There is just no stopping him. Buoyed by Sean Singletary's 22-point, second-half scoring outburst, Virginia cruised to a 71-51 victory over Miami last night at U-Hall. The sophomore point guard notched an overall total of 29 points on 11-17 shooting, including a three for eight mark from behind the arc.
"When the game was on the line we had Sean Singletary, and he was the best player on the floor," Virginia coach Dave Leitao said. "He put the game on his shoulders and the rest is history. His 29 points were very, very loud for us."
Virginia (10-6, 4-2 ACC) extended its conference winning streak to three games with the victory.
"For the third game in a row I thought we played with some mental focus and toughness," Leitao said. "There were certain spots in the game when the ebb and flow could have gone one way or another, and we responded well. For example, in the second half we rebounded much better than we did earlier on."
The Cavaliers were successful in limiting the damage done by Miami's renowned trio of guards. Junior guard Guillermo Diaz posted an atrocious two of 14 shooting mark. Senior Robert Hite did not fare much better, knocking down only three of 13 shots. Junior point guard Anthony Harris led the Hurricanes with 13 points.
"We changed from man to zone, and that disrupted their rhythm just a tad," Leitao said. "Our game plan was to keep our bodies in front of them as best as we could. We practiced not letting [Miami's guards] get free looks at the basket. We also eventually rotated down enough to make rebounds as well."
A scary moment for Virginia occurred with 15:43 left in the second half when sophomore guard J.R. Reynolds hit the ground hard after scoring on a lay up. Reynolds did not return to the game and appeared woozy when he returned to the bench after being examined in the locker room.
"He is being evaluated," Leitao said following the game. "He fell on his head and hit it pretty good."
The injury to their second-leading scorer did not daunt the Cavaliers. They outscored the Hurricanes 33-18 after Reynolds' injury.
"We huddled up quickly, and we knew that we couldn't do anything about [the injury], and we just had to win the game," freshman forward Laurynas Mikalauskas said. "We wanted to prove that we can play no matter what. J.R. is a great player, but when J.R. can't play, someone else has to step up."
Mikalauskas had his second-straight productive performance, recording 12 points and leading Virginia with eight rebounds. Miami coach Frank Haith credited Mikalauskas for his ability to take the ball away from Miami players on several occasions. The improvement in Mikalauskas' play has not gone unnoticed by Leitao.
"Something has gone off inside of him that has allowed him to increase his aggressiveness while staying out of foul trouble," Leitao said.
The Cavaliers came out of the gate slow and were behind 17-10 with around 12 minutes remaining in the first half. Virginia then went on a 9-2 run that included three pointers from Singletary and Adrian Joseph to tie the game up at 19. The Cavaliers took a 23-22 lead on a Reynolds free throw with 7:41 remaining in the half and never trailed throughout the rest of the contest. Reynolds scored 12 points before his injury and Joseph also contributed 11 points in Virginia's winning effort.
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