Florida State @ Virginia Tech preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 14, 2019 ) Virginia Tech 63, Florida State 65

Florida State suffered its first loss since Dec. 3 last time out as the Seminoles came up short Tuesday at Virginia 61-56 to halt their 10-game winning streak. Now Leonard Hamilton's troops will look to begin a new win streak not far from where the old one ended as they head to Virginia Tech for a Saturday afternoon matchup.

"I would love to have gone undefeated for the remainder of the season, but we probably were not going to do that," Hamilton told reporters. "I think what we'll have to do is evaluate and learn from the challenges that UVA gave us, and hopefully we can be better prepared for the next time we play them, and also prepared for the next game that we play." The offense struggled against the defensive-minded Cavaliers with only Devin Vassell (17 points) scoring in double digits - his seventh straight ACC game in double figures - as the team shot 38.9 percent from the floor, far less than the 46.1 they averaged entering the contest. Virginia Tech also comes in on the heels of a loss, two straight in fact, after falling on the road at Boston College (61-56) and Miami (71-61) but redshirt freshman guard Tyrece Radford got going last time out against the Hurricanes, registering a career-high 24 points after scoring 11 points total in the three prior games. “It’s a blessing. But we still got the L," Radford said. "So I can’t just look at the points. It’s about the team and everything like that.”

TIME: 4 p.m. ET. TV: Fox Sports

ABOUT FLORIDA STATE (14-7, 5-5): The Seminoles didn't only struggle to put the ball in the hoop against Virginia, they also were completely dominated on the boards, getting outrebounded 36-23, their lowest rebound total of the season and only the second time that they were held below 30. Florida State's second-leading scorer Trent Forrest (11.5 points per game) was held to four points, the second time in the last six games he failed to hit double digits, but both came against Virginia as he scored five when the teams battled on Jan. 15, a 54-50 Seminoles win. The Seminoles rank ninth in the country in forced turnovers, accumulating 18.4 per game after notching 17 against the Cavaliers, with Forrest topping the team with 38 steals for the season.

ABOUT VIRGINIA TECH (17-3, 7-2 ACC): The Hokies have started a different lineup in each of the last three games, with Radford, Wabissa Bede, Landers Nolley II, P.J. Horne and Nahiem Alleyne getting the nod against Miami. While Radford led the team in scoring for the first time against Miami, Nolley is the team's leading scorer for the season (17.7 points per game) and his 14 points in the loss was his ninth straight game in double digits and his 19th overall. Bede recorded eight assists against Miami, his seventh game with eight or more, while the Hokies tied their season high with 11 steals.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Florida State leads the series 35-22, with the Seminoles emerging with a 65-63 victory in overtime in the last meeting in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals last March.

2. A win over the Hokies would give the Seminoles eight ACC victories for the school-record 12th straight season.

3. Virginia Tech has failed to reach 70 points in three of the last four games, all losses.

PREDICTION: Florida State 82, Virginia Tech 70