UVa looks to stop Sunshine State skid

As Virginia looks to snap a seven-game losing streak tonight against Florida State in Tallahassee, recent history is certainly not on its side.

The Sunshine State — or just about any warm-weather locale, for that matter — has been a house of horrors.

During the Dave Leitao era, the Cavaliers have a 1-8 record in games played in Florida, California and Puerto Rico. The lone win was a squeaker over Division II University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez during the San Juan Shootout in 2006-07.

Virginia (7-12, 1-7 ACC) hasn’t won in Tallahassee since the 2000-01 season when Pete Gillen was coach. In that game, UVa needed a last-second 3-pointer from current San Antonio Spur Roger Mason Jr. to seal the win.

Virginia’s visit to Tallahassee last season certainly isn’t a fond memory. The Cavaliers blew a 10-point lead with nine minutes to play before losing, 69-67.

Of course, that performance looks downright Picasso-like in comparison to the Cavs’ 73-62 loss a little over two weeks ago at John Paul Jones Arena. In that game, Virginia managed just three first-half field goals in one of the worst offensive performances in school history.

FSU’s defense certainly had a lot to do with that. The Seminoles suffocated Virginia early, forcing the Wahoos into nearly as many turnovers in the first half as points.

“Defensively, they’re structured great because at the top of it, they have a fifth-year guy [Toney Douglas] who is a tremendous defender on and off the ball,” Leitao said, “and then the backline — they’re very long and athletic.”

Leitao believes his team can improve a bunch from the first meeting.

“We have a lot of correctable issues offensively — waiting for our screens, setting our screens, timing, working better and more together as a five-man unit,” he said. “If we can clean a lot of those things up in our adjustment, then obviously we stand a better chance to right what was wrong.”

Making matters tougher this time around will be the fact that FSU (18-5, 5-3) seems to be playing some of its best ball of the season. On Saturday, the Seminoles overcame a 19-point second-half deficit and won on the road at No. 10 Clemson, which was just coming off an upset victory over Duke.

FSU coach Leonard Hamilton, whose team features six freshmen, doesn’t expect his team to have any letdown against Virginia.

“There have been a lot of situations that we can point to throughout the year where teams have not performed well after getting a certain level of recognition,” Hamilton said. “We’ll point those out.

“We still, in some ways, are considered the underdog and are still trying to earn a certain level of respect — not in only in our conference, but on a national basis. We don’t have any room right now to take any bows. We realize that not many people have ever made the NCAA Tournament winning five [ACC] games. If we don’t keep winning, there won’t be any opportunity at the end of the season. We’re very much aware of it.”

Dunks

Virginia leads the all-time series, 17-15. … Leitao said sophomore forward Mike Scott, who hasn’t had more than four rebounds in his last four games, needs to do a better job of going after rebounds instead of just watching. “It’s something we need and haven’t been getting as much of,” he said. … Leitao didn’t rule out offseason thumb surgery for freshman center Assane Sene, who has been playing with a heavy wrap.