The Virginia basketball team will be wrapping up a tournament trip to the Bahamas at this time next week, but on this Friday night, Coppin State may have been the ones wishing they were already on a beach somewhere. After all, the Eagles ended up on the wrong side of UVA’s largest winning margin in the Tony Bennett era as the Cavaliers cruised, 97-40.
The Hoos scorched the nets with 60.3% shooting in the win, including a blistering 60% effort from 3-point range. They made 35 of 58 shots overall and 15 of 25 triples to post those numbers.
“I really liked our activity,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. “I like how we shared the ball tonight, I like how energized and alert and active we were defensively and didn’t play the score once it got stretched out to that level. But, knowing that, of course you’re going into a really high-quality tournament with very good teams and you’ll have to play 40 minutes. It’ll take the majority of the game to be successful in those settings.”
The stats back up those observations. UVA dished out 24 assists on the 35 made baskets with just four turnovers. Defensively, the hosts allowed just 32.7% shooting and forced Coppin State into 16 turnovers. The D effort was strong without fouling too. Virginia committed just eight fouls in the game and the Eagles did not attempt a free throw.
The Cavaliers showed few lapses along the way either. They broke the game open initially with an early 14-0 run and stretched it further with a 17-0 late first half surge. They led 45-17 at the break. Unlike the win against George Washington on Sunday where a similarly wide halftime margin actually dwindled after intermission, the second half featured more of the same. A 20-2 run ballooned the margin more and by the time the final horn sounded, Virginia had posted the most points and widest winning margin in the Bennett era.
“We let up in the second half against George Washington and the first thing coach said in the locker room was ‘Don’t let up. Just keep it on them,’” UVA forward Braxton Key said. “He loved our defense in the first half and I thought we did a great job in the second half.”
All 12 Hoos that played scored in the victory with four different players setting career highs. Mamadi Diakite set a new career mark with 18 points, while Kihei Clark added 9 and Kody Stattmann chipped in 6 to set new marks early in their freshman year. Manager-turned-fan-favorite Grant Kersey hit a 3-pointer to best his two free throws against George Washington as well.
That list of career highs did not include De’Andre Hunter, who missed just two shots en route to a game-high 20 points. That’s the third time he’s reached the 20’s in his career. He got it going early against Coppin State with a pair of 3-pointers, a driving layup that drew a foul for a traditional 3-point play, and a pull-up jumper all in the first seven minutes. The only thing that really slowed Hunter down all night was a pair of fouls in the first half that led to time on the bench.
“Seeing early ones go in definitely helps your confidence,” Hunter said. “Seeing them go in definitely helped me play confident out there.”
In the end, Hunter made 7 of 9 shots with a career-high four 3-pointers. He also got a run-out dunk in the second half that brought the arena to life. Hunter stretched his right arm out Statue of Liberty style and hammered home the ball.
“LeBron James,” Diakite said. “He does it at practice. He’s very athletic. He doesn’t know how athletic actually he is. We tell him that every time to dunk the ball and not be very tentative. Go be the aggressor.”
Diakite had a dunk of his own in the win, which contributed to his career night. That’s not unusual for the junior forward so that wasn’t the real eye-catcher from his performance. His shooting touch earned that distinction. Diakite added face-up jumpers in the post and a pair of 3-pointers from the top of the key to get to the 18-point mark. He blocked a pair of shots too.
The strong outing was timely. Diakite got the start in place of Jack Salt, who sat out with back stiffness. That snapped a 70-game starting streak for the senior center. Jay Huff also got extended minutes as a result and he too came through. Huff tallied 9 points and 4 rebounds.
That duo contributed to the list of guys making shots on the night. UVA had seven players with at least seven points. Six of those seven players missed two shots or less in the win. Diakite’s fellow starters were among those with successful stat lines on the night. In addition to Hunter’s previously discussed big night, Ty Jerome recorded 11 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists. Kyle Guy added 7 points with a career-high 5 assists. Key chipped in 7 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocked shots, and 1 assist.
To put it another way, Virginia simply had too much firepower for an overmatched Coppin State squad.
“We played against one of the best teams in the country. I thought we did a terrific job competing,” Eagles coach Juan Dixon said. “In the first half, the game plan was to be physical with Kyle Guy and Ty Jerome. We didn’t want to give those guys a lot of touches, but if they do get their touches, then try and make them uncomfortable as possible, and [then] other guys make shots. We scouted by looking at numbers, those guys made some threes in the first half and Hunter. Those guys played very confidently and they were shooting well.”
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