The No. 7 Virginia men's basketball has the chance to maintain its recent winning ways against VMI tonight at University Hall.
Virginia (13-2, 4-2 ACC) is coming off of a narrow 69-65 win over Georgia Tech on Tuesday, the Cavaliers' first victory in Atlanta in seven years. Virginia completed a stunning fourth-quarter comeback over the Yellow Jackets, but cannot count on repeat heroics against the Keydets (6-11, 1-6 Southern Conference).
"We have to find a way to get off to a better start," junior guard Roger Mason Jr. said. "We can't do this every game."
The Cavaliers have been playing without senior forward Adam Hall, who will be sidelined again tonight with a right foot injury he sustained against North Carolina on Jan. 12. Although the Cavaliers have missed Hall's defensive contributions, Virginia's freshmen have stepped up to fill the void.
Freshman guard Jermaine Harper virtually shut down the Yellow Jackets' top scorer Tony Akins, holding the senior guard to two points on Tuesday. Harper also gave the Cavaliers their first lead of the game with a three-pointer late in the second half.
VMI boasts young strength as well. The Keydets' main threat comes in the form of Jason Conley, a 6-foot-5 freshman forward who leads the nation in scoring with an average of 28.6 points per game. Conley has been his team's highest scorer in 16 of their 17 games thus far.
Expect Conley to bring the heat against Virginia - he has a knack for putting up points in big games. Against No. 9 Kentucky on Dec. 5, Conley had a team-high 24 points and against Villanova on Dec. 22 he had a career-high 38.
Virginia will need to shut Conley down early to contain the Keydets.
The Cavaliers, who will be playing their third game in seven days, must also to fight off fatigue.
"Playing so many games in one week is tough" Mason said.
On paper, the Cavaliers hold several distinct advantages over the Keydets. Although VMI has enough height to match Virginia, no Keydet over 6-foot-6 weighs more than 225 pounds, while Virginia has plenty of muscle under the basket in 6-foot-9, 265-pound forward Elton Brown and 6-foot-8, 255-pound center Travis Watson.
"We have so much power down low so we have to bang it inside," Brown said. "That is a strength of ours."
Brown was huge for the Cavaliers on Tuesday, posting a double-double with 10 rebounds and 20 points.
VMI is coming off of their first win since December, a 93-91 victory over Appalachian State on Monday.
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