If it weren't for the white jerseys, you wouldn't have recognized Virginia in the final two minutes of last night's men's basketball game against Coastal Carolina.
Five players who didn't play the first half - Maurice Young, Josh Hare, Jason Rogers, Jason Dowling and Greg Lyons - ended the game on the court, as the Cavaliers routed the Chanticleers, 117-78. Every single player on the Virginia roster saw playing time and, with the exception of Hare, scored.
Although Virginia didn't play as well as they hoped to in the first half, the Cavs still managed their highest point total in a game since a 128-98 win over George Mason in 1994. Virginia shot 58.8 percent from the free throw line and only held a 13-point lead against a mediocre team at the break.
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But Virginia stormed out of the blocks to start the second half and outscored Coastal Carolina 21-2 in the first five-and-a-half minutes. The Cavs scored 70 points in the half and shot 65.7 percent from the floor.
Virginia was led by sophomore guard Roger Mason Jr., who scored 28 points on 10-of-14 shooting and collected seven assists in 32 minutes. Both were career highs for Mason.
"Roger had a great game," coach Pete Gillen said. "He was tremendous. He attacked well, he made good passes and did a great job at the point guard position."
Mason split time with senior Donald Hand at the point throughout the game. Hand recorded a double-double with 12 points and 11 assists and also added three steals and five rebounds. Seven of Hand's assists and 10 of his points came in the second half.
"Donald really stepped it up in the second half," Gillen said. "When a point guard plays well, everyone gets better, and that's what happened in the second half."
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Sophomore center Travis Watson added 17 points and shot 7-of-9 from the field, despite getting in foul trouble early. Watson also pulled down seven rebounds, a team high. Junior forward Chris Williams contributed 15 points and two steals.
Despite the early deficit, the Chanticleers never gave up. Junior forward Torrey Butler's 28-point effort gave Coastal Carolina a chance, but it was still not good enough to overcome a trampling from the Cavaliers. The Chanticleers' whopping 24 turnovers didn't help much, either.
"Our guys felt that we could come back going into the second half, but we couldn't pull it off," Coastal Carolina coach Pete Strickland said. "We didn't come out as ready as I thought we'd be, but give Virginia credit."
Even though the Cavaliers blew out Coastal Carolina, they still left the court unsatisfied.
"We're still a very young team, and we have a long way to go," Hand said. "We have to come out much harder at the start of the game. For us to be the team we can be, we have to pound away for all 40 minutes of the game and do a better job passing"
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