Virginia got its first ACC road since beating Virginia Tech in December on Wednesday night, defeating woeful Georgia Tech 62-56. It was also the first time the Cavaliers have won back to back games since taking out LSU and Howard in back to back games in early January.
Georgia Tech is no Duke, but I'll take two consecutive victories all day every day. It felt like a complete win, too. The defense was pretty solid--coach Bennett even showed some versatility by going with a zone defense for a time latein the second half--and the offense did what it needed to do and made some timely shots, enough to get the win. Joe Harris was clutch in making a 3 to give UVA a six-point margin with under a minute left after the Yellow Jackets had pulled to within three. I think it was the UNC game back in January when Harris failed to pull the trigger on a 3-pointer that could have given UVA the lead or a tie late had he made it. He never took it, so we'll never know.
Assane Sene and Jontel Evans, not known for their offensive prowess, even made contributions on the offensive end, recording nine points apiece. Virginia also shot well from the charity stripe (14 of 19) including 12 of 17 in the second half. Free throw shooting has been an achilles heel for UVA as of late, so winning the game on the line was good to see. Another sub-50 percent game from the line would have handed the team another 'L.'
Sene also made a very impressive defensive play in the first half when he half blocked/half engulfed a layup attempt by a Georgia Tech player. It was more surprising than awe-inspiring but was impressive nevertheless. It even made SportsCenter's top plays segment.
Mustapha Farrakhan showed great determiniation and grit throughout the game. He had a pretty poor first half but kept at it and ended up finishing with a game-high 17 points. He was nine of 10 from the line. He also held Georgia Tech's top scorer, Iman Shumpert, to just 12 points.
Like I said earlier, a win is a win, no matter who it is against. I'm not set to make UVA a favorite in the ACC tournament, but to see the squad wins two straight after it could've thrown in the towel long ago is good to see. It shows Bennett has these guys scrapping, fighting to the end, not giving up. Crushing close loss after crushing close loss could have sunk the hopes of the Hoos and resigned them to the fact they would probably finish 3-13 in the conference. The fact we are now 5-8, with a legit chance to get to 7-8, is pretty crazy to think about. Virginia gets a downtrodden BC team at home Saturday in what will be a must-win situation for the Eagles. They are squarely on the NCAA tourney bubble, and a loss to the still lowly Cavs would severely damage their chances of going dancing. Then Tuesday, the Hoos face N.C. State, also at home. These are two winnable games, so it would be cool to see the Hoos pull these games out.
Even if we don't win another game, I won't be that disappointed. What these guys have done without Mike Scott is impressive in itself. I was at the Iowa State game, which was the first game after Scott's last game this season. It was simply dreadful. We lost 60-47. It was so hard to watch. My dad was with me too and I apologized for the team's performance. And then I thought maybe ISU was good. The win made them 12-2, and now they have 14 wins. So that was a bad team Virginia lost to. At the beginning of the year, I thought 8-8, maybe 9-7 was the ceiling for this team, and that was with a healthy Scott. With Scott out, I thought we would be lucky to get to four wins. Now we have five, and have a decent chance to get 6-7. I've been frustrated with this team on a number of occasions this year, but right now I am proud of the way they have fought.
Georgia Tech is no Duke, but I'll take two consecutive victories all day every day. It felt like a complete win, too. The defense was pretty solid--coach Bennett even showed some versatility by going with a zone defense for a time latein the second half--and the offense did what it needed to do and made some timely shots, enough to get the win. Joe Harris was clutch in making a 3 to give UVA a six-point margin with under a minute left after the Yellow Jackets had pulled to within three. I think it was the UNC game back in January when Harris failed to pull the trigger on a 3-pointer that could have given UVA the lead or a tie late had he made it. He never took it, so we'll never know.
Assane Sene and Jontel Evans, not known for their offensive prowess, even made contributions on the offensive end, recording nine points apiece. Virginia also shot well from the charity stripe (14 of 19) including 12 of 17 in the second half. Free throw shooting has been an achilles heel for UVA as of late, so winning the game on the line was good to see. Another sub-50 percent game from the line would have handed the team another 'L.'
Sene also made a very impressive defensive play in the first half when he half blocked/half engulfed a layup attempt by a Georgia Tech player. It was more surprising than awe-inspiring but was impressive nevertheless. It even made SportsCenter's top plays segment.
Mustapha Farrakhan showed great determiniation and grit throughout the game. He had a pretty poor first half but kept at it and ended up finishing with a game-high 17 points. He was nine of 10 from the line. He also held Georgia Tech's top scorer, Iman Shumpert, to just 12 points.
Like I said earlier, a win is a win, no matter who it is against. I'm not set to make UVA a favorite in the ACC tournament, but to see the squad wins two straight after it could've thrown in the towel long ago is good to see. It shows Bennett has these guys scrapping, fighting to the end, not giving up. Crushing close loss after crushing close loss could have sunk the hopes of the Hoos and resigned them to the fact they would probably finish 3-13 in the conference. The fact we are now 5-8, with a legit chance to get to 7-8, is pretty crazy to think about. Virginia gets a downtrodden BC team at home Saturday in what will be a must-win situation for the Eagles. They are squarely on the NCAA tourney bubble, and a loss to the still lowly Cavs would severely damage their chances of going dancing. Then Tuesday, the Hoos face N.C. State, also at home. These are two winnable games, so it would be cool to see the Hoos pull these games out.
