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J.R. Reynolds missed six of his first eight shots before making the game-winner. |
There were all kinds of reasons the Virginia Cavaliers could have lost Thursday night. They were rusty following a 15-day layoff. They were playing without forward Jason Clark, who has a strained Achilles tendon. Freshman phenom Sean Singletary was dealing with an injured shoulder. Leading scorer Devin Smith went down with a sprained ankle. And senior center Elton Brown fouled out in overtime.
But despite all that, the 25th-ranked Wahoos managed to prevail over Loyola Marymount, 79-77, at University Hall on a driving layup by J.R. Reynolds with 1.5 seconds left.
“We hadn’t played in about 15 days and it showed,” said UVa coach Pete Gillen, whose team improved to 8-1. “We just didn’t have any energy. Our team showed a lot of courage. It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t artistic, but it’s a win.”
For Virginia, it was a struggle all night against the feisty Lions (7-3). The visitors scored first and held the lead for nearly 15 minutes before a Brown jumper put the home team in front, 25-24. The Cavs increased that lead to 31-24 on a spinning floater by Smith and took a 34-28 lead into the break.
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Elton Brown finished with 25 points and eight rebounds. |
Virginia scored the first four points of the second half to go up by 10, but things quickly unraveled. The Lions went on an 11-0 run to seize the lead. Then midway through the half Smith went down with a right ankle sprain and limped gingerly off the court with assistance from Clark. X-rays were negative but Smith is out indefinitely.
LMU led by six with 6:48 remaining before the Cavs rallied. Singletary’s 3-pointer with 2:57 left cut the deficit to two. Brown later scored the final four points of regulation, including two pressure-packed free throws with 50 seconds remaining to deadlock the game at 67. Neither team converted after that, forcing overtime.
Brown’s jumper opened the scoring in OT and gave him 25 points on the night, but he fouled out minutes later. The teams traded baskets. Singletary followed a 3-pointer by LMU’s Charles Brown with one of his own, giving Virginia a 74-72 lead.
The Cavs were up 77-73 with 40 seconds left before the Lions stormed back. Dustin Brown hit a jumper, then Wes Wardrop stole the ball from Reynolds and made a layup to tie the game at 77.
Fortunately, Reynolds atoned for his error, driving hard to the basket and making the game-winning layup.
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Sean Singletary made two crucial 3-pointers for UVa. |
Reynolds was the hero, while Brown led the team in points and rebounds (8). Smith and Singletary added 12 points each. But the biggest story of the evening may have the contributions of Virginia’s bench. T.J. Bannister, Tunji Soroye , Adrian Joseph and Donte Minter combined for 22 points, six rebounds and four blocks.
“Our bench stepped up big time for us this game,” Brown said. “Tunji stepped up and hit two free throws, won the jump ball (in overtime). People don’t look at the little plays like that. Giving us the first possession of overtime was a big play for us. Donte came in and got five or six points.”
Sophomore forward Matthew Knight turned in a double-double for the Lions with 27 points and 10 boards.
“The dribble penetration hurt us the whole night,” said LMU coach Steve Aggers. “They’re very hard to guard on the perimeter. They’re very athletic and very quick.
Their man-to-man defense was the difference in the last six minutes. I thought they upped their defensive intensity and we had some uncharacteristic turnovers. Credit their speed and quickness and their man-to-man defense.”
Said Gillen: “It was a great victory because our kids had a lot of adversity tonight with the injuries and the foul trouble with Elton but we found a way to win.”
Virginia gets another long break for Christmas before playing No. 5 Wake Forest on Jan. 2 at U-Hall.
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