During the past two seasons, John Paul Jones Arena has all but guaranteed victory for the Virginia men's basketball team. That trend continued last night.
After a tough loss to Seton Hall Saturday, the Cavaliers began the night on fire and never let up offensively or defensively as they cruised to an easy 94-52 victory against Northwestern. Virginia did its best impression of the Harlem Globetrotters as it hit basket after basket against the Wildcats' pressure defense. The Cavaliers shot 51.6 percent from the field and 50 percent from the 3-point line for the game. The win improves Virginia's record to 6-1.
Senior guard Sean Singletary led the Cavaliers with 14 points and 10 assists. Junior forward Mamadi Diane had a stellar night and contributed 22 points on 6-11 shooting. Sophomore guard Calvin Baker added 16 points on 6-6 shooting from the field.
"I don't think anybody was happy with what happened Saturday," Virginia coach Dave Leitao said. "I want to have the guys understand that our ability to bounce back depends on our ability to shoot. We're a good shooting team and I'm not afraid to take [32] threes because we can make them."
The Cavaliers came out of the gates quickly and never let up. After looking a bit confused in the opening minutes against Northwestern's zone pressure defense, Virginia settled down and began to heat up, especially from behind the 3-point line. Virginia's first 15 points all came on 3-pointers, and the Cavaliers never lost their touch from behind the arc. Singletary, Diane, Baker, senior forward Adrian Joseph and sophomore forward Jamil Tucker all made at least one 3-pointer in the period.
The Wildcats attempted to trap the Cavaliers in an effort to slow down Virginia's dangerous guards. The plan, however, failed. Singletary realized the need to move the ball quickly to beat Northwestern's pressure. In one instance the senior beat a Northwestern trap by firing a cross-court pass to wide-open sophomore Jamil Tucker. Tucker took the ball and calmly drilled an open 3-pointer.
Singletary delivered another highlight-reel play toward the end of the first period. With a little more than three minutes left to play in the half, Singletary leaped up and snagged a one-handed rebound. He then raced down the court and pulled up short for a 3-pointer. Singletary effortlessly drained the shot and gave Virginia a 45-22 lead. Singletary's play, along with the great shooting of Diane, Baker and others allowed Virginia to coast to a 54-29 first-half advantage. Virginia made 12-20 3-pointers in the period and 19-31 field goals overall.
Virginia started the second half in much the same fashion. This time, however, the Cavaliers knocked down three 2-point jump shots to start the period. The Cavaliers' momentum carried over and allowed the team to extend its lead to 32 points, 63-31, in the first five minutes of the half.
Diane and Joseph continued their strong play as both players made big baskets to open up the period. Junior forward Laurynas Mikalauskas got in on the party minutes later when he took a pass from Singletary and easily put it in the hoop. Less than a minute after Lars' heroics, Diane called his number again and drilled an open 3-pointer. Diane's bucket extended Virginia's lead to 70-37 with 13 minutes to play and forced Northwestern's coach to call a much needed timeout.
The rest of the half played out in a fast-paced but unexciting nature. Virginia maintained a 30-point lead for much of the period as fans began filing out of John Paul Jones Arena with eight minutes remaining in the game.
"We're pretty good at shooting, we practice a lot and the results show," Singletary said. "When you have your mojo going and everything is flowing you're going to have a good night"
Read More
'The Måns Dahlberg show' is kicking into gear, just in time for Virginia’s title chase
By Thomas Baxter | YesterdayHe's one man during the first few months of the season, quite another in the final two.
TILOCK: The real Virginia baseball just stood up
By Xander Tilock | 2 days agoThe Cavaliers' chronic issues are dwindling, and underperforming stars are ascending.
Dietrich’s comeback clincher sends No. 7 seed men’s tennis to NCAA quarterfinals
By Margaret Piatos | 3 days agoFor the 18th time in 20 years, Virginia is headed to the quarterfinals.
