Less than two weeks ago, the Virginia men’s basketball team escaped with a 61-60 win against unranked Wake Forest at John Paul Jones Arena. Now, the No. 2 Cavaliers head to the Demon Deacons’ home venue — LVJM Coliseum in Winston-Salem, North Carolina — for a Wednesday night rematch.
But this time, Virginia (25-1, 13-1 ACC) might not have its floor general, London Perrantes. The sophomore guard — who collided, head to head, with junior guard Malcolm Brogdon in the second half Sunday against Florida State — is listed as day-to-day with a broken nose and a mild concussion.
Brogdon, meanwhile, is ready to go after receiving stitches, according to coach Tony Bennett.
“We’re going to have to be at our best,” Bennett said. “Whatever we have going in there, we’re just going to have to be ready to play.”
Though Wake Forest (12-15, 4-10 ACC) sits in 12th place in the rough-and-tumble ACC — and earlier this year suffered six losses in a span of seven conference games — Bennett said the Demon Deacons present a legitimate “challenge,” especially in the wake of that high-wire first meeting.
“Any road game is a challenge, without a doubt, and they’re very good offensively,” Bennett said. “They’ve played everybody competitive. When they played us at our place — you know, that could have gone either way.”
Freshman Konstantinos Mitoglou — a 6-foot-10 forward from Thessaloniki, Greece — is a player to watch out for. A gifted marksman not shy about pulling the trigger, Mitoglou torched the Cavalier defense for 18 points on 6-12 shooting from 3-point range back on Feb.14.
Virginia did not seal the win until the final seconds, when Brogdon stopped talented junior guard Codi Miller-McIntyre at the top of the key.
Six of Wake Forest’s ACC contests have been decided by four points or less, and only three of their conference defeats have come by double digits. Minnesota and No. 15 North Carolina are the only teams — inside or outside of ACC play — to down the Demon Deacons by that margin at LVJM.
Add in the fact the regular season is winding to a close, perhaps raising the stakes on individual games, and Wednesday night’s matchup could indeed be a battle.
“We’re getting, at this stage of the year, everybody’s best shot,” Bennett said. “They’re playing for important stuff for them [and] we’re playing for very important stuff for us, so it comes down to just, again, that level of fight and desire to get stuff done.”
Virginia is now 4-0 since losing junior guard Justin Anderson to a fractured finger on his left hand. But aside from a 5-13 showing against Pittsburgh, the Cavaliers have struggled mightily from long range in that span, making just five 3-pointers combined against N.C. State, Wake Forest and Florida State.
Throw in a 10-22 performance from the free throw line in the second half on Sunday, and Virginia has hardly been sweet-shooting of late.
“We’re not shooting the ball well as a team, and that is what it is — I mean, you can’t sit here and say, ‘Well, we’ve just been unlucky,’” Bennett said. “We’ve gotten some good looks [and] we’ve missed them. So, we try to go to work on that.”
Still, the Cavaliers have found ways to win. Forwards junior Anthony Gill and senior Darion Atkins led Virginia in scoring against the Seminoles, with Atkins scoring consecutive buckets inside just after Perrantes and Brogdon’s scary moment. Atkins also nabbed a career-high four steals in his 28 minutes of play.
“It was great — it was electric,” Atkins said of the crowd’s response to his and Virginia’s play. “I love when I can contribute and have the crowd be on my side.”
Bennett compared the arc of Atkins’ collegiate career to that of former Cavaliers guard Mustapha Farrakhan, Jr. Like Farrakhan, Atkins did not shine at Virginia right away. But also like Farrakhan — who played multiple seasons in the NBA Development League and in 2013-14 competed for the National Basketball League’s Melbourne Tigers — Atkins has steadily improved.
“I know it’s discouraging sometimes to not play early or play as much as you want, but it’s just the law of improvement [that] if you work at things you’re going to get better as you mature,” Bennett said. “And, you know, now [Darion’s] matured. He’s a senior. Hard to believe he has one more home game left — that’s amazing.”
Bennett said Atkins’ development is instructive for young players.
“He’s enjoying playing a lot of minutes and enjoying success from a team standpoint but even individually,” Bennett said. “And I think that’s a great message if you’re willing to wait for it.”
Guards freshman Marial Shayok and redshirt freshman Devon Hall have also stepped up of late. Shayok said Virginia was able to weather the absence of Perrantes — and, if only for a few minutes, Brogdon — because it is a true team.
“It shows a lot about our chemistry,” Shayok said. “We all try to lift each other up, even when we’re not playing. You know, we all work equally hard in practice so when the time comes we’ll be all ready.”
Tipoff against Wake Forest is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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