The Virginia Cavaliers men’s basketball team closed out its regular season at John Paul Jones Arena with a victory over the Florida State Seminoles late on Tuesday night. The Wahoos’ 10 points in the last 2:54 of game play and a particularly timely Andrew Rohde triple made the difference as the team moved to to 15-15 (8-11 in the ACC) on the year.

With the win, we have five takeaways for the Cavaliers ahead of their regular season finale at Syracuse on Saturday.

Andrew Rohde comes up clutch

Too many close games against Florida Sate in JPJ have come down to last-second heaves from the Seminoles finding their way through the hoop. On Tuesday, Andrew Rohde’s buzzer beater with 59 seconds remaining was what made the difference for UVA.

As the shot clock wound down with just over a minute to go, Blake Buchanan fed a fading Rohde in the corner. Emblematic of the poise he’s played with in ACC play, Rohde gathered the pass and released the ball with just 0.4 seconds on the shot clock.

His heroic shot put the ‘Hoos up for good at 58-55. Clutch free throw shooting from Dai Dai Ames, a smart foul from Rohde in the final seconds, and sticky defense off the ensuing in bounds play earned Virginia the three-point victory.

Rohde’s 17-point performance is another meaningful moment for the junior’s impressive bounce back season. After struggling mightily during his first season in Charlottesville, he’s been one of UVA’s best players this year.

“He’s not living in the rear view mirror of his mistakes,” Ron Sanchez said postgame. “He’s a good player and he should be a confident player.”

Rohde’s teammates are happy to see how he’s channeled that confidence this season.

“Hearing about the struggles that Rohde had last year and to see the role he’s stepped into being our point guard, our leader on the floor … it’s just been good to see that for him,” Elijah Saunders said after the win.

UVA rides a tight rotation against FSU’s deep bench

Five UVA players registered at least 30 minutes on Tuesday night. Only one Florida State Seminole played more than 29.

In typical Leonard Hamilton fashion, FSU tried to wear down the ‘Hoos with its deep bench. To counter that, Sanchez actually shrunk his rotation and relied on his five starters in Rohde, Saunders, Ames, Buchanan, and Isaac McKneely.

Since the beginning of the Tony Bennett era, UVA has tended to shorten its bench in March. Sanchez may be adopting that approach. The Cavaliers’ reserves scored zero points and only registered a combined 26 minutes. Meanwhile, the team’s starting backcourt of McKneely (36 minutes), Ames (37 minutes), and Rohde (38 minutes) played nearly the entire contest.

“We wanted to play our best ball-handling group,” Sanchez explained postgame. “We just needed that today. Against that pressure, you need guys that can make decisions and make plays. The guys that were on the floor were the guys that have the skill to do that.”

Whether this was a one game reliance on the starters given the nature of Florida State’s defensive length or a sign of a developing trend will be worth watching as the Cavaliers approach the ACC Tournament and potential games on back-to-back days.

The ‘Hoos are still alive to earn a bye in the ACC Tournament

There is an absolute cluster of teams competing for seeds nine through fifteen in next week’s ACC Tournament. Virginia’s win versus Florida State means that the Cavaliers are still in the running for the nine seed and, with it, a bye past the first day of action in Charlotte.

The ‘Hoos most likely need to win on Saturday against Syracuse to earn that bye. Even if they do, though, the prospect of having to play Duke (should the Blue Devils clinch the No. 1 seed) is an imposing one. Maybe the ‘Hoos would have a better shot at making a run by avoiding a matchup with John Scheyer’s world-beaters. Or perhaps the extra day of rest would be what gives them more of an edge.

Either way, Saturday’s slate of games will determine how soon the Cavaliers tip off in Charlotte.

Virginia’s coaching search is very much underway

This was unquestionably a feel good win for the Wahoo players and staff. The way the team has rallied to avoid collapsing during a tough year has been impressive. Reality, however, is still setting in for the program’s future.

Per Matt Norlander’s reporting for CBS Sports, the search firm that is working for UVA to hire the program’s next head coach has “been in touch with multiple candidates.” Those include VCU head coach Ryan Odom and New Mexico’s Rich Pitino, according to Norlander.

Both Odom and Pitino have had real success this season. VCU is leading the Atlantic-10 Conference while New Mexico is first in the Mountain West Conference. UVA will also reportedly have roughly $7 million in funds across NIL and revenue sharing to attract players in the portal, potentially bring a few current players back, and to hit the high school trail.

That, obviously, doesn’t have much to do with this game. But that’s where the program is at with one game remaining in the regular season.

Thanks for reading these last four years, folks

In lieu of a fifth takeaway, I want to say thank you for reading my work on the ‘Hoos these last four years. This was my last game covering Virginia basketball in person before I graduate in May. While I’m not going anywhere immediately, I won’t be on the consistent UVA basketball beat after this season.

Covering Virginia basketball these last four seasons has been an absolute privilege, and it wouldn’t have been possible without all you reading our work here. I still vividly remember STL alum Caroline Darney picking me up from my first year dorm to take me to UVA’s season opener versus Navy back in 2021. Covering the team up close was special then, and it’s remained special every game since.

Writing about this program from the press section has been a major highlight of my time on Grounds. Thanks, as always, for coming along for the ride with us and allowing Streaking the Lawn to play a part in your Wahoo fandom.