Thursday March 12, 2015
Courtesy of TheACC.com
LINK: TOP-SEEDED CAVALIERS TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS
Cavaliers move on to semifinals
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Mike Tobey scored 11 points and No. 3 Virginia held on to beat Florida State 58-44 on Thursday in an Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinal.
Evan Nolte added 11 points while Malcolm Brodgon scored all 10 of his in the second half for the top-seeded and defending tournament champion Cavaliers (29-2).
They never trailed, led by 17 and shot 47.5 percent in earning a return trip to the semifinals.
They also welcomed back key guard Justin Anderson from injury. Anderson had missed eight games after breaking his finger and then undergoing an appendectomy.
Xavier Rathan-Mayes had 13 points to lead the ninth-seeded Seminoles (17-16). They hit just one field goal during the final 7 minutes and were denied their third semifinal appearance since 2009.
Florida State twice made it a five-point game in the second half, the last coming on Rathan-Mayes’ layup with just over 7 minutes remaining.
Tobey countered with a dunk two possessions later, and at the other end Florida State’s Montay Brandon was called for an offensive foul that incensed coach Leonard Hamilton — who was hit with a technical foul by official Sean Hull.
Brogdon hit both free throws to put the Cavaliers up 48-39 with 5:29 remaining. He then added two more free throws before his jumper with about 2½ minutes remaining put Virginia back up by double figures at 52-42.
That sent the Cavaliers into a Friday semifinal where they will face either No. 14 Louisville or No. 19 North Carolina.
But the most important stat line for the Cavaliers belonged to Anderson — mainly because, for the first time in a long while, he actually had one.
The junior checked in to applause with 15:22 left in the first half, and he went down hard when his only shot of the half was blocked by Jarquez Smith with about 2:15 remaining. He played three minutes in the second half and did not score, missing both of his shots but grabbing two rebounds.
TIP-INS
Florida State: Rathan-Mayes was coming off a 30-point performance in the second round against Clemson in which he became the first freshman in ACC history with three 30-point games in one season.
Virginia: The Cavaliers are 29-2 for the second time in school history, with the only other time coming in 1981-82 with Ralph Sampson.
