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Guard Sean Singletary poured in 22 points after halftime to lead UVa past Miami. |
The Virginia-Miami game was billed as the battle of two of the top guard units in the ACC. In the end, it was one guard — Virginia’s Sean Singletary — that stole the show in the Cavaliers’ 71-51 ACC win against visiting Miami on Tuesday night. Singletary awed the 8,075 in attendance en route to a game-high 29 points, including 22 after halftime.
Singletary also dished out 4 assists while netting 8 of 11 shots in the second half. He also had just one turnover in 37 minutes of action.
“He’s a terrific player,” said Miami coach Frank Haith. “He’s the best point guard in this league. He made plays. He’s an outstanding player.”
The Cavaliers (10-6, 4-2 ACC) won their third consecutive ACC contest and posted their first 20-point ACC win since February 25, 2001 against second-ranked North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Virginia’s four league wins this season matched the total for all of the 2004-05 season.
Three other Virginia players scored in double figures as Laurynas Mikalauskas and J.R. Reynolds each added 12 points and Adrian Joseph recorded 11. The dozen points posted by Mikalauskas were a career-high. Mikalauskas and Jason Cain paced the Cavaliers with 8 rebounds each and Mamadi Diane added 4 assists, 2 rebounds and 3 points.
The Cavaliers shot 54 percent from the field, including 31 percent from behind the arc and out rebounded Miami 34-33. Virginia’s 8 turnovers marked the first time in five games that the Cavaliers did not have double-digit turnovers.
Virginia was impressive defensively, holding Miami’s guard trio of Robert Hite, Anthony Harris and Naismith candidate Guillermo Diaz to 9 points below their season average and a 10-of-36 showing from the field. Overall, the Cavaliers held the Hurricanes to their second lowest scoring output of the season and held Miami 12 percent below its season shooting average and 13 percent below its season average from 3-point range.
Harris led Miami with 13 points and Hite and Diaz added 10 each. Hite posted a team-high 3 assists and Gary Hamilton topped the Hurricanes with 7 rebounds.
“I think [Virginia] did a good job,” noted Haith. “Not to take anything away from them, but we didn’t shoot the ball well tonight. I think Rob [Hite] and Guillermo [Diaz] both had good shots, but they just didn’t make it. We’re not going to win many games when those guys shoot poorly.”
Leitao says being physical and defending the Hurricanes tight was the key to the defensive effort.
“Our game plan was to keep our bodies in front of them. [Miami] is really talented and really athletic so you have to be there on the catch and you have to keep your man in front of you,” he said.
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J.R. Reynolds left the game early in the second half after banging his head on the floor. |
A cloud hung over Virginia’s celebration as the 8,075 in attendance were silenced five minutes into the second half as Virginia’s second-leading scorer crashed to the ground. Reynolds’ head slammed against the University Hall hardwood and he left the court with just more than 14 minutes to go in the game. He returned to the bench with just less than eight minutes remaining, but did not return to the game. His condition is still unknown but doctors are expected to observe the Virginia forward overnight. The Virginia Sports Network reported the injury as a concussion.
Early on, the Cavaliers appeared to suffer from “upset” hangover following last Thursday’s win over then-No. 24 UNC. Miami jumped out to 14-6 lead just six minutes into the contest.
“My biggest fear coming into the game is that we would still be drinking the North Carolina Kool-aid and not be ready,” Leitao said. “It looked at the start of the game [like] we were.”
While the evening belonged to Singletary’s escapades, it was the play of Virginia’s big men that took center stage in the first half. Mikalauskas, Joseph and Jason Cain combined for 17 points and 9 boards in the first half and launched a 17-8 Cavalier run with 13:50 remaining to give the hosts a 23-22 lead at the 7:41 mark of the half. The Cavaliers would not relinquish that lead, increasing it to 32-26 at the break.
Mikalauskas said Leitao has told him to step up his game, especially in league play.
“I have to do a little more scoring-wise because in the ACC games we can’t just win it with the guards; we have to have some presence inside,” Mikalauskas said.
Miami narrowed the gap to 3 points just 15 seconds into the second half when Hite’s shot from beyond the arc fell through. The visitors managed to keep the contest a two-possession game for the opening five minutes of the half.
Shortly after that, however, Reynolds’ departure seemed to spark the Cavaliers, especially Singletary.
“When J.R. [Reynolds] went down, a light went off inside of him and he just took the game on his shoulders and the rest is history,” said Leitao. “Sean was the best player on the floor. He’s got an inner toughness that doesn’t come from practice, it doesn’t come from me, it comes from his existence. There’s this thing called ‘Philly’ toughness and he has a triple-dose of it.”
With Virginia up 5 points at 38-33, Singletary scored 8 of the Cavaliers next 13 to build UVa’s lead to 51-40 with less than eight minutes left. The Canes trimmed the lead to 51-45 on two free throws by Hite and a Harris trey with 6:56 remaining. The Cavaliers quickly responded, with back-to-back 3-pointers, however, as Joseph and Diane each canned a long-range jumper. That widened the gap to 57-45 and Virginia’s margin never fell below double digits again. The Cavaliers closed out the final 3:54 with a 12-4 run to reach the final score.
Virginia travels to Duke on Saturday for a 7 p.m., ESPN match-up with the No. 2 Duke Blue Devils (17-1, 5-0 ACC).
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