Cavs’ Zeglinski still shooting

Through the first seven games of the season, Virginia guard Sammy Zeglinski was one of the most consistent performers on the team, scoring in double figures six times.

Zeglinski’s early success included a scintillating performance against Liberty in which he scorched the nets for 24 second-half points.

Zeglinski, however, is just 1 of 12 from the field in his last two games.

But this afternoon when Virginia hosts Florida State at John Paul Jones Arena, “Sammy Z” is planning on turning things around.

“I’ve been working on my shot every day,” Zeglinski said. “I’m still shooting with confidence. It’s just that these last couple of games they haven’t been falling for me.

“But I’m definitely going to break out of it, and [today] is the perfect chance to get back on the right track.”

Ditto for the entire Virginia team, which has dropped its last three games after opening its ACC slate with a win at Georgia Tech.

In the loss at Maryland on Tuesday, UVa (7-8, 1-3 ACC) allowed Maryland — the worst-shooting team in the league — to shoot 54 percent from the field, including 50 percent from 3-point range. Virginia committed 13 turnovers in the first half and trailed by 17 at one juncture.

That kind of start won’t cut it against too many opponents, especially talented ACC teams.

“The first half was horrible,” Zeglinski said.

Virginia desperately needs junior Jamil Tucker to build on his career-high 21-point effort versus Maryland. That would take a lot of pressure off Zeglinski, as well as struggling freshman Sylven Landesberg, who has scored just nine points in his last two games after averaging 18.5 through his first 13.

Tucker’s track record for playing consistently is not strong, though. He’s scored in double figures in consecutive games just four times in his career. Until this season, he had averaged just 3.0 points in games following double-figure outings.

Zeglinski, meanwhile, knows he has to change his game up a bit if he wants to break out of his mini-slump.

“I need to be a little more aggressive and get to the rim, get to the foul line — that’s something I haven’t been doing the past couple of games,” said Zeglinski, who is 3 of his last 19 from 3-point range. “If I can get to the foul line, that will make things a lot easier on the rest of my game.

“I need to work from the inside out instead of just settling for 3s.”

But Zeglinski’s defense could be just as important, maybe more, as his offense. He will have the unenviable task of trying to stay in front of Florida State guard Toney Douglas, who is third in the ACC in scoring (19.5 points per game).

The Seminoles also feature freshman forward Chris Singleton, a McDonald’s All-American who is second on the team in scoring (9.1 ppg) and first in rebounding (5.8 rpg), and 7-foot-1 redshirt freshman Soloman Alabi, who nearly came to Virginia out of high school two years ago.

FSU, which has six freshman and two sophomores, is even younger than Virginia, but hasn’t used that as an excuse. The Seminoles (15-4, 2-2) have defeated Maryland and N.C. State while losing to Duke and Miami.

Douglas, who started his career at Auburn — he scored 33 points in a loss to Virginia that season — is clearly the player UVa must pay the closest attention to.

“He’s a great player and a great scorer,” Zeglinski said. “It’s going to be a collective effort to not let him get off and to keep him in check.

“I think we’ll be able to do it. I think we’ll have a lot more energy.”

Dunks

Virginia leads the series, 17-5. FSU won the lone meeting last season, 69-67, in Tallahassee. … Alabi is second in the ACC in blocked shots, averaging 2.0 per contest. … FSU is last in the ACC in points per game (67.5), but is allowing the second-fewest (62.5).