Forward Akil Mitchell cannot pinpoint a single Hoosiers-like moment when things began to click for the Virginia basketball team, but whatever the cause, the Cavaliers have begun a steady ascent into ACC relevancy.
As the Virginia men’s basketball team prepares to host Tennessee Wednesday, the team has begun to find an answer to the most pressing question entering 2012: Who will replace Mike Scott?
With all apologies to Tony Bennett and the burgeoning young Virginia men’s basketball team, a scant few will remember Saturday, Dec.
In the midst of a busy sports day, Virginia’s 67-51 win against lowly Green Bay nevertheless holds significance for those looking for it.
Senior guard Jontel Evans had six second-half assists and a career-high five steals to help Virginia (6-2, 0-0 ACC) take control after the break and notch its fifth consecutive victory following a 1-2 start to the season. Evans, Harris and Mitchell scored or assisted on all 15 of the Cavaliers’ second-half field goals and Virginia topped the 60-point mark for the fifth consecutive game in the 67-51 win.
The Cavaliers (5-2, 0-0 ACC) return home from a statement win in Madison, Wisconsin against the Badgers in the ACC/Big Ten challenge to face Green Bay Saturday looking to extend their season-long win streak to five.
Down 38-36 with 10 minutes, 18 seconds remaining, Virginia finished on a 24-16 run to defeat Wisconsin 60-54 at the Kohl Center Wednesday evening.
When Tony Bennett left Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan’s staff in 2003 and followed his father, Dick, to Washington State, he took more than his belongings with him.
The Virginia basketball team continued its improved play in the NIT Season Tip-Consolation at John Paul Jones Arena, earning wins against Lamar and North Texas in the last week.
Junior guard Joe Harris did not wait long to reestablish himself as the Virginia basketball team’s most prolific scorer.
Junior forward Akil Mitchell finished with 14 points and a career-high 16 rebounds to lead the Cavaliers to a blowout 83-43 win, their largest victory under coach Tony Bennett. He completed his double-double before the end of the first half, finishing the opening period with 10 points and 12 rebounds—one more than the Redhawks’ team total of 11.
The challenge for the Virginia men’s basketball team entering the season was to integrate a talented cast of freshmen with a small stable of returning veterans to weather the losses of Mike Scott, Assane Sene and Sammy Zeglinski.
The anticipation for the first game of the season for the Virginia men’s basketball team was hard to put into words.
By the time Delaware was putting the finishing touches on a 59-53 victory in front of 8,490 appalled John Paul Jones arena patrons Tuesday evening, the “formality” of Virginia advancing to the NIT Season Tip-Off Finals at Madison Square Garden had turned into a lost opportunity.
Junior guard Joe Harris scored 11 of his game-high 15 points in the second half, and Virginia relied on a suffocating defensive effort in the second period to preserve a 54-45 win against Fairfield in the first round of the NIT Season Tip-Off Monday night.
George Mason’s Byron Allen hit an improbable off-balance three-pointer to beat the shot clock to put his team ahead for good with 1:02 remaining and serve the Virginia men’s basketball team a 63-59 loss in the season opener.
At times last year, Mike Scott became synonymous with the 2011-12 Virginia men’s basketball team. After missing the bulk of the previous season with injury, Scott transformed Virginia from a 16-15 ACC also-ran into a 22-10 March Madness participant. With his return, Scott provided more than just the depth Virginia desperately lacked in the post.
When Virginia hired Tony Bennett to revitalize a flailing men’s basketball program in March 2009, the coach understood his rebuilding project would require time.
Polls by both ACC coaches and media members released this week predicted the Virginia men’s basketball team to finish seventh in the ACC for the 2012-2013 campaign.
In an early blow to the Virginia men’s basketball team, senior point guard Jontel Evans underwent surgery Monday to repair a stress fracture in his right foot and could miss time when the team opens play in early November. Evans, who has played in all 94 games in his three seasons at Virginia and started 70 of them, started complaining of pain in the foot last week during practice.
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