It took a half, but Virginia once again found the accelerator in ACC action Monday night.
This time UVa trailed North Carolina by one point in the final six minutes of a see-saw first half before pulling away to a convincing 76-61 win. The Cavaliers connected the halves with a 22-6 run after falling behind and never looked back en route to their fifth conference victory. The Wahoos are 5-1 in ACC play for the first time since 1994-95.
“I think we’re confident. We’re on a roll right now. We’re feeling good. At this point, you kind of don’t want to take a day off, you kind of just want to keep playing,” Cav senior Akil Mitchell said. “But we’ll rest our legs, get fresh, and get right back to it. Saturday is another big game and we’ve got plenty more after that. So we’re on a roll, but nowhere near satisfied.”
Virginia again utilized a balanced scoring attack as part of its winning formula. Seven different players came through with at least six points, including all five starters. The team combined to make 26 of 54 shots (48.1%) and logged assists on 16 of those 26 made shots. Freshman London Perrantes spearheaded that unselfish effort with a career-high 9 assists, while adding 8 points and 2 steals. Akil Mitchell and Anthony Gill, meanwhile, helped rein in the rebounding troubles. Mitchell finished with 6 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, while Gill secured 8 points and 8 rebounds. Mitchell climbed to 14th place on the program’s career rebounding list; with 666 boards, he jumped Elton Brown (660) and Wally Walker (665).
The wing tandem of Joe Harris and Malcolm Brogdon, however, continued to be the driving force behind the scoring success. Both players tallied 16 points and they combined for 5 assists too. Harris ignited things early by hitting a trio of 3-pointers with a highlight bomb from nearly 30 feet in the mix. While he didn’t hit another triple the rest of the way, he did find success near the rim and at the line. Harris passed Sean Singletary (222) on the career 3-pointers list and now has 224 in his career. He also moved past Othell Wilson on the career scoring list; he now has 1,474 and is 18th all time at UVa.
Brogdon, meanwhile, continued his solid play in ACC games. He has emerged as someone that can get their own shot off the dribble, a key piece of the puzzle for this year’s squad. Against UNC, he made 6 of 14 shots on a variety of attempts. Brogdon made 2 treys, several drives, and some pull-up jumpers to help loosen up the defense for other players. He also added 6 rebounds and 3 steals.
Add in 13 points from Justin Anderson off the bench and the perimeter play of Virginia really helped set the tone all night long.
“That’s starting to be a trending topic. Our guards are starting to come up heavy. Coach says he loves to have four guards that can do big things for our program. With me coming off the bench being a spark, I think that helps our team and the way Joe, Malcolm, and London are starting games is huge for us,” Anderson said. “The way that Joe is scoring the ball, the way Malcolm is doing everything, shooting the 3, getting to the basket, getting fouled, and London is facilitating and we’re just doing really good things. I think now teams are going to have to come out and guard us even harder which will open it up … for those [inside] guys to get more space on their moves.”
Still unlike their earlier ACC wins, the Cavaliers (14-5, 5-1 ACC) need most of the first half to creat some breathing room against the Tar Heels (11-7, 1-4 ACC). Neither team led by more than four points in the first 16 minutes and there were two ties and seven lead changes during that span. UNC, rallying behind its strength on the interior, worked the boards and found a lot of success in the paint where it scored 20 of its 29 points in the first half. That’s what helped the visitors take a 27-26 lead with 5:51 to go in the first half.
With UVa leading 28-27 in a back-and-forth game, coach Tony Bennett called a timeout with 4:09 remaining in the half and encouraged his team to take control of the game’s feel. The Cavaliers responded to win the final four minutes 10-2 with dunks from Gill and Mitchell providing a spark. That was part of a 12-2 half-ending run. When the hosts opened the second half on a 10-4 burst behind six quick points from Mike Tobey, they kept the comfortable lead intact the rest of the way.
“The thing got going early at their pace. The way they were offensive rebounding and we were quick-shooting a little bit, they seduced us into a little faster game than we needed to be in. We got control by the end of the first half offensively and defensively, and played the way we needed to play in the second half,” Bennett said.
After back-to-back weekends with a short Saturday-Monday schedule, Virginia gets several days to prepare for rival Virginia Tech on Saturday. The Hokies visit the John Paul Jones Arena at 3 p.m. as the Wahoos close out a three-game home stand. UVa is tied with Duke for the longest home winning streak in ACC games with 12 straight conference victories at the JPJ.
“Like you said, Carolina was big for me but I know the significance of the rivalry in the state of Virginia,” Mitchell said. “Virginia Tech is always a good game. They always bring passion, they always bring energy whether it is here or there. It will be fun to play here and I’m sure it will be a packed house. We’re just excited to get another opportunity to play.”
