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Dave Leitao’s team fell on the road again, this time at Boston College. |
It is probably safe to say that the Virginia men’s basketball team doesn’t agree with music artist Willie Nelson. After all, it would be hard to believe that any Hoo wants to get on the road again after another disappointing and disheartening loss away from Charlottesville. Boston College became the latest team to pick up a home win against the visiting Cavaliers, grabbing a 78-73 victory on Saturday in Chestnut Hill.
Virginia led 39-33 early in the second half before BC erupted for a 23-6 run that made the difference in the outcome.
“They attacked us and we, as we have many times this year, we weren’t ready for the physical [part], but most important we weren’t ready for the mental battle that they gave us,” coach Dave Leitao told the Virginia Sports Network after the game.
In what probably can be considered encouraging and discouraging at the same time, the Cavs kept the score respectable for the second straight road trip. Still, too many turnovers, too many fouls, too many bad shots, and too many defensive breakdowns were more than enough to send the visitors tumbling to another road loss.
In the end, UVa had 19 turnovers, shot 26 of 57 from the field, and committed 27 fouls.
“Today, it was free throws, the other day it was offensive rebounds,” Leitao said. “What really matters is if you don’t shore up different parts of your approach to playing offense and defense, then it doesn’t matter what it will be at the end of the game, but there will be something that let you down.”
Boston College received an outstanding effort from its forward duo of Jared Dudley and Sean Williams, who exploited mismatches throughout the game and eventually led the team to victory. Dudley racked up 22 points and 11 rebounds in the contest, while Williams sparked the Eagles’ second-half rally and finished with 19 points.
Those two players also made 25 free throws as the Cavs repeatedly picked up fouls trying to defend the post. That helped BC log a 35 of 45 night at the free throw line, which proved to be too much for UVa’s streaky 3-point shooting to overcome. The Hoos hit 11 3-pointers, but could not stay hot from beyond the arc – they made just 11 of 27.
The Cavaliers’ J.R. Reynolds led the way statistically for the Cavaliers, scoring 21 points and dishing out 7 assists. Sean Singletary had an off afternoon in the points column with just 12 points, all on 3s. Adrian Joseph added 11 points off the bench.
“We’re a team that has a very small margin of error and we have to practice a certain way and play a certain way,” Leitao said. “When we don’t, these are the kinds of things that happen.”
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