Cavaliers Catapult Past Colonials

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Malcolm Brogdon scored 15 points in Virginia’s victory on Friday. ~ Kris Wright

Trailing at halftime, Virginia stared its first true test of the season in the eye and didn’t blink. The Cavaliers dominated the second half against George Washington, an NCAA Tournament team last season, and claimed a 59-42 victory Friday at the John Paul Jones Arena. The Hoos have won 14 straight games at home, all but one by double digits.

UVa is 4-0 for the first time since 2007-08, but it had to shake off an out-of-character first half to get there. The Hoos allowed 45.8% shooting in the first half and forced several offensive possessions to trail 26-22. A course correction at halftime led to a 20% shooting effort in the second half for GW, while Virginia hit 50% through a more precise and patient attack. That led to a lopsided 37-16 margin in the second half as the Wahoos picked up the solid early season win.

“That is a well coached team – it is a physical team that has experience. The way we were really on both ends of the floor, our unwillingness to be patient and break the defense down was really a problem. Our offense just didn’t match what we needed,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. “That was troublesome, but what I did like was to be able to bounce back and in the second half have a bit more patience, try to get inside, touch the paint and sustain a little more defensively. You can’t expect to start a game with that kind of mindset offensively, or you will be in trouble and we were. That is not the type of basketball we are trying to attain and we need to learn from that or it will be a problem.”

The Cavaliers starting wings, Justin Anderson and Malcolm Brogdon, appeared to be out of rhythm in the first half as they tried to force the issue at times. Combined with the Colonials’ rugged defense, that also impacted the interior play. Darion Atkins, Anthony Gill, and Mike Tobey combined for just six points before intermission on three-of-nine shooting.

It showed up in other areas too. GW won the board battle 17-16, posted three blocked shots, and swiped four steals in the first half as well. Thanks to seven turnovers from George Washington, however, Virginia remained in touch on the scoreboard and then found itself in the locker room.

“Coach just told us to lock in a little bit more and run our stuff with a little bit more aggressiveness and make the extra pass. I think we really were emotionally drunk as my high school coach would say, but our emotions got the best of us and we didn’t settle in in that first half,” Anderson said. “Coach had some great words for us in the second half and we came out and started playing Virginia basketball.”

The changes showed up immediately. The Cavaliers started to move the ball side to side and then punched it inside with a combination of cuts, drives, and post-ups. As a result, they scored more points in the paint in the second half than the visitors did in the entire game. The 28 to eight advantage after intermission led to a 42-24 paint edge in the game. That interior scoring started on a lay-up by Brogdon and by the 13:57 mark, the Hoos had not only erased the deficit, they led by eight at 36-28. The Colonials made a push to cut the lead to two at 36-34, but couldn’t get any closer.

That’s because much like last season’s late-game landsides, the home stretch belonged to UVa in a big way. After GW got to that two-point margin at the 11:23 juncture on a three-pointer by Yuta Watanabe, the next eight minutes featured a 17-3 burst that served as Virginia’s knockout blow. Brogdon started the surge with a step-back jumper near the elbow, Anderson followed with a vicious tip-dunk, and Atkins put in four lay-ups to key the run and George Washington never recovered.

With a team that thrives on an ‘outlast you’ mentality, the players seemed happy to come through against a quality opponent in their fourth game in eight days.

“That’s what we pride ourselves on, playing every single possession and making guys have to guard every single possession and hopefully they wear down,” Anderson said. “GW was a team that was throwing some haymakers at us in the first half. They ran their offense extremely hard, they were pressuring us on defense, and things but we learn from it, we move on. If we keep checking away like we did this game, we have a chance to be very successful.”

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Darion Atkins recorded eight points and 11 rebounds against GW. ~ Kris Wright

Anderson led all scorers with 18 points, doing his damage entirely inside the arc after making 10 three-pointers in the first three games of the season. He added eight boards, one assist, one blocked shot, and one steal to the list too. Brogdon finished with 15 points, five rebounds, two assists, and two blocks as the only other player in double figures.

Still, the flipped script in the paint made the biggest difference. Gill finished with eight points and four rebounds with a good second half, but Atkins, in particular, came to life after intermission. Atkins, who had zero points, zero blocked, and just three rebounds at halftime, ended up with eight points, a game-high 11 rebounds, and three blocked shots in the final stats. He played 15 of the 20 minutes in the second half and kept up the energy, even chasing down what appeared to be a break-away lay-up after his own turnover in the final 2:30 to alter the shot and end up with a defensive rebound. Atkins also helped the Cavaliers execute their post-trap defense well as they shut down Kevin Larsen, who tallied only two points and three rebounds.

All in all, it proved to be an excellent showing for Virginia’s lone scholarship senior.

“I always tell him to be the anchor for us defensively; protect the paint, give us activity, be all over the glass, and be opportunistic,” Bennett said. “When he does that he is at his best, and it helps us the most. It comes down to who are you as a player and what can you do to serve the team, and when he is locked into that it gives us a real good lift. He made some big plays at crucial times.”

Final Stats