Cavs Hold Off Florida St.

Joseph's Clutch Shots Help Virginia Survive Onslaught by FSU's Thornton: Virginia 73, Florida State 70

J.R. Reynolds fights his way to the hoop on his way to a 17-point performance against Florid Sate on Saturday. (Andrew Shurtleff - AP)

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Feb. 17 -- Falling out of bounds as the buzzer blared, Al Thornton hoisted one last shot. He had spun, muscled, jumped and shot his way through the Virginia defense the entire second half, desperately keeping Florida State in the game for as long he could. But it was not enough, and the harmless swish of his final three-pointer was only a cruel reminder.

Virginia withstood Thornton's 30 points and 16 rebounds Saturday with clutch shooting by Adrian Joseph to defeat the Seminoles, 73-70, at John Paul Jones to clinch their first winning ACC record since 2001. Sean Singletary scored a team-high 19 points, but Thornton upstaged him with 23 in the second half. The Cavaliers weathered his one-man rally, responding to his array of fadeaways, putbacks and three-pointers each time they needed to.

"He got his points," Virginia center Tunji Soroye said. "But we came away with the W."

As Thornton poured in baskets, Virginia (18-7, 9-3) never wavered, largely because they expected it. A 6-foot-9 forward with the perimeter game of a point guard, the strength of a center and the wingspan of pterodactyl, Thornton has averaged 22.4 points in conference games, best in the ACC.

So despite Thornton's onslaught of the stat sheet, Cavaliers Coach Dave Leitao called the defense of Jason Cain and freshman Will Harris on Thornton "admirable." Thornton made 12 of 23 shots, nearly all of them contested. He bullied Virginia on the offensive glass and converted several stick-backs, but "that's what he does against everybody," Leitao said.

In the first half, Cain stuffed a Thornton layup with two hands, knocked him to the floor and forced a jump ball. Harris forced a turnover that turned into a transition layup by J.R. Reynolds. As they jogged down the floor, Thornton told the 6-6 Harris throughout the game, "Good D, big man."

"I just thought of it as my chance to show people that I could play defense," Harris said. "There's no better person to guard to show people you can play defense than Al Thornton."

Still, Thornton won the battle. He scored 17 points in the final eight minutes of the game compared with two by the rest of the Seminoles combined. When Harris retreated to the bench, he thought, "Man, why doesn't he ever get tired?"

Virginia needed Joseph, who played to a T the one role he occupies for Virginia: the spot-up shooter. Leitao knew Singletary and Reynolds could penetrate Florida State's defense, which would cause it to collapse in the lane and leave Joseph alone behind the arc.

"If he has his feet set, I can pass him the ball and then just run down the court," Reynolds said. "Because I know it's going in."

Joseph made 5 of 7 from three-point range and finished with 17 points. With Mamadi Diane struggling through a 1-for-8 shooting game, Joseph provided the Cavaliers the third scorer they needed.

The biggest points came with four minutes remaining. Thornton had just powered in a putback and drawn the Seminoles, who had once trailed by 12, to within 62-60. Reynolds dribbled back down the floor and knifed through the lane, drew Joseph's defender and whipped a pass to him in the right corner. Joseph faked a Seminole off the floor, took a quick dribble and splashed a three. Four minutes remained, but FSU (17-10, 5-8)wouldn't threaten again.

After the shot, Joseph jogged casually back down the floor. Leitao said nothing fazes him or his shooter's mentality. Soroye, his roommate, said he has never seen him mad in two years of living together.

"You can't really tell when he's mad," Soroye said. "We've been living together two years, and we never had a fight or nothing. He plays good, he plays bad, you don't know."

Virginia, mercifully, won't see Thornton again this season, unless the teams meet at the ACC tournament. With that unsettling prospect in mind, Leitao gathered with his coaches in the locker room after the game and told them, "I don't know if I want to play against him when we get to Tampa."