For former Virginia basketball star and proud Golden Gopher parent Ralph Sampson, the matchup between Virginia and Minnesota in the ACC/Big 10 Challenge was a win-win situation.
With Sampson in attendance for the contest in Minneapolis, Minn. last night, he and his son, Minnesota’s Ralph Sampson, III, went home happy, while Virginia (3-3) went home with a .500 record to start the season. The Cavaliers concluded one of their most trying road trips of the year with a 66-56 loss at Williams Arena. Minnesota (7-0) came away with its seventh straight win to start the season, while Virginia saw its third consecutive defeat.
The Cavaliers shot just 31.4 percent from the field and committed 19 turnovers. Freshman guard Sylven Landesberg had easily his worst game in a Virginia uniform, shooting just 1-11 from the floor, adding eight of 10 free throws for 10 points. Sophomore forward Mike Scott also had a tough night, held without a field goal in 18 minutes of action.
Minnesota freshman forward Colton Iverson led all scorers with 14 points. Junior forward Jamil Tucker hit four of eight 3-point field goals to lead all Virginia scorers with 12, while freshman point guard Sammy Zeglinski also added 10.
After the teams traded leads on their way to an 18-17 stalemate in the first 12:37, two free throws by junior guard Lawrence Westbrook gave Minnesota an edge it would never lose. The Cavaliers battled back from a 12-point second-half deficit to 4, and again later in the period from 11 to 6. With the score 55-49 with 4:23 remaining, however, Minnesota hit back-to-back layups to put the lead back at double digits going into the next TV timeout, and hit seven of its next nine free throws, all within the last two minutes, to ice the win.
The loss for Virginia concludes a two-game road trip that many considered would be a measuring stick for the team at this point in the season. Coming off a home loss to Liberty Nov. 25, the Cavaliers fell at Syracuse 73-70 after leading by 11 at halftime Friday.
Virginia now has a two-week break for final exams before returning home for a matchup with Longwood Dec. 17.
—compiled by Paul Montana
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