Blacksburg - Right as it seemed like an upset at No. 20 Clemson could put Virginia Tech back into the NCAA tournament picture…this happened.
Despite leading at halftime, Virginia Tech fell 92-69 on its home floor to Florida State (12-13, 5-7) behind one of the most dominant offensive performances you will ever see - particularly in the second half.
They outplayed us (and) they outcoached us,” said a solemn Virginia Tech head coach Mike Young. “(That) might be the understatement of the year.”
Virginia Tech (17-9, 6-7) took a three-point advantage into the half and led 49-44 with 17:24 remaining. That was the moment everything changed.
Florida State’s Lajae Jones beat Ben Hammond backdoor and rose up for the two-handed slam. A couple of Robert McCray free throws cut the Seminoles deficit to one, before Chauncey Wiggins gave them the lead with a fadeaway mid-range despite excellent post defense from Amani Hansberry.
The Seminoles then forced a Hammond live-ball turnover leading to a Thomas Bassong and-one finish on the secondary break.
Martin Somerville then checked in and immediately got it going. Two plays in a row he drew the Jaden Schutt switch then went to work - first with a step back middy and next with a jab stop three from the right wing.
The triple capped off a 13-0 run, giving Florida State a 57-49 lead with 13:01 remaining - just the first of three 10-0 or better runs across the second period.
The Seminoles shot over 78% from the floor and 71% from deep in the second half - almost incomprehensible efficiency numbers for a 20-minute stretch.
Jones (17 points, seven rebounds), Somerville and Chauncey Wiggins (19 points) dominated off the dribble, penetrating mismatches and getting to the hoop to either finish or kick out for threes.
“They found some matchups, needless to say, they liked,” Young said of the Seminoles offensive attack.
Somerville, specifically, couldn’t miss. After going just 2-for-19 over his previous three games, Somerville dropped a game high 23 points to go along with six assists on 9-for-11 from the field and 4-for-6 from deep. Many of those shots were contested and off the dribble.
Virginia Tech played an excellent first half offensively, but lost its firepower in the second half, shooting just 36% from the field. Young said the defensive lapses may have bled over to the offensive end.
Despite the loss, Hammond played another great game, scoring 16 points on 6-for-7 from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 from behind-the-arc. Tobi Lawal matched him with 16 points and seven boards, including a highlight reel alley-oop jam near the end of the first half.
Jailen Bedford (13 points), Neoklis Avdalas (10 points) and Amani Hansberry (10 points) also reached double figures. Hansberry, in particular, had a tough showing, knocking down just two of his 10 shot attempts while turning it over four times - a figure almost matching the Seminoles five turnovers all game.
Rarely does a team lose a game in which it posts 44, 50, 80 shooting splits. The Hokies not only lost, but got blown out, which is just a testament to the incredible basketball Florida State was playing.
“This was probably our best performance of the season on both sides of the ball,” said Florida State head coach Luke Loucks.
Despite their sub .500 record, the Seminoles have quietly become one of the better ACC teams over the last couple weeks. They have won five of their last seven games, only falling to No. 15 Virginia and SMU by a combined six points.
Nonetheless, this was an unacceptable loss for the Hokies, and one that could potentially put an end to their NCAA tournament aspirations, barring another Clemson-like road upset to end the year.
Tech gets its first crack at redemption at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 17 as it visits Miami (20-5, 9-3), which just picked up an impressive win at NC State.
