The Virginia head coach managed to prevent his team from falling to the Seminoles, but couldn't help but tip his hat to the Seminoles.
Florida State basketball walked into the Tucker Center as a near 10-point underdog against the No. 18 team in the nation.
Head coach Luke Loucks, however, led a hungry Seminoles team into their home venue against 20-3 Virginia. FSU had UVA on its heels early -- then nearly pulled the Tuesday night upset.
Virginia escaped 61-58 by going on a late 6-0 charge. A victory like this for the Cavaliers becomes an educational lesson to the Loucks led Noles on how to finish out big games.
However, UVA head coach Ryan Odom couldn't help but praise the direction FSU is going in with its alumnus leading the Seminoles.
"Just really impressed with coach Loucks and his team. He's doing a great job with this group," Odom told reporters after taking the emotional win. "They're playing as well as anybody that we've played recently in the ACC. And just watching these guys on film, they're clearly a connected group and they're playing with massive energy and enthusiasm."
Odom couldn't help but marvel at this aspect of the Noles that stressed out Virginia throughout the night.
"I marveled at how fast they get the ball up the court. They had us on our heels pretty much the entire game," Odom explained.
That kind of tempo forced UVA into some costly mistakes.
"We turned the ball over too much," Odom said. "But it was one of those gritty games where we were able to just kind of hang in there, figure it out and find a way at the end. Certainly our defense kept us in it. Out offense left us a lot to be desired."
Yet the fast-pace play of Florida State wasn't the only element handing the nationally-ranked Cavs fits. Odom admitted there was confusion on the side of UVA about who was on the hardwood.
"They play some lineups that are a little bit different than what we're used to facing," Odom said. "They have stretches where they don't have a classic five-man out there. So they really test you with their ball handling and spacing."
Florida State still struggled shooting wise -- hitting just 18% of its threes and 29% from field goal range. But FSU forced 14 Virginia turnovers with its speed handing the Cavs fits. The Noles even outscored Virginia 7-0 off fast break points.
FSU showed an improved product in beating Stanford, Cal and then knocking off Notre Dame in front of its home crowd. Now a top 25 team's head coach is the first to become impressed with the new-and-improved Seminoles.
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