College basketball

Seminoles dominate inside, outside

Andrew Wilson is 7-of-11 on 3-pointers and Alexander Johnson gets another double during a 76-62 win against Virginia.

TALLAHASSEE - 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-pointers while Johnson got his fifth double double in seven games as the Seminoles beat the Cavaliers 76-62.

Wilson was 7-of-11 from 3-point range and finished with a game-high 21 points. The 6-10 Johnson had 15 points and 13 rebounds to go 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, noting a year ago that "after five minutes I was about to die."

Wilson also made seven 3s two years ago in a loss at North Carolina. He has made 37-of-67 this season.

"Wilson was playing lights out," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said.

"He's a one-dimensional player who has an excellent one dimension," Virginia coach Dave Leitao said of Wilson. "He's the end result of their ball movement ... he was the beneficiary."

The Seminoles (16-7, 6-6 ACC) put the game away with fast starts at the beginning of each half. An 18-5 run 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 FSU.

Todd Galloway scored 12 while Jason Rich and Al Thornton had 10 each.

J.R. Reynolds led the Cavaliers (13-10, 6-6) with 18 points.

Sean Singletary, Virginia's leading scorer, went scoreless in the first half but finished with 12 points. Adrian Joseph also had 12.

The Seminoles took advantage of the Cavaliers' cold-shooting start as they misfired on nine 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."

FSU, which shot 51.9 percent and 55 percent from 3-point range, led 39-28 at the half, holding 13-point leads twice.

The Seminoles, who led by as many as 19 three times in the second half, also defeated Virginia on its homecourt, 87-82 in overtime Jan.11.

[Last modified February 19, 2006, 01:09:21]