Cavaliers lose the ball, and then the game

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.

Reserve Okaro White scored 13 points as No. 21 Florida State held off 16th-ranked Virginia 58-55 to keep a share of first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference with its seventh straight league victory.

Virginia climbed back from a 13-point second-half deficit, but Jontel Evans’ desperation 30-footer didn’t get off in time before the final buzzer – it bounced off the rim anyway. Virginia’s four losses this season have come by a total of 10 points.

Mike Scott and Joe Harris led the Cavaliers with 16 points apiece. Scott also had a game-high 11 rebounds.

Afterward, all several Cavaliers could do was bemoan the chances they said they gave away.

“Their defense was okay, but we mainly lost that one because of us” said Scott, a former standout at Deep Creek High.

Virginia (18-4, 5-3 ACC) entered the game averaging an ACC-low 11.1 turnovers per contest, but had recorded 12 by halftime.

The game remained closely contested for most of the afternoon, though, because Florida State (16-6, 7-1) was almost equally careless with the ball. The Seminoles finished with 19 turnovers, though they were averaging a conference-high 17 per game.