Florida State men's basketball struggles with perimeter defense again in loss to No. 13 Virginia

The Florida State men’s basketball team could not slow down Virginia this time.

The Seminoles (5-13, 3-4 ACC) were no match for the Cavaliers (13-3, 5-2) in their second meeting of the season Saturday, falling 67-58 in front of a crowd of 9,043 at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center.

When those two programs played in Charlottesville, Va. on Dec. 3, Virginia narrowly escaped with a 62-57 victory. The Cavaliers committed 12 turnovers while shooting just 35.3% from the floor and 26.3% from 3-point range.

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Just over a month later, Virginia had no problem handling FSU on the road. The Cavaliers protected a double-digit lead over the Seminoles for the majority of the game, shooting 45% (27 of 60) from the floor and 50% (11 of 22) from 3-point range while tallying only six turnovers.

“This is not the way we have been accustomed to playing. I was surprised that the margin of our loss was nine points,” FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said in his postgame press conference. “We did not play with that sense of urgency.”

Here are three takeaways from the game.

Extended minutes took a toll on the Seminoles' starters

The vaunted Virginia defense kept FSU in check.

The Cavaliers held the Seminoles to shooting only 39.6% (21 of 53) from the floor and 26.3% (5 of 19) from 3-point range. Their three leading scorers on the season – guards Caleb Mills (14 points), Matthew Cleveland (10 points) and Darin Green Jr. (nine points) – combined to shoot 11 of 46 (23.9%) from the floor and 4 of 15 (26.7%) from 3-point range.

“We were not moving fast enough to set screens,” Hamilton said. “So when we caught the ball, we were waiting on the screens. And we can’t do that in our system. If you don’t have a screen, you need to move the ball or go on a dribble hand-off. We would pass it and then slowly cut as opposed to passing and making an aggressive cut.”

Hamilton acknowledged that his starters – Cleveland (all 40), Green (38), Mills (38), guard Jalen Warley and forward Cameron Corhen (32) – received too many minutes to be able to play at a high level for the whole game.

FSU has not played its bench much this season, especially in recent games.

Cleveland and Green have received at least 34 and 35 minutes in each of the last six games, respectively. Mills has played 33 minutes or more in five of his last six games. Warley has received 29 minutes or more in four of his last five games.

“Our guys psychologically seem to be pacing themselves to try to get through the heavy minutes that they have been challenged to play,” Hamilton said. “I don’t think in my coaching career, I have ever had a stat sheet that had guys playing (this many minutes).

“I thought right from the beginning of the game, this was not the pace that we practice at, offensively or defensively. I thought that we were a step slow.”

The Seminoles somewhat found a silver lining on offense with Cleveland. With 10 points and 10 rebounds, Cleveland extended his double-double streak to seven games. Reggie Royals in the 1972 season marks the last time an FSU player accomplished that feat.

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Virginia exploited FSU's cracks on the perimeter

For much of the season, the Seminoles have struggled with their perimeter defense.

FSU ranked No. 305 nationally in 3-point percentage defense (36%) after allowing Wake Forest to shoot 14 of 26 (53.8%) from beyond the arc Wednesday.

Two Virginia players – senior guard Armaan Franklin (20) and graduate senior forward Ben Vander Plas (15) – reached double figures in scoring and combined to shoot 7 of 13 from beyond the arc.

“They were playing a team that is not aggressive enough to get out and contest those shots,” Hamilton said. “We did not have the same level of energy to contest those shots as we have been accustomed to. In fact, that is the last two or three games that we have played where we have been very ineffective with getting out the level of energy that it takes to contest those shots.”

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Baba Miller update

The Seminoles were without Baba Miller against the Cavaliers.

The freshman forward came down with tonsillitis, which could not have been worse timing for him. Miller had finally completed a 16-game suspension and made his FSU debut at Wake Forest, totaling four points, four rebounds and a block.

Hamilton said he is unsure if Miller will be available for the Seminoles’ next game at Notre Dame on Tuesday.

“This is something that he has had before,” Hamilton said. “They have given him some strong antibiotics. Hopefully that will help him heal a little faster. We will see what happens on Tuesday.”

Up next

FSU will next go on the road to play Notre Dame (9-8, 1-5) at 7 p.m. Tuesday (TV: ESPNU).

Reach Carter Karels at ckarels@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter @CarterKarels. You can also follow our coverage on Facebook (NoleSports) and Instagram (tlhnolesports).

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU men's basketball: Seminoles lose to Virginia Cavaliers in ACC matchup