Jackets Sink Cavs In Charlotte

Sean Singletary scored 20 points and had 10 assists.

There are many clichés that get spouted when the postseason begins in sports. It’s a whole new ballgame. Everyone is 0-0. This is the start of a new season. And so on.

Unfortunately for the Virginia men’s basketball team, none of those sayings changed a thing at the ACC Tournament. The Cavaliers struggled with defense all season in ACC play and Thursday night’s game with Georgia Tech provided more of the same. The Yellow Jackets shredded the UVa defense to the tune of 57.9% shooting (52% on 3-pointers) and rolled to a 94-76 victory. It marked the 10th time this season that the Cavs allowed an ACC team to shoot better than 48% from the field and they are now 1-9 in those contests.

“I thought Georgia Tech did a really good job being the aggressor today, starting with the first few minutes of the game, on offense especially,”Virginia coach Dave Leitao said. “They were in attack mode and we gave up 24 points in about eight and half minutes and essentially, even though the score was close, we were playing uphill mentally. We did not do a really good job other than if we were penetrating and scoring or penetrating and kicking early to [Mamadi Diane ] of establishing anything on either end that would kind of help.”

Indeed, the Hoos managed to stay in the contest until early in the second half thanks to some strong 3-point shooting from Diane in particular. In fact, Virginia even took a 56-51 lead when Mike Scott knocked down a 3 in the opening minutes after intermission.

That long ball proved to be one last gasp, though. Georgia Tech closed the game with a 43-20 surge to eliminate the Cavaliers from contention. Maurice Miller started the onslaught with a 3-pointer before Zack Peacock tied the game with a short jumper. Virginia forward Jamil Tucker gave his team its final lead at 57-56 with a free throw moments later, but the Jackets started their final push with an 11-2 burst before the 10-minute mark and the Cavs never recovered.

“When they got that lead, there was a timeout and the thing we just talked about was that we got really sloppy, were tentative, and the game slowed down to a crawl and that’s not what we wanted. We wanted the game to go fast,” GT coach Paul Hewitt said. “When we came back for the [under 12-minute] timeout, we had the lead and the game had gotten back to where we wanted it.”

GT senior Anthony Morrow played a key role in the game-ending run. Morrow hit his fifth and sixth 3-pointers in the final seven minutes to help keep Virginia at arm’s length. He finished with 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting and 7 rebounds.

Morrow had plenty of company in double figures. Miller scored 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting, while Peacock added 14 on 5-of-7 shooting. Jeremis Smith poured in 18 on 5-of-7 shooting and added 6 assists and 5 rebounds as well. Alade Aminu chipped in 11 points by making all 4 shots he attempted.

The Yellow Jackets accomplished much of their scoring by running the floor and producing shots in transition. They had 30 fastbreak points in the game.

Mamadi Diane had 18 points.

“Pushing the tempo is always about team work. It starts on the defensive end by making stops and getting rebounds. That leads in to offense,”Smith said. “Big men have to run the floor hard always. That contributes a lot to pushing the tempo. The guards also have to push the ball up the floor. With that, we’re able to play fast and pick up the pace to where we want to play at.”

Virginia, meanwhile, had some bright spots on offense as well. Diane started red hot from the field and did not miss a shot in the first half en route to 18 points. Scott had 10 points, including a career-high two 3-pointers. Lars Mikalauskas had 8 points and Ryan Pettinella scored 7 points to go with a team-high 5 rebounds.

Sean Singletary , playing in his final ACC Tournament game, finished with 20 points and 10 assists, which matched his career-high. The performance was his third double-double of the season; the 10 assists gave him the fifth spot on the single season assists list at UVa. It was also his 42nd career 20-point game and marked the 52nd straight game that Singletary has scored in double figures, the longest active streak in the ACC.

Singletary climbed to 33rd on the ACC’s all-time scoring list with 2,022 points. He passed Maryland’s Adrian Branch (2,017), UNC’s Al Wood (2,015), Maryland’s John Lucas (2,015), Duke’s Jim Spanarkel (2,012), and UNC’s Charles Scott (2,007) on Thursday night.

The always knowledgeable ACC Tournament crowd stood and applauded Singletary as he was replaced by a substitute in the final minutes.

“I was pretty aware that everybody was applauding, but at the same time, I hate to lose,” Singletary said in The Daily Press. “For us to go out losing, it’s tough, but I really appreciate all the support folks have given me my whole career. It’s time to move on.”

Statistics | UVa Media Relations Notes