VIRGINIA BASKETBALL
Virginia 67, Oregon 54
The Cavaliers began a road trip Sunday on the Pacific coast with a good win over a strong Oregon team on its own, strangely-designed home court. Just go to google images and type in "Oregon basketball court" and you'll see what I'm talking about.
In the first half, the Cavaliers started out slow and Oregon jumped out to a modest lead but Virginia closed to within 30-28 at the half. Mike Scott was in foul trouble early and didn't play many minutes. He was one of the difference makers in the second half though. He ended up with 17 points and 13 rebounds as the Hoos were able to eventually wear down the Ducks in the second half. Oregon looked well on its way to being the first team to score 60 points on the Hoos this season but it only ended up managing 24 second-half points.
Joe Harris added 15 points for the Cavaliers and Jontel Evans had a very sold line of 12 points, five assists, four rebounds, and one steal. Evans had some particularly good moves in the second half to get by Oregon's guards. Oregon was 6-2 and had yet to lose on its home court this season so it was a good win for the Cavaliers. Virginia does not have a great out of conference schedule so these wins over Michigan and Oregon could go a long way on UVa's resume come March if both those teams continue to play at a high level.
Virginia 83, Seattle 77
So much for not allowing opponents to score 60 points. On Wednesday, Seattle crushed the 60-point barrier by 17 points and nearly pulled off another upset of the Cavaliers -- the Redhawks won 59-53 last year in Charlottesville -- but UVa pulled out its first game as a ranked team this season. The Cavs came into the contest ranked No. 24 in the AP poll following their win over Oregon and like clockwork, Virginia nearly fumbled its first chance to get its 10th win this season. It always seem like as soon as you tack a ranking to a Cavaliers football or basketball team, everything goes south. But this team showed some good poise and guts last night I thought and took Seattle's best shot and still came out on top. I watched the last few minutes of the game live via a stream online and then re-watched even more after the game was over.
Mike Scott was the main reason we won. The senior forward had probably the best game of his career with 33 points (a career high) and 14 rebounds. He made an incredible 12 of his 14 shots and made 9 of 11 from the line. In the first half alone, he scored 19 of the team's 36 points. After the game, coach Tony Bennett gave Scott a lot of credit for keeping the team in the game and hinted that if not for Scott's effort, the game could have gotten out of hand to start the second half.
Seattle staked a lead as big as eight points on more than one occasion in the first half but Virginia was able to close to within two at 38-36 at halftime. The 38 points the Redhawks scored was the most Virginia has given up in the first half this season and more than Drexel scored in an entire game against the Cavs.
Virginia was able to slowly take control of the game as the second half wore on and took a 63-49 lead with about eight minutes remaining. But Seattle stormed back as Virginia kept forcing shots and turning the ball over (14 turnovers in all) and pretty soon, Seattle retook the lead by one point, 68-67, with 3:28 left. Sammy Zeglinski made a huge 3 on the ensuing possession, and Virginia never relinquished the lead after that, thanks to some clutch free throws shooting by Scott and true freshman Malcolm Brogdon (And no thanks to Assane Sene's free-throw shooting. The 7-footer came into the game shooting 81 percent from the line but made just one of six, including two key misses down the stretch that could have helped put Seattle to sleep.). Brogdon looked like a veteran down the stretch with ice water in his veins. He made eight of his nine free throws.
Joe Harris (14), Zeglinski (11), and Brogdon (10) all ended up helping out Scott and posting double figures in points. Harris was playing in front of dozens of friends and family since he is from nearby Chelan, Washington, so that was cool to see.
I'm not going to pretend to know a lot about the X's and O's of basketball, but Seattle must be a bad matchup for us. It's odd that for the second straight year they had a great chance to pull off the upset. Of course, last year, Virginia couldn't put anything in the basket, and Seattle just barely played better. Last night, I thought it was more a case of Seattle playing not only its best game of the season, but lights out for most of it. The Redhawks made eight 3s but it felt like more. They sped up the pace and didn't let us settle into our pack-line defense. They pressed us constantly on the defensive end to force the tempo of the game up to a higher level. This all from a team that was 2-7 and is just recently getting back into Division I play. They are an independent, like Longwood, but will play in the West Coast Conference next season (think Gonzaga, St. Mary's, San Francisco, etc.). I also think it was a case of Seattle getting hyped for the game. I think I read somewhere that we were the first ranked opponent they've played at home since the 1970s. They were also retiring the number of one of their greats, Eddie Miles. I didn't know this, but Elgin Baylor went to Seattle and led it to the NCAA championship against Kentucky in 1958 where it lost. This is a school with a good hoops tradition and I bet they can become a midmajor force within the next decade.
