Florida St 76, Virginia 62

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Posted 10:41PM on Saturday, February 18, 2006

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) Andrew Wilson took care of business on the outside while Alexander Johnson manhandled Virginia on the inside Saturday as Florida State kept its postseason dreams alive. Wilson matched a career best with seven 3-point field goals while the new-look Johnson delivered his fifth double double in seven games as Florida State took a 76-62 victory over Virginia. Wilson hit 7 of 11 tries from long distance to finish with a game-high 21 points while the 6-10 Johnson had 15 points and 13 rebounds to go along with a pair of spectacular blocks in the final minute. ``I had to do something to get a smile on coach's face,'' said Johnson, who gave up fast food and fried chicken in the offseason and dropped from 250 pounds to 218. ``I can play a whole game now,'' he said Saturday, noting a year ago that ``after five minutes I was about to die.'' Wilson also made seven 3's two years ago in a losing effort at North Carolina. He has made 37 of 67 on the season from 3-point range. ``Wilson was playing lights out,'' Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. ``He's a one dimensional player who has an excellent one dimension,'' Virginia coach Dave Leitao said about Wilson. ``He's the end result of their ball movement ... he was the beneficiary.'' The Seminoles (16-7, 6-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) pretty much put the game away with fast starts at the beginning of each half. Taking an 18-5 lead to begin the game and a 9-1 start in the second half gave them a 48-29 advantage. ``We were very focused in guarding their very good perimeter players at the beginning of the game,'' Hamilton said. Five players finished in double figures for the Seminoles. Todd Galloway finished with a dozen points while Jason Rich and Al Thornton had 10 each. J.R. Reynolds led Virginia (13-10, 6-6) with 18 points. Sean Singletary, the Cavaliers' leading scorer on the year, went scoreless in the first half but finished with 12 points along with Adrian Joseph. The Seminoles took advantage of Virginia's cold-shooting start and raced to an early 18-5 lead as the Cavaliers misfired on 9 of their first 10 shots and finished with a 39.3 shooting percentage. ``Their defensive intensity really got us back on our heels,'' Leitao said. ``As a result they shot the ball well and we didn't.'' Florida State, which shot 51.9 percent and 55 percent from 3-point distance, led 39-28 at the half, holding 13-point leads twice. Florida State, which led by as many as 19 points on three occasions in the second half Saturday, also defeated the Cavaliers on their home court 87-82 in overtime Jan. 11. (Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)