When senior center Assane Sene suffered an ankle fracture against Georgia Tech last month, sophomore Akil Mitchell immediately inherited an important role for the UVa men’s basketball team. Mitchell entered the starting lineup for the past six games in Sene’s absence. In this week’s 68-44 victory against Wake Forest, Mitchell logged career-high numbers in points (10) and assists (4) to go with 6 rebounds and 1 steal.
Perhaps more importantly, Mitchell has shown improvement during each outing as a starter. The forward appears to be more assertive on offense where he’s getting a few lost post touches each game. Certainly replacing the 7’0″ Sene’s defensive productivity and activity with a similar style isn’t likely for the 6’8″ Mitchell, but he seems to be settling in to the Pack-Line more cohesively now as well. Mitchell won’t block or alter shots as frequently as Sene, but his positioning and timing continues to develop.
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