The Cavaliers took on the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest at John Paul Jones Arena Saturday.
Junior forward Anthony Gill led the Cavaliers with 19 points while also tallying six rebounds as Virginia narrowly edged out Wake Forest for their 23rd win of the season.
The Cavaliers were set to battle a 17-9 Pittsburgh Panthers (6-7 ACC) Monday, who, despite a tumultuous season, were coming off of an 89-76 win against No. 12 North Carolina (18-7, 8-4 ACC).
Although the Cavaliers held the Panthers to just 15 points in the first half, they were less than perfect on offense. With resident all-star junior guard Justin Anderson still out and nursing a finger injury, junior guard Malcolm Brogdon rose to the challenge and carried the Virginia offense in the second half.
Brogdon was able to notch 18 points to go along with four rebounds, two assists and two steals, as a late second-half surge resulted in a comfortable 61-49 Cavalier victory. He also managed to score his 1,000th career point on a free throw with 1:06 left in the game.
“He really is a tremendous ambassador for the University,” coach Tony Bennett said when asked about Brogdon reaching 1,000 points “in all ways.”
Virginia is hoping to improve to 25-1 overall and 13-1 in the ACC as they are set to end a three-game homestand with a late afternoon game against Florida State (14-12, 6-7 ACC) Sunday.
Despite being just two games over .500, the Seminoles have shown they are not a team that should be taken lightly, after narrowly edging out No. 23 Miami and losing by just three points to Duke and four point to North Carolina. However, they have yet to face a defensive juggernaut like Virginia.
Virginia leads the NCAA in scoring defense, holding opponents to just 50.8 PPG, allowing opponents to net over 60 points on just five separate occasions while also holding opponents to under 40 points on five separate occasions.
Despite these impressive defensive statistics, Virginia has struggled to pull away recently due to lackluster offensive performances. If the Cavaliers want to continue their NCAA dominance and adequately fill the void left by Justin Anderson, they will need a strong boost from all of their offensive components.
One such component is freshman guard Marial Shayok, who managed to score his first basket in seven games Monday when he netted a clutch three-pointer with just 4:14 remaining in the second half to give the Cavaliers a 44-33 lead.
“I’m glad he hit that shot,” senior forward Darion Atkins said. “That’s a booster for him and hopefully he can keep being aggressive on the offensive end.”
As Shayok slowly starts to heat up, Brogdon currently leads the Cavaliers offensively, averaging 13.8 PPG. Gill isn’t far behind at 11.2 PPG. Add in an efficient offensive leader like sophomore point guard London Perrantes who boasts a 3:1 assist-to-turnover ratio, a down low presence like that of junior center Mike Tobey (7.7 PPG, 5.3 RPG), and a few baskets here and there from freshman forward Isaiah Wilkins and junior guard Evan Nolte, and the Cavalier offense has all of the components it needs to succeed.
Virginia will look to cement all of these pieces together when Florida State comes to Charlottesville Sunday. Tip-off for the game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at John Paul Jones Arena.
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