For the first time since the Ralph Sampson era, the Virginia men’s basketball team has climbed to a 6-1 start in ACC play. The Cavaliers matched the mark of the 1982-83 team by defeating in-state rival Virginia Tech 65-45 Saturday in a game that was never in doubt over the final 30 minutes. The 20-point win against the Hokies is the largest for the Hoos in this series since a 25-point victory in 1991.
“It’s special. I don’t think it will really hit me until after I’m done, but right now I’m staying focused and our guys aren’t even listening to that,” UVa senior Akil Mitchell said of the 6-1 start. “We know what its like to lose. We’ve lost a couple games, we’ve gotten blown out and we’ve been embarrassed. We know what it’s like to be up at the top and then to lose that feeling. So we understand what we have to do to win and be successful and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
The Hoos have won 13 straight home ACC games at the John Paul Jones Arena, matching Duke for the longest streak in the league. This season’s conference games at the JPJ haven’t even been close.
Saturday’s victory against the Hokies followed what has become a familiar script for UVa early in ACC play. The lead grew to double digits by midway through the first half and the Hoos maintained that comfortable margin for the entire second half. They have done that in every conference home game this season, defeating Wake Forest 74-51, Florida State 78-66, North Carolina 76-61, and Virginia Tech 65-45. Only UNC climbed to within 10 points after intermission and that lasted for a total of 25 seconds. In fact, UVa has led by at least 20 points in all six of its ACC wins to date.
The Hoos are happy with their start in league play, but they don’t sound surprised or satisfied at this stage of the season.
“It’s a little weird, I’ll be honest, not playing in a tight game except for Duke really,” Mitchell said. “It’s a little weird, but I’m not surprised, I’m happy with the margin of victory.”
“I’m not surprised. I know how good we can be,” Cavalier sophomore Malcolm Brogdon said. “I think we’re playing well. I think we’re clicking right now. I think we have to keep playing better and we still have areas we can improve on, but I expect us to play this well. I do.”
Brogdon once again played a big role in the win. He set new career highs with 18 points and 4 3-pointers, making 4 of 5 shots from beyond the arc. He also led the team in rebounding with 6 boards and added 3 assists and 1 steal for good measure. It’s the seventh straight game in double figures for Brogdon.
Joe Harris joined him with double-digit points, the 82nd time he’s done that in his career. Harris finished with 12 points, 3 assists, and 1 steal. Harris (1,487) passed Donald Hand (1,486) for 17th place on the career scoring charts at Virginia.
With those two leading the way in the scoring column again, the Cavs produced a balanced effort across the rest of the stat sheet. Mike Tobey chipped in 8 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots. Anthony Gill contributed 7 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 assist. Mitchell added 6 points and 3 rebounds, while Justin Anderson recorded 5 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocked shots, and 1 assist. Mitchell (669) moved past Olden Polynice (667) and into 13th place on the program’s career rebounding list.
No one played more than 28 minutes in the contest.
“We got a few open looks early on and it seemed like whether they were in zone or man, if we were able to get some good ball reversal, move a little bit, and hit them with some screens they weren’t able to last throughout the entire possession,” Harris said.
With UVa producing a fairly balanced day on offense (43.5% shooting, 14 assists on 20 made shots), the defense prevented Virginia Tech from making it an interesting game on the scoreboard. The Hokies made just 14 of 42 shots (33.3%) and 3 of 18 3-pointers (16.7%). They produced just 5 assists with 12 turnovers. Point guard Devin Wilson was the only player in double figures with 12 points, mostly on free throws. He made 8 of 11 at the stripe.
Cavalier coach Tony Bennett said his team “had really good stretches of team defense” during the day. Bennett also emphasized that “just because you’ve won a few it shouldn’t change how you approach things and how you play.” He wants the team to understand why that defensive formula with a sound and balanced offense has paid off this month and to carry that approach forward.
To get his point across on that front, Bennett borrowed a page from his father Dick Bennett’s English background. A Ralph Waldo Emerson page to be exact. Bennett has been after his players throughout January to be hungry for the crumbs – to do the little things and find the little contributions that can help your team win. With more praise rolling their way now with a fast ACC start, Bennett used Emerson’s words to remind his players to stay focused on what got them to a 6-1 start and not the positive press that has come as a result.
“I quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson to them that [the] hero is not fed on sweets. They’ve been on the pedestal and they’ve seen the other side. They got knocked down after they thought how good they’d be at the start of the year with all the projections. We weren’t tough enough, sound enough, or playing the kind of ball that gives us a chance,” Bennett said. “I said you have a tremendous opportunity and you worked hard to get to this spot, you just keep playing your ball and don’t give it back.”
