Virginia Basketball Double Bonus: Gardner-Webb

Virginia is 30-3.
Mamadi Diakite finishes off a dunk. ~ Photo courtesy Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics Media Relations

COLUMBIA, S.C. – After challenging fans’ nerves early in the game, the Virginia basketball team settled down and took care of Gardner-Webb, 71-56, in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday. The rally required several big performances from players like De’Andre Hunter and Mamadi Diakite and adjustments along the way too.

The Double Bonus is back for a closer look.

Diakite’s Day

While tactical moves played a big part in UVA’s win, forward Mamadi Diakite had a huge role too. After struggling with his minutes in the first half, Diakite was one of the stars of the second half. In the first half, he traveled on his first touch, missed a layup, and looked uncomfortable near the rim. In the second half, he dominated the glass and finished all but one shot (he missed two free throws and his first shot attempt of the second half in the first 1:15, but then really got it going the rest of the way).

In the end, Diakite finished with 17 points and 9 rebounds in 26 minutes. That was one point away from matching his career high in points (18 vs. Coppin State and Boston College earlier this year) and set a new career mark for rebounds. The impressive part is almost all of that production came in the second half. He scored 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting with 8 rebounds after intermission. Diakite had three offensive putbacks among those buckets.

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