Virginia men’s basketball Coach Tony Bennett does not buy into the emotions of rivalries or revenge. Speaking to the media a day before his seventh-ranked Cavaliers (19-4, 8-3 ACC) face Virginia Tech, Bennett emphasized his reliance on planning, practice and execution to prevail in highly-charged games.
Fans of Virginia may want to label Tuesday’s contest a revenge game after the Hokies (13-11, 5-6) stunned the Cavaliers with a 70-68 victory Jan. 4 in Cassell Coliseum, but Bennett only wants to see improved play from his team.
“Hopefully we can play better than we did against them last time,” Bennett said. “That’s really where my focus is, as opposed to camping on … revenge. I don’t believe that. That lasts for about a minute and a half, and then you got 38.5 minutes to play.”
Not only did the Cavaliers lose to Virginia Tech, they did so while playing with uncharacteristically poor perimeter defense and a careless attitude on offense.
“They exploited us, absolutely, with the stuff they did,” Bennett said following the loss. “They put pressure on you with their ball screen stuff and how they’re rolling at the rim and the fill-in behind.”
The defensive issues against the Hokies were not an isolated incident, and unsatisfactory performances on that end of the floor led to the Cavaliers losing their first three road conference games.
To the team’s credit, defense is making a healthy resurgence in Charlottesville. Virginia is riding a six-game winning streak, and has held their last three opponents to a collective 32.6 percent from the field and 28 percent from behind the arc.
Guarding against the three ball will be crucial to the Cavaliers’ defensive game plan against Virginia Tech, who poured in nine three-pointers on 52.9 percent shooting from beyond the arc against Virginia in Blacksburg.
Leading the barrage was sophomore guard Justin Bibbs. The Dayton, Ohio native connected on four of his five of his threes, and is currently second in the ACC with a three-point percentage of 47.8 percent.
Virginia Tech also received a surprise contribution from junior forward Zach LeDay, who scored 22 points on 8-15 shooting with three threes. LeDay entered the season as a non-factor from long range, but is now shooting 41.7 percent this season in a limited number of attempts.
A transfer from South Florida, LeDay is thriving in coach Buzz Williams’ system, where he is often the lone big man in a four-guard lineup.
“[LeDay] can play,” Bennett said. “He’s really good. He’s having a heck of a year. They do a really good job of spacing the floor… He’s really a complete player.”
The Cavaliers have the possible answer for LeDay’s mobility in sophomore forward Isaiah Wilkins. Bennett inserted Wilkins back into the starting lineup Jan. 30 against Louisville, and the Greater Atlanta Christian alum has also started in the two games since.
Wilkins has earned a starting spot because of his mobility and his versatility. In Virginia’s 64-50 victory over Pittsburgh, Wilkins scored four points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out five assists in a veritable Swiss Army knife performance.
The impact of Wilkins’ contributions against the Panthers was significant due to a very quiet game from senior forward Anthony Gill. The Cavaliers’ second-leading scorer at 14.2 points per game, Gill scored only four points against Pittsburgh.
Gill’s disappearance was not too costly for Virginia, thanks to an otherworldly performance from senior guard Malcolm Brogdon, the reigning ACC Player of the Week. During the Cavaliers’ six-game winning streak, the Atlanta, Ga. native is averaging 21.7 points and shooting 58.3 percent from the floor and 55.2 percent from behind the arc.
“[Bennett] got on me a little bit about forcing some shots, and I tried to respond well to it and play better with my teammates,” Brogdon said.
While Bennett may not rely on them as motivational factors, there is no doubt emotions will be running high as the Cavaliers try to prove they are not the team they were a month ago.
“The last few games have been a turning point,” Bennett said. “I know we have the formula. I know we have the personnel. We can do it….I feel that we’re playing better basketball and our kind of ball as we’re heading into the second half of ACC play.”
Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 8 p.m.
Matt Wurzburger is a Sports editor for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at m.wurzburger@cavalierdaily.com or on Twitter at @wurzburgerm.
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