Virginia Basketball: 3 keys to Cavaliers taking down No. 17 Florida State

3. Despite not relying much on freebies, the Cavaliers should earn multiple opportunities against the Seminoles

On the flip side of three-pointers being a crucial part of Virginia’s offense, the Cavaliers barely rely much at all on free-throws.  Just 11.3% of their point distribution in ACC play comes from the charity stripe – and that is the lowest mark in the conference.  In all, the Cavaliers attempt just 9.7 free-throws per ACC game – and make 7.7, both coming in at dead last in the ACC.

That is not to say the Cavaliers do not get opportunities at the free-throw line – they attempted 19 against North Carolina and were a blistering 20-22 in an early February win at N.C. State – but there have also been instances where Virginia hardly gets to the charity stripe at all, including their games against Virginia Tech – where UVA was 3-4 – and against Georgia Tech, where the Cavaliers were a perfect 2-2 on freebies.

It is not like they are shooting poorly from the line, either – they maintain the second-best FT% in the ACC at 79.3%, just behind Syracuse – but it just has not been a key part of their offense.  However, this game should be another instance where Virginia will earn multiple trips to the free-throw line – and they need to take advantage of it.

The Seminoles are, decidedly, much better at getting to the charity stripe than Virginia, attempting 17.7 freebies per ACC game (5th in the ACC) while making a second-best 13.7.  That is obviously great – but on the other end, Florida State is the conference’s worst in putting teams at the free-throw line.

In nine conference games, opponents are taking a whopping 20.1 free-throw attempts against the Seminoles – and making 14.8 of those freebies, both numbers ranking at the top of the ACC.  In conference play, opposing teams are seeing 21.0% of their point distribution come from the charity stripe – which is also the highest mark in the ACC.

Again, Virginia does not get to the line much at all – but they should get multiple opportunities against the Seminoles.  At the very least, they should make a conscious effort to drive inside and draw contact, particularly if long-range shots are not falling.  It is no coincidence that, in last year’s split between the two teams, the Cavaliers were just 5-8 from the line in the game they lost – but were 20-23 in the game they won.

There, ultimately, may not be a bigger game in the ACC regular-season than this one.  If the Seminoles hope to have a shot at the regular-season title, then they must win this game – but a Virginia win would, almost assuredly and barring a disaster, give the Cavaliers the title.  This will be a challenging week for Virginia, considering they have to travel to Duke on Saturday – but they have an opportunity to assert themselves as a surefire national threat first with a victory at Florida State.