After a thrilling finish at Wake Forest a week ago, the Virginia men’s basketball team has bypassed the drama during the last two games. The Hoos led wire to wire for the second straight game on Wednesday night as they cruised past Boston College, 61-47.
Much like Saturday’s win at Louisville, the lead spent a lot of time in double digits as the Cavaliers led by at least 12 points for the final 15 minutes. In fact, the margin grew to 25 points late in the second half before BC sliced the final score down against the reserves. Both the Cardinals and Eagles finished with 47 points, season-best defensive totals for UVA (18-4, 7-3 ACC).
The Hoos have won five straight games and have allowed just 58.4 points per game during that stretch. They said that’s a step in the right direction.
“I think so. I can’t say [we’re hitting our stride] for sure because it’s only been two games where we’ve really played almost up to our potential, but I think we’re learning,” Virginia senior Malcolm Brogdon said. “We’re tasting what it’s like to be a defensive-minded team.”
Boston College ended the game at 26.5% shooting from the floor. That included making just 5 of 23 shots inside the arc as the visitors struggled to create anything near the rim. Brogdon, as he often does, had the defensive clamps on one of the opponent’s best options. BC’s Eli Carter entered the game averaging 17.3 points per game, but managed just 7 points at UVA with Brogdon doing most of the heavy lifting . Carter did not score in the first half and made just 2 of 10 shots in the game.
Only Sammy Barnes-Thompkins made it into double figures with 14 points, but the majority of that came in the first half when he made a quartet of 3-pointers.
“I think our first-half defense was solid,” Cavalier coach Tony Bennett said. “We did a good job of limiting Eli Carter because he can really get going. … Boston College, although they’re short-handed, they run their offense with great pace. I’ll be curious to see on film if we were bothering enough shots and jamming the lane or if they were just missing their shots.”
“I was very happy for our guys. I thought we competed for 40 minutes,” BC coach Jim Christian said. “We just were really cold. We couldn’t make shots. We executed what we wanted to execute. I thought Eli Carter did a really good job tonight. When you play [Virginia] they are so ball conscious that you have to throw the ball back, and we did. We just couldn’t make a shot out of that. Credit to them, they are obviously an excellent defensive team, but those are shots that we are going to have to hit.”
While the Eagles couldn’t find their shooting touch, the Hoos got going thanks in large part to Brogdon. The senior poured in 27 points, one off his career-high total, to lead all scorers. That included 17 points before halftime as UVA built a 29-20 advantage. Brogdon finished 7-of-10 shooting from the field, which included a perfect 5-of-5 outing from 3-point range. He also made 8 of 8 free throw attempts. He added 6 rebounds for good measure.
Brogdon has scored 20 or more points 11 times this season, which matches Mike Scott’s 2011-12 season for 20+ games. Brogdon has hit that mark in five of the last seven games. Wednesday’s outing pushed Brogdon past 1,500 points for his career, one of just 18 players to reach that milestone in program history.
“He’s playing real good basketball, very efficient,” Bennett said. “He’s being assertive, but also letting the game come to him. He did a good job of guarding Carter. He’s really showing his completeness on both ends of the floor and leading well. He had good looks all night and didn’t force. I thought he was sharp.”
Anthony Gill landed in double figures as well with 10 points and 11 rebounds. He has scored in double figures in every game this season. Devon Hall chipped in 5 points and 5 rebounds, while London Perrantes added 5 points and 4 assists. Hall and Perrantes joined Evan Nolte with one 3-pointer each in the game. Matching those shots up with Brogdon’s big night gave UVA 50% shooting (9 of 18) from downtown.
Overall, that was enough offense and defense to get the job done against a BC team that is winless in ACC play at 0-9. More importantly, it kept the Hoos moving in the right direction after losing three of four games in early January. Since that time, the team has dialed in on improving weaknesses and finding the grit it needs to get victories. The goal now is to say on that path of improvement and determination.
“These guys want to win desperately. I understand that,” Bennett said. “I told them before the game that our staff is going to do everything we can to keep you on the path that you’re on. We’ve struggled. We’ve stumbled. We’ve worked hard. But in this last week, we’ve gotten to the point we need to be at. And it’s your job as players to stay on this path. … We’ve got a tremendous and challenging opportunity ahead of us at Pittsburgh. We know when we’re not right we can fall flat. We’ve been better defensively in the last few games, taken good shots, had a level of patience and rebounded better. That’s the path we need to be on. It’s been hard to get here, trust me. Hopefully, we can stay here. That’s the challenge and that’s what the players need to bring to it.”
