Worse Performance But Same Result for 3-0 Cavs

Elton Brown finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds.

Bearing little resemblance to the team that shocked Arizona three days ago, Virginia shook off a sluggish first half and pulled away from Appalachian State tonight. Though the final score of 77-60 was almost exactly the same, the Cavaliers didn’t play with the same skill or intensity that they displayed in Sunday’s 78-60 win over the Wildcats. They ended up playing well enough to avoid a major upset and improve to 3-0, but it wasn’t a performance that pleased their head coach.

“Our guys just weren’t really emotionally ready. The game Sunday took a lot out of us emotionally and physically,” Pete Gillen said. “But good teams have got to play every night. In the ACC, you’re going to have 16 emotional games like the Arizona game.”

Elton Brown proved to be too much for the undersized Mountaineers, who went 9-21 last year. The senior center scored 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for his sixth career double-double, while J.R. Reynolds had 16 points. T.J. Bannister scored 10 points, all in the second half, and Gary Forbes delivered eight points and seven boards off the bench.

Though the game was tied at 30 at the half, the Cavs were fortunate to not be behind. They made all 10 of their free throws in the first half, while Appalachian State went 3 for 9. Mountaineers sharpshooter Noah Brown made four 3-pointers in the half to carry his team.

Of Virginia’s three 3-pointers, J.R. Reynolds had two of them.

Led by Reynolds, Virginia did a better job on Brown in the second half. All four of his 3-point attempts were contested and his only points of the half came on a layup and free throw with 7:16 left. By then, the Wahoos led by 17 points.

“We tried to make sure when he got the ball to contain him and make him penetrate,” Reynolds said of Brown. “In the first half, he got kind of hot out there, so we wanted to try and slow him down in the second half.”

Freshman point guard Sean Singletary , dynamic in the Arizona win, contributed just eight points and four assists. But he sparked the team at the start of the second half, scoring four points in the first two minutes. That kicked off a 16-2 run in which Brown delivered eight points, all from close range. The Cavs eventually pushed the lead to 20 on Adrian Joseph ‘s bank shot with 9:25 left.

“Arizona did not beat us on Sunday. They almost beat us on Wednesday,” GIllen said. “We were not the same team. We did not play with that fire. … I blame myself and I blame the seniors. They’ve got to be invested in this. They have to take stock. They’ve got to get themselves ready and get the other guys ready. Players listen to other players.”