Virginia Sinks Pitt For Sixth Straight Win

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London Perrantes scored 14 points in the win. ~ Kris Wright

Perhaps, in retrospect, it was a bad idea to ask Virginia to wear white on the road.

Pittsburgh created a ‘black out’ game Saturday at the Petersen Events Center with the team and fans wearing black attire for the visit from No. 9 UVA. Wearing their home white uniforms, however, the Cavaliers looked comfortable and in total control as they dismantled the Panthers in the second half for a 64-50 win.

The Hoos have won six straight games, including three straight league road tests, to improve to 19-4 and 8-3 in the ACC.

“I think it’s huge,” Virginia senior Malcolm Brogdon said. “It’s huge for our momentum and huge for our confidence. It’s important that we finish the regular season strong, whether or not we get the ACC title. We have to finish strong and these road wins are very important.”

Brogdon certainly looks focused on finishing strong. He has scored at least 20 points in five of the last six games. He tallied 21 points, 4 assists, and 2 rebounds against Pitt. For the season, Brogdon has 12 games of at least 20 points, surpassing Mike Scott’s 2011-12 season when the current NBA forward had 11 such outings.

Playing in the Petersen Events Center for the first time since hitting a game-winning 3-pointer in the final second of the 2014 matchup with Pitt, Brogdon had it going early against the Panthers. He made his first five shots as he scored 14 of UVA’s first 24 points. Those five shots included two 3-pointers, a bank shot, a reverse layup in the post, and a driving one-handed dunk as he showed off a variety of offensive skills.

By the end of the game, Brogdon made 6 of 9 shots (3 of 5 triples) and 6 of 6 free throws.

“He’s getting different kinds of baskets,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. “He’s efficient. He and London [Perrantes] had a nice rhythm going. We’re getting him good looks, and he’s making good decisions. With the exception of that charge at the end of the game, he again had a very efficient, very strong [game]. He’s shooting the ball well, and letting it come. Then when he needs to be aggressive or attack he does. He got us off to a great start on the road, and I really liked what I saw with that. He’s playing at a high level for sure.”

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Malcolm Brogdon scored 21 points, the fifth time in six games he’s had at least 20. ~ Mike Ingalls

Brogdon had an assist – a kickout 3-pointer to London Perrantes – during that opening surge too, but that was par for the course with UVA’s offense Saturday. The Wahoos logged 17 assists on 24 made baskets in the game. Brogdon (4), Perrantes (3), and Isaiah Wilkins (career-high 5) did much of the sharing damage as they got the ball to open teammates.

Perrantes finished with 14 points as he made 4 of 5 3-pointers. That included at least two corner 3-pointers where the ball pinged around the perimeter before landing in Perrantes’ open hands. Wilkins, meanwhile, added 4 points and 7 rebounds to the cause.

The biggest scoring boost came from the small forward spot, though. Marial Shayok came off the bench to score 8 points to go with 4 rebounds, 2 blocked shots, and 1 steal. He attacked the basket several times in the second half to give the team a driving threat from the wing. Starter Devon Hall chipped in 6 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists too.

All of Hall’s points came during the game’s decisive run early in the second half. After Pittsburgh tied the game at 31-31 as part of 10-2 run that bridged the halves (UVA went scoreless over the final 3:52 of the first half), Virginia responded with a two-minute blitz that opened the floodgates. The Hoos scored 12 points in just four possessions between the 17:51 and 15:52 marks on the clock to build a double-digit lead that never fell below nine points again the rest of the way. That run featured a trio of 3’s from Brogdon, Hall, and Perrantes followed by a traditional three-point play from Hall.

UVA made 9 of 16 3-pointers (56.3%) and 24 of 50 shots overall (48.0%). On the other end, Pitt made just 2 of 13 3-point attempts (15.4%). That included 0-7 shooting in the second half when the Panthers scored just 23 points.

“I think we were able to buckle down and get stops,” Brogdon said. “At one point in the second half I think we had five stops in a row, and that was huge for us because on the other end we were converting. We were moving the ball well, getting open threes, and we were knocking them down. It was flowing for us on both ends.”

Final Stats