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FSU basketball: 3 takeaways from ‘Noles blowout win over Virginia

By Kelvin Hunt

Jan 25, 2020; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Florida State Seminoles guard MJ Walker (23) shoots the ball over Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward John Mooney (33) during the second half at Donald L. Tucker Center. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 25, 2020; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Florida State Seminoles guard MJ Walker (23) shoots the ball over Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward John Mooney (33) during the second half at Donald L. Tucker Center. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-USA TODAY Sports /
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No. 16 FSU basketball (12-3, 8-2 ACC) lived up to their propensity to play to their level of competition.

The Noles were coming off a lackluster overtime win against below .500 Wake Forest in their last outing. However, the team that blew out Virginia looked totally different from the onset.

FSU began the game with a noticeable difference intensity wise and played smart basketball to build a 23 point first-half lead over the Cavaliers.

Virginia is a good team, and everyone knew a run was going to come at some point. UVA began the second half with back-to-back layup buckets and eventually cut the lead down to seven with 14:25 left in the game.

However, a big three-pointer by Sadaar Calhoun pushed the lead back to 10 and the Cavaliers would never get any closer.

Let’s take a look at three takeaways from the game.

  • Intensity
  • No sloppy play
  • Good shot selection

As I mentioned, the intensity was there from the beginning, especially on the defensive end. The Noles defended well, stopping penetration and getting their hands in the passing lanes. Virginia took a lot of tough shots (and made a few of them) in the game.

FSU went into the game averaging 14 turnovers per game and only turned the ball over five times. The FSU defense forced 14 turnovers(UVA averaged 9.8 going into the game) and had 21 points off those turnovers.

Aside from 3-4 bad shots from MJ Walker, the Noles made excellent decisions on the offensive end. Walker got trigger happy a couple of times from long-range, he made a couple of them, but they still were not great shots.

The Noles took the ball to the rim with authority and moved the ball well offensively.

Parting Thoughts

My biggest question is, why can’t this FSU basketball team show up all the time? I know it’s hard to get up for teams that aren’t a real threat, but they need to find a way to find this type of intensity before every game, despite whoever it is taking the court against them.

Hot. Noles Dominate No. 7 Virginia. light

Here’s to hoping they can find this same level of play when they host No. 21 Virginia Tech Saturday at noon.

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