No. 15 Virginia extended its winning streak to five games on Tuesday, but it didn’t come easy.
The Cavaliers will now briefly step out of conference to face Ohio State on Saturday night in Nashville.
It’s part of the inaugural Nashville Hoops Showdown, a neutral-site game designed to boost NCAA Tournament resumes. That’s more important to the Buckeyes at this point, as Virginia has emerged as one of the elite teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Virginia squeaked past Florida State 61-58 on the road to keep its hot streak going. The Cavaliers finished the game on an 11-1 run.
The Cavaliers (21-3) won despite shooting 37.7%. That’s because they held the Seminoles to 29% shooting.
“Certainly our defense kept us in it,” Virginia coach Ryan Odom said. “Our offense left a lot to be desired.”
Reserve guard Jacari White was one of the few players in an offensive groove. He finished with 19 points, four rebounds and two assists in 21 minutes. All but three of those points came in the second half.
“We have an experienced group that never feels like they’re out of it,” Odom said. “We certainly have to play better than we’re playing right now if we want to challenge the best teams in the country … but there’s a toughness. When you’ve won, I guess it’s 21 games now, they figure it out. They can win pretty, they can win ugly. And they just kind of find a way.”
Virginia remained in the chase for the ACC regular-season crown. They’re one game back of Duke and tied for second place with Clemson at 10-2. Duke and Clemson will square off earlier in the day, while Virginia’s game won’t factor into the conference standings.
The Buckeyes (16-8) have fallen into a win-one, lose-one rut over their last seven games. They’re hoping to snap that streak on Saturday.
Ohio State bounced back from a 21-point drubbing at the hands of archrival No. 2 Michigan on Sunday with an 89-82 triumph over visiting Southern California in Big Ten play on Wednesday.
The Buckeyes outscored the Trojans 49-39 in the second half. Bruce Thornton led the way with 21 points, making all 11 of his free throws. Thornton scored the final nine Ohio State points over the closing 1:34. He also had eight assists and six rebounds.
That win could prove pivotal when NCAA Tournament bids are handed out. The Buckeyes are considered to be on the tournament bubble right now.
“It feels very, very crucial,” coach Jake Diebler said. “It’s a team with similar metrics, it’s a home game, similar standings in the Big Ten, all that stuff, right? Which, again, we’re going to keep facing as the year goes on. I think most importantly, the results are critical right now.”
It wouldn’t have been possible without the clutch performance of his senior guard.
“I just think he played like an upperclassman, played like a leader, played like a really, really good player, really throughout the entirety of the game,” Diebler said.
