The Florida State Seminoles (27-6, 13-5) gave the second-ranked Virginia Cavaliers (29-3, 16-2) just their third loss of the season, 69-59 in the ACC Semifinals on Friday night.
The Seminoles started strong in this one - after Virginia had an 8-7 lead early in the game, FSU took over and built a lead as high as ten points in the first half en route to a 35-31 halftime lead. Though the Cavaliers pushed back, Florida State broke the game open in the second half with a 13-1 run keyed by David Nichols - the graduate transfer finished the game with a game-high 14 points to lead the win.
In addition to Nichols, Florida State got 11 points from Phil Cofer, as well as ten points and six rebounds from Trent Forest and nine points and nine rebounds from Christ Koumadje. The Seminoles as a team shot 56% from the field and always seemed to have an answer when Virginia tried to mount a comeback. The Cavaliers were led by 13 points from De'Andre Hunter as both teams will now look to learn their NCAA Tournament fate on Sunday.
For the Seminoles, they will now play for the ACC Tournament Championship on Saturday night. They will meet #3 Duke in the ACC Championship, after they knocked off #2 North Carolina 74-73 on Friday night in the second conference semifinal. Tipoff of the ACC Championship Game is scheduled for 8:30 PM and you can hear the game throughout Tampa Bay on 95.3 WDAE & AM 620.
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