The “Good Ol’ Song” roared over the mumbles of a satisfied audience following Saturday’s 52-47 victory over the ninth-ranked Louisville Cardinals. But uncertainty loomed in the Virginia locker room.
That night it was announced that star junior guard Justin Anderson had fractured a finger in his left hand, which would require immediate surgery, causing him to miss four to six weeks of play. Anderson, who entered the Louisville game as the team’s leading scorer, has emerged this season as an All-American caliber player as well as a team leader for the Cavaliers.
Despite the setback to both the team and the individual, the No. 3 Cavaliers look to continue their ACC dominance Saturday afternoon when they take on a struggling Wake Forest team. Virginia (22-1, 10-1 ACC) enters Saturday’s matchup a week removed from having completed its toughest stretch of schedule, in which it played three top-15 teams — No. 5 Duke, No. 15 North Carolina and No. 8 Louisville — over the course of one week. They followed that stretch up with a 51-47 win Wednesday night in Raleigh against North Carolina State.
Wake Forest (12-13, 4-8 ACC) has struggled so far this season but is coming off a 72-70 win last night at home against Miami. Virginia’s stifling defense will be pitted against a strong rebounding Wake Forest team, whose junior forward Devin Thomas averages 9.8 rebounds a game, the second-highest mark in the ACC.
A defensive performance similar to that of the first half of last Saturday’s game, in which Virginia held Louisville to 13 points and 19 percent shooting, would do well to keep both the Demon Deacons off the glass and the scoring low as the Cavaliers seek to retain its one-game lead in the ACC.
The two teams haven’t faced off since Jan. 8 of last year in a game Virginia won convincingly, 74-51, in Charlottesville.
Junior center Mike Tobey expressed confidence that a continued stingy defensive posture would produce similar results.
“When we decide to defend like that we’re really hard to score against,” Tobey said.
In Anderson’s absence, Virginia will be looking to its role players to have a larger influence on the game. The two names that have stood out the most have been junior forward Evan Nolte and sophomore guard Marial Shayok, both solid defenders who have struggled at times on the offensive end.
Coach Tony Bennett weighed in on the effects of Anderson’s absence and his plans of addressing it on the court. In regards to Anderson, he stressed keeping the focus on the future and admitted that the role players have big shoes to fill.
“Everybody’s going to have to step up in his loss because of what he was bringing,” Bennett said. “But I think that they’ll be some more opportunities for specifically Marial and as [everyone] saw obviously with Evan in the Louisville game.”
With Virginia positioned as a tournament lock and facing a schedule without many significant obstacles, the team must proceed with caution regarding its level of motivation if it hopes to retain the ACC regular-season title and secure a top ranking position for this year’s NCAA Tournament.
Junior guard Malcolm Brogdon, the team’s leading scorer, addressed this concern and stressed how imperative it was for the team to stay focused and continue to play with the drive and determination they have maintained all season.
“We can’t lose sight of the prize, and that’s competing every night,” Brogdon said. “We can’t put more weight on one game than we do another. We have to come out and play our best basketball.”
Saturday’s game is slated for a 2:30 p.m. tipoff and will be telecasted on ACC Network.
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