Justin Anderson was perfect from beyond the arc. Anthony Gill was dominant inside. Mike Tobey cleaned up on the boards.
Pick a Virginia men’s basketball player and he probably had a big night against Tennessee State on Tuesday. Thirteen different players scored as the No. 8 Cavaliers rolled to a 79-36 victory in the Cavaliers’ second game of the Barclays Center Classic.
“We played together as a team and we started off well,” Gill said. “A lot of guys came off the bench and really helped us tonight like Mike Tobey had a really good game tonight … that speaks volumes to how deep we are on our bench.”
The Tigers (2-3) didn’t have an answer for Gill on the inside or Anderson from the outside in the first half as Virginia (5-0) jumped out to a 42-17 lead. Gill exploded for a season-high 16 points and a career-high nine rebounds with 15 points and six boards coming before halftime.
Anderson lit it up from the three-point line, resuming the torrid pace he started the season on from downtown when he hit 10 triples in the Cavaliers’ first three games. He buried all five of his three-point attempts Tuesday night and both of his other two attempts from the floor for a seven-for-seven night and 20 points. The junior has led UVa in scoring in all five games this season.
“He had his feet set, good rhythm shots and that loosened up the zone a little bit,” said Virginia coach Tony Bennett.
With 14:07 to play in the second half, Anderson had 20 points and Tennessee State had just 17, but he pointed out that the Tigers forced UVa to do some different things.
“[Tennessee State] gave us a different challenge as far as their athleticism and their ability to catch and shoot really fast, which made us be a little bit more disciplined on getting to shooters and closing out higher and being smarter with our ball movement,” Anderson said. “They challenged us to do something different but I think we did a great job responding and executing.”
On defense, the Cavaliers held Tennessee State to 24 percent from the field in the opening half and held a 27-23 advantage on the boards. Things didn’t improve after the break for the visitors as UVa opened on a 20-0 run with eight of the first 12 points coming from Anderson. That spurt made for a 32-0 run that stretched over the end of the first half and the start of the second. TSU finished at 29.2% shooting – the Hoos have held all five opponents to date to less than 33% from the floor.
Tobey hauled down 13 rebounds in the first half, including four on the offensive end and posted nine points before the break. He finished with 13 points and 16 rebounds, his first career double-double.
Freshman Marial Shayok had a quiet first half in just seven minutes on the floor, but got on track in the second half with seven points. Malcolm Brogdon and London Perrantes helped facilitate the offense as usual, combining for five of the Cavaliers’ 17 assists. B.J. Stith scored his first collegiate bucket a little after the midway point of the second half. He played his highest number of minutes on the year, logging 12 minutes, and finished with four points.
The Cavaliers also got a chance to play their “Green Team,” four walk-ons who serve largely as practice players, for an extended period of time. The quartet of Rob Vozenilek, Maleek Frazier, Caid Kirven, and Jeff Jones each logged four or five minutes on the floor. Vozenilek, Kirven, and Jones each scored a bucket with Frazier pulling down a rebound. Kirven also snagged three boards.
“I was really glad that our green machine group … got five quality minutes where they played hard,” Bennett said. “That meant the world to me because they sacrifice so much to make us better.”
Virginia will take the momentum of the first 5-0 start in the Tony Bennett era on the road to New York where they’ll continue play in the Barclays Center Classic in Brooklyn. The Wahoos face off against La Salle on Friday at 9:30 p.m. and then either Rutgers or Vanderbilt on Saturday. Outside of the season opener against James Madison, it’ll be UVa’s first trip outside of Charlottesville and, like Tennessee State from Anderson’s viewpoint, this trip will feature some unique challenges.
“We’ve been playing a lot of games at home and just going on the road, in a neutral setting and trying to bring our own energy, it’s going to be interesting,” Gill said.
