No. 9 Florida State knocks off defending national champ Virginia, 54-50

Ten moths ago, the Florida State men's basketball team delivered Virginia its last defeat before the Cavaliers went on to win the national championship.

On Wednesday night, the Seminoles handed the Cavs their third straight defeat of the last two weeks.

Thanks to several strong defensive plays down the stretch and a huge 3-pointer from sophomore guard Devin Vassell in the final minute, No. 9 Florida State handed the defending national champs a 54-50 defeat.

"Some people will say it wasn't a very pretty game," FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton said. "But it was beautiful to me."

Virginia had lost just three games in each of the past two seasons, posting a combined mark of 66-6, but Tony Bennett's team now has lost three times in the last 11 days.

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Box Score: No. 9 FSU 54, Virginia 50

Florida State (15-2, 5-1 in the ACC) led for most of the game, but Virginia (11-5, 3-3) actually took a 47-44 advantage with just over three minutes remaining, and the Cavaliers had an opportunity to go up by five.

But senior guard Trent Forrest blocked a shot near the rim, then redshirt sophomore Anthony Polite drilled a 3-pointer to tie the game.

"My teammates have confidence in me," said Polite, who had four 3-pointers in the win. "It's a shot. I've just got to take it with confidence. And I was able to make it."

"It's huge," Vassell said of Polite's 3. "We shoot shots like that all the time in practice, and just to see him step up and knock it down with confidence - it just gave us a whole big boost."

Forrest then forced a 10-second call on defense before hitting a pair of free throws to push the Seminoles ahead. Vassell then hit a 3-pointer with 14.5 seconds left to put the 'Noles up by five and finished off the win by making two free throws with 4 seconds left.

Vassell led FSU with 18 points and 5 rebounds.

"Virginia had lost two straight and we knew they were going to come out and play a hard game," Vassell said. "They were going to give us their best shot. And we were able to accept that and still come out with the victory."

The first half featured several swings as Florida State opened with a strong start but then let the Cavaliers right back in it. An 11-0 run by the 'Noles gave them a 31-24 lead at halftime.

The spurt was keyed by strong defense and some hot shooting by Polite. The redshirt sophomore hit 4 of 5 shots from the field (3 of 3 from 3-point range) to score 11 points in the first half. He finished with 14 for the game.

It was Florida State's second straight win against Virginia -- the Seminoles defeated the Cavs last year in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament - and fourth in the last six games against Tony Bennett's program.

Florida State 58-3 in its last 61 home games.

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