Five takeaways from Virginia’s narrow win at Florida State

· Yahoo Sports

Feb 10, 2026; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Virginia Cavaliers guard Jacari White (6) makes a three-point shot past Florida State Seminoles forward Chauncey Wiggins (7) during the second half at Donald L. Tucker Center. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-Imagn Images | Melina Myers-Imagn Images

The No. 15 Virginia Cavaliers narrowly avoided a bad loss to Florida State, eking out a 61-58 win in Tallahassee, Fla., despite trailing for nearly the entire second half. Jacari White led Virginia with 19 points, and his four second-half threes were a major factor in Virginia’s comeback.

UVA’s offense once again struggled for large stretches of this game, finding it difficult to establish any consistency on that end of the floor against Florida State’s hounding defense. That said, the Cavaliers stepped up on the defensive end, especially late in the game, as they held the Seminoles scoreless over the last 4:54 of the game.

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On the recurring offensive struggles, Jacari White’s hot shooting, and more, here are five takeaways from the win:

Virginia survived by the skin of its teeth to beat Florida State

UVA took an early 10-4 lead in this game before FSU tied the game at the 13:04 mark of the first half. The Cavaliers would not lead the game again until only 72 seconds remained in the game.

The Cavaliers had looked a little better offensively in their 20-point win over Pitt and 13-point win over Syracuse, but this game was very much a return to the offensive struggles that characterized the close wins at Notre Dame and Boston College. More on that next.

As a result, the ’Hoos had to rely on their defense. They wound up holding FSU to 29.0% from the field and 18.2% from three. That effort allowed the ‘Hoos to stay in the game long enough for White’s three-point barrage to carry them in the second half. A couple clutch twos from White and Thijs De Ridder were the difference in the final minute.

New game, same first half story for Virginia’s offense

It was another less-than-stellar offensive showing by the Cavaliers in the first 20 minutes. They struggled to find any semblance of an offensive flow, and nothing came easy, resulting in multi-minute scoring droughts. A few late-clock threes from Johann Grunloh and Chance Mallory bailed out the offense, but unsurprisingly, that proved impossible to rely on consistently.

Too often the Cavaliers were stagnant on the offensive end and found it difficult to break down FSU’s defense. The Seminoles were hounding the Cavaliers nonstop and were able to force seven turnovers. For comparison, Virginia came in averaging 10.5 turnovers per game in ACC play. The ‘Noles only managed six points off those seven turnovers, but the turnover rate was representative of an out-of-sync offense. When the ’Hoos were able to break down the defense and move the ball, they found more success, but that was infrequently in the first half.

After a 6-of-10 start from the floor, the Cavaliers went 5-of-20, limping into the break. FSU led by as many as seven, and to be tied at halftime felt very fortunate.

UVA might just be a mediocre three-point shooting team

We have seen the Cavaliers be a dangerous three-point shooting team, but the games when that has been the case have been few and far between, especially of late. By no means was the final three-point shooting tally completely awful, but it was also not exactly impressive, and the second-half performance from Jacari White certainly helped bolster the final stats.

The Cavaliers came into this game 13th in the ACC in three-point percentage during conference play at 32.0%. The 4-of-23 three-point performance against Boston College stands out as a particularly woeful showing, but the other recent games have not been ideal either. For most of this game against Florida State, it felt like the ‘Hoos could not hit an open three to save their lives, save for a few impressive, late-clock, desperation attempts.

Outside of the impressive night from Jacari White (5-for-9), the rest of the Cavaliers shot a brutal 5-of-24 (20.8%) from beyond the arc, and nobody else managed to hit more than one in the game. It does appear that they could benefit from some improved shot selection, but that is not solely at fault here.

If Virginia can find its groove from three down the stretch of the season, it will make a major impact, both in games against weaker opponents like this one and when the Cavaliers try to upset No. 4 Duke in Durham later in the year. If not, this won’t be the last close game against an inferior opponent.

Thijs De Ridder struggled to impact this game

It has been a rare scenario when the Belgian freshman has not been a big factor for the Cavaliers. So rare in fact that this is the first time in his college career that he has been held to single figures in scoring in consecutive games. He has notched just nine points each against Syracuse and Florida State, combining to shoot just 6-of-20 from the floor, including 0-for-6 from deep.

Perhaps he has simply had a couple of off-shooting nights. Perhaps the Orange and Seminoles found something in particular that worked well against him in the paint. Either way, the Cavaliers will need De Ridder to provide a bigger impact offensively going forward. Attacking on the inside and not settling for as many threes will likely need to be part of that effort.

Last note, De Ridder does deserve credit for his clutch bucket in the final minute of this one. He pushed Virginia’s lead to three points with only 25 seconds remaining, forcing Florida State into a heavily contested three-pointer in the final seconds.

Jacari White was the lone bright spot offensively

Shooting has largely been a struggle for White since he returned from left wrist surgery. He shot 4-of-18 from three over his first six games back, but has now put together two consecutive good shooting games. White hit 2-of-5 from deep against Syracuse on Saturday before finding his groove in this one.

He was mostly quiet in the first half, recording three points before the break on 1-of-2 from three. But in the second half, he caught fire, shooting 4-of-7 from beyond the arc in the second half alone. He also came up clutch with a highlight reel dunk that gave Virginia the lead for the first time in the second half with just over a minute remaining in the game.

In the end, White produced his second-best scoring output of the season with 19 points, trailing only his perfect shooting day against Dayton when he totaled 25 points. Virginia will hope White can continue that going forward, as the offense has certainly not been the same without White’s three-point shooting threat.

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