Thirty years ago in Brooklyn, Pete Gillen lost his first game as a high school coach when Ray Martin's squad beat his team by 40 points. Friday night, Gillen's Cavaliers returned the favor, opening the regular season with an impressive 96-50 win over Martin's Long Island Blackbirds at University Hall.
"I think Pete was mad at me," Martin joked. "He's trying to get back at me, so he finally sent me down here and said he'd play me."
Long Island (0-1) barely stood a chance against the stronger, faster Cavaliers (1-0). The Blackbirds trailed by only three points after seven minutes, but a three-pointer from Cav senior guard Keith Friel sparked a 26-2 run for Virginia. Long Island was left in the dust as the Cavs entered the half leading comfortably, 50-21. The Cavaliers' stifling defense and quick transition game did the rest. The Blackbirds never got within 25 points.
"I think we finally got smart," senior point guard Donald Hand said. "The defense won the game for us. We're at our best when we're in transition."
Senior forward Stephane Dondon started the season off on the right foot with a dominating performance. The Frenchman led all scorers with 17 points and also grabbed six rebounds.
The Cavs ran Gillen's up-tempo offense to perfection against the overmatched Blackbirds, finishing with 20 assists. It was not a rare sight to see the basketball touch three or four sets of Virginia hands before a basket.
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"We were unselfish," Gillen said. "That's the key word of the day. [There were] a lot of assists per baskets made. Tonight was about the team being successful and not individual success."
The Cavs' 50-percent shooting from beyond the arc also helped them pull away from Long Island so quickly. Even the 6-foot-9 Dondon sank two of three three-point attempts.
"He doesn't shoot threes at practice," Gillen said. "Maybe he's saving them for the games. When he's nailing threes in the games, maybe he's a little bit more juiced."
With the victory well in hand, Gillen was allowed to appease the crowd in the final minutes. Walk-on Greg Lyons was the last Virginia player to get into the game, waved in by Gillen after the crowd began chanting the senior guard's name. Lyons responded less than a minute later, draining a three-pointer from the wing.
"I got the peer pressure, with the fans saying 'We want Greg Lyons,'" Gillen said. "They're smarter than I am. He came in and hit a jump shot in about 15 seconds. It's good to have a game where everybody gets in."
Overall, Gillen was happy with the Cavaliers' performance as they opened the season with an easy win.
"We're happy to get the first game past us," Gillen said. "It's great to start the season winning decisively like this"
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