No. 4 Virginia Stifles FSU, 65-52

No. 9 Florida State entered Saturday’s top-10 contest with a chance to make a major statement on the road. Instead, the Seminoles proved to be no match at John Paul Jones Arena, falling to No. 4 Virginia, 65-52.

The Cavaliers (13-0, 1-0 ACC) led 42-23 at halftime and by as many as 29 in the second half before the Seminoles closed the game on an 18-2 run to make the final score look more respectable. FSU (12-2, 0-1 ACC) shot just 34 percent from the field and the late flurry made that look better than it was. The Seminoles turned the ball over 15 times, went just 6-for-23 from downtown and shot less than 60 percent from the free throw line.

Virginia’s Kyle Guy led all scorers with 21 points while Braxton Key added 20. Both finished 7-for-11 from the floor. As a team, Virginia shot just better than 40 percent, but was 7-for-16 from deep and 16-for-18 from the charity stripe.

Phil Cofer scored nine points to lead FSU. P.J. Savoy added eight points and a team-high five steals in the loss. FSU was also outrebounded, 36-32. The last lead for Florida State was 9-8 with just over 12 minutes to play in the first half.

FSU has now lost ACC openers in consecutive seasons and will look to get its first conference win on Wednesday when it hosts Miami. Virginia also returns to action on Wednesday when it visits Boston College.

Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson