Shots Won’t Fall for Wahoos

Sean Singletary missed 20 of 23 shots and had 4 turnovers.

The defense, rebounding and effort were all there, but Virginia’s offense wasn’t good enough in tonight’s game at Georgia Tech. The Cavaliers shot 27% from the field, committed 18 turnovers and lost 63-54 in the ACC opener for both teams. Starting guards Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds, the team’s leading scorers, missed 26 of 30 shots and UVa went 0 for 13 from behind the 3-point line.

“I’ve got to give them credit. They’re athletic and they’re long and they caused us a little bit of problems,” said UVa coach Dave Leitao. “They did a very good job of defending us and finding Sean and trying to eliminate him from the offense. After that, we took some low-percentage shots, and you just can’t continually take low-percentage shots and think you’re going to score the basketball.”

The Cavs (3-2, 0-1 ACC) got off to a horrid start on offense, missing 14 of their first 15 shots. Jason Cain scored Virginia’s first four baskets and finished with career highs in points (15) and rebounds (11), but he didn’t get much help. No one else made a field goal for UVa until Laurynas Mikalauskas scored with 9:11 left in the first half. Singletary and Reynolds combined to miss all 12 of their shots in the half. Georgia Tech led 29-17 at the break.

The Yellow Jackets (3-2, 1-0) stretched the lead to 35-17 before Virginia mounted a comeback. Singletary, after missing his first 11 shots, made a left-handed layup and a tough bank shot to open UVa’s scoring in the second half. Mamadi Diane scored six points during a 13-2 run that whittled the deficit to 48-44 with five minutes left.

Georgia Tech center Ra’Sean Dickey made a free throw and a jumper to push the margin back to seven. The Cavs cut it to five on three occasions but could get no closer.

Singletary finished 3 of 23 from the field in scoring 10 points, while Reynolds had five points on 1-for-7 shooting. Diane contributed 14 points and seven rebounds, though he missed 11 of 16 shots. Jeremis Smith led the Jackets with 15 points and nine rebounds.

Virginia outrebounded Georgia Tech, 52-41, and pulled down 28 offensive boards. The Cavs also held the Jackets to 40% shooting, but Leitao still said the effort could have been better.

“There are some days when you’ll shoot the ball well and days when you won’t shoot it well,” Leitao said. “That doesn’t really matter because it never really takes the place of effort. There were too many lapses by too many people. We were not collectively playing as hard as we need to.”

Virginia next plays at home against Fordham on Wednesday before taking a 10-day exam break.