friday's loss at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, Virginia's only two losses all season both came against Duke. The ACC tournament's second semifinal game between the No. 2 North Carolina Tar Heels and No. 3 Duke Blue Devils is sure to be even more epic than Florida State's stunner.
The Seminoles (27-6) will play either Duke or UNC in the ACC tournament finals Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.