No. 5 Florida State falls at Virginia, streak ends at 10
Kihei Clark was the littlest player on the court, but he made the biggest play.
The 5foot9 guard connected on the goahead layup with 59 seconds left, and host Virginia ended No. 5 Florida State’s winning streak at 10 games with a 6156 decision Tuesday night.
Clark drove down the left side of the lane, reached across and banked in his shot on the right side.
“When I got the big switched on me, I used my quickness to my advantage. That was the game plan,” Clark said.
On the play, size didn’t matter, Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton said.
“Sometimes size is misleading,” he said. “Sometimes when you’re small and quick and fast, that has advantages, too. I mean, he’s a very clever guy with the ball. … He might be small in stature, but he has the biggest heart in the ACC and guys like that, they have that special ‘it’ factor that sometimes you can’t identify, but he has it.”
The victory was the second straight for the reigning national champions, who’d lost four of five previously.
Mamadi Diakite had 19 points and nine rebounds for the Cavaliers (146, 64 ACC).
Devin Vassell led Florida State (173, 72) with 17 points. The loss was the Seminoles’ first since Dec. 3 at Indiana. #8 Villanova 79, St. John’s 59: Saddiq Bey scored 23 points, Collin Gillespie had 17 points and 13 rebounds, and the visiting
Wildcats (173, 71 Big East) won their seventh straight game, routing the Red Storm (139, 27). #9 Duke 79, Pittsburgh 67: Vernon Carey Jr. had 26 points and 13 rebounds as the host Blue Devils (173, 62 ACC) took care of the Panthers (138, 46), who were led by Au’Diese Toney’s gamehigh 27 points. #16 Butler 69, Georgetown 64: Sean McDermott scored 11 of his 25 points during an 183 run early in the second half as the visiting Bulldogs (174, 53 Big East) overcame a 14point, firsthalf deficit to knock off the Hoyas (129, 26). #17 Auburn 83, Mississippi 82: Isaac Okoro converted a threepoint play with 1:41 left in the second overtime and the visiting Tigers (182, 52 SEC), who trailed by as many as 19 early in the second half, prevailed. The Rebels fell to 1010, 16. #25 Rutgers 70, Purdue 63: Caleb McConnell scored 16 points, making all 12 of his freethrow attempts, and the host Scarlet Knights (165, 73 Big Ten) held off the Boilermakers (1110, 46).
Women
#2 Baylor 83, Iowa State 62: Juicy Landrum scored 22 points, Te’a Cooper had 19 with a careerhigh five 3pointers, and the host Lady Bears (181, 70) picked up their 48th consecutive regularseason Big 12 win. Baylor also has the nation’s longest homecourt winning streak at 51 games. The Cyclones fell to 127, 44.