Even if we don't win another game, I won't be that disappointed. What these guys have done without Mike Scott is impressive in itself. I was at the Iowa State game, which was the first game after Scott's last game this season. It was simply dreadful. We lost 60-47. It was so hard to watch. My dad was with me too and I apologized for the team's performance. And then I thought maybe ISU was good. The win made them 12-2, and now they have 14 wins. So that was a bad team Virginia lost to. At the beginning of the year, I thought 8-8, maybe 9-7 was the ceiling for this team, and that was with a healthy Scott. With Scott out, I thought we would be lucky to get to four wins. Now we have five, and have a decent chance to get 6-7. I've been frustrated with this team on a number of occasions this year, but right now I am proud of the way they have fought.
There is no reason Virginia can't go to the NCAA Tournament next year. We're seeing glimpses of a top-tier ACC team potentially. Even though the fruits of Sene's offense are only recently paying off, he has been getting better since the Wake Forest game where he put up a double-double. Joe Harris and K.T. Harrel are going to be the bread and butter of the team, as they should be. I think it was Michael Phillips, or maybe Ratcliffe who wrote that we're almost guaranteed an NCAA tourney bid next year as long we don't over-schedule. I think it's more of a guarantee than that but I know nothing about college bball. Duke and UNC will be on top like always. VT will have some young but good players. I don't know who else would be up top contending besides Maryland and perhaps FSU depending on who comes back. Wake is still too young and too new of a program.
ReplyDeleteJerry Ratcliffe, always in search of something to write about, spoke out that Bennet needs to lock down the state of Virginia and keep out-of-state schools out. Even though I think there's some truth to what he said, he also needs to wake up. UNC can go wherever they want because they're UNC. And recruiting foundations will be set with time. This is Bennet's third offseason coming up and he's done fairly well recruiting so far. I do think he'll eventually get Virginia locked down for VT and UVA to have first pickings, but we also need to be realistic.
jeremy's a college bball fiend now. you've come a long way since the beginning of last season, when you had trouble telling the guys on the team apart. i'm proud of the monster i helped create.
ReplyDeleteas far as the post goes, yes, we will have a legitimate shot at the tournament next year. but so will a bunch of other acc teams. if we don't make the tournament at least twice in the next 3-4 years, something is wrong. with this freshman class getting wiser/more playing time, we have no excuse.
with sammy/mike scott/jontel/sene all returning next year, we will have one of the more experienced starting line ups in the conference. add harris or kt to the mix, and it's a potent, pretty balanced force to be reckoned with.
We are forgetting about James Johnson too. I don't really think alot of ACC teams will have a shot next year actually. Paul Hewitt will be fired from Georgia Tech after this year, and so will Sidney Lowe from NC State. I don't think Miami, FSU, Wake, State, or BC will be up there next year, but I'm not following all of them too closely.
ReplyDeleteVT is putting a program together too, and I think we're in for a pretty exciting rivalry the next few years.
Bennett might lock down the state of Virginia, but as we saw in his first recruiting class, he can go out of state. i think he has lots of ties around the country, and of course a lot out west. joe harris is from Washington state, James Johnson is from Cali i think, KT is from Bama, and Akil is from NY, i think. no virginia players. we should def look in state a lot, but tony has the ability to look elsewhere as well.
ReplyDeletei would be cautious saying a spot in the tourney is guaranteed next year. uva fans, we should never guanantee any kind of success in revenue sports. we should have a very good shot--i am becoming convinced of that. i had my doubts a few games ago, but i feel like this roster is coming togther. we have not just two anymore, but three freshmen who are playing well-kt, joe, and akil. next yr, we are getting scott back presumably, an improved sene, and hopefully a healthy sammy. we have seen flashes the past few gms of how sammy can be when hes healthy. and to this james johnson, a highly touted recruit, and also any skills the incoming recruits add, and we can have something special. we are 2-3 wins from being just around the bubble this season, and thats without scott.
as far as the rest of the acc, i think unc could be at the top if they have a lot of their players come back (as opposed to bolt for the nba). duke could have issues. they will lose singler, nolan smith, and ive heard, maybe even Kyrie Irving, even though hes been hurt a lot of this yr. if they lose all 3, i dont think duke will be first. if kyrie comes back, they should have a chance. maryland should get better, they are real young i think. i think BC could be losing a few players, but i think their coach is good. Clemson will be good i think, as will FSU. idk a lot about miami, but i have no reason to think they wont be about where they are now--floundering in the acc while ballooning their win total overall out of conference. NC St isnt going to do anything with Lowe, hes gotta go. Hewitt should be gone. i know GT can be a good team, they have been before, itll be interesting to see what they do with someone knew. wake has got to get better, unless their coach is complete crap.
virginia tech, im beginning to wonder if they have reached their peak in mens bball, with seth greenberg at least. hes done a good job of taking them out of medioctrity, but they cant seem to break through to the big time. they are getting some good young recruits though, so i could be wrong. UVA should have a good shot to be top 6, and maybe top 4.
I just hope the same thing that's happened to VT the last few years doesn't happen to Virginia... last team out of the tourney.
ReplyDeletewell said.
ReplyDelete