A win in a win though, and Virginia will take it as it makes a push for March. Let's just hope though that whatever Seattle's done the past two seasons isn't something ACC teams will look to replicate. The Hoos have a short Christmas break now then come back home Tuesday to face Maryland-Eastern Shore, another two-win squad.
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NFC EAST
Who wants to win it? The Giants, who had the division lead going into last weekend's games, tripped up by getting beat down by the Redskins 23-10 on Sunday. The Cowboys took care of business in Tampa Bay with a 31-15 win on Saturday and, don't look now, but the Eagles stomped the Jets 45-19 and are still in the race to win the division. The Cowboys are now back in the division lead at 8-6 while the Giants are 7-7 and the Eagles are 6-8. The Cowboys and Eagles play in a huge game in Dallas on Saturday. If Dallas wins, Philly is eliminated from playoff contention. If Philly wins but then Dallas wins against the Giants in the finale on Jan. 1, Dallas wins the division. For Philly to win the division, it must beat Dallas and Washington in its final two games and have the Giants lose to the Jets on Saturday and then have the Giants beat the Cowboys. This Saturday, the Jets and Giants play at 1 p.m. while Dallas and Philly play at 4:15 p.m., so by the time the Philly-Dallas kickoff, the Eagles should know if they still have a chance to win the division.
Dallas is in a catch-22 if you ask me. If the Giants lose to the Jets, then the Cowboys can win the division Saturday by beating the Eagles. But also, in that situation, the Eagles will have extra motivation knowing they can still win the division. If the Giants win, the Eagles might not be as pumped up to play the Cowboys but it also means the Cowboys will need to beat the Giants the following week to make the playoffs. It wouldn't surprise me if Eagles coach Andy Reid makes it a point to make sure the team does not know the outcome of the Giants-Jets game, thus giving Philly motivation to go out and play their hardest and try to beat the Cowboys.
Like usual, it is coming down to these three teams and the drama is high.
Virginia 67, Oregon 54
The Cavaliers began a road trip Sunday on the Pacific coast with a good win over a strong Oregon team on its own, strangely-designed home court. Just go to google images and type in "Oregon basketball court" and you'll see what I'm talking about.
In the first half, the Cavaliers started out slow and Oregon jumped out to a modest lead but Virginia closed to within 30-28 at the half. Mike Scott was in foul trouble early and didn't play many minutes. He was one of the difference makers in the second half though. He ended up with 17 points and 13 rebounds as the Hoos were able to eventually wear down the Ducks in the second half. Oregon looked well on its way to being the first team to score 60 points on the Hoos this season but it only ended up managing 24 second-half points.
Joe Harris added 15 points for the Cavaliers and Jontel Evans had a very sold line of 12 points, five assists, four rebounds, and one steal. Evans had some particularly good moves in the second half to get by Oregon's guards. Oregon was 6-2 and had yet to lose on its home court this season so it was a good win for the Cavaliers. Virginia does not have a great out of conference schedule so these wins over Michigan and Oregon could go a long way on UVa's resume come March if both those teams continue to play at a high level.
Virginia 83, Seattle 77
So much for not allowing opponents to score 60 points. On Wednesday, Seattle crushed the 60-point barrier by 17 points and nearly pulled off another upset of the Cavaliers -- the Redhawks won 59-53 last year in Charlottesville -- but UVa pulled out its first game as a ranked team this season. The Cavs came into the contest ranked No. 24 in the AP poll following their win over Oregon and like clockwork, Virginia nearly fumbled its first chance to get its 10th win this season. It always seem like as soon as you tack a ranking to a Cavaliers football or basketball team, everything goes south. But this team showed some good poise and guts last night I thought and took Seattle's best shot and still came out on top. I watched the last few minutes of the game live via a stream online and then re-watched even more after the game was over.
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| UVa forward Mike Scott |
Seattle staked a lead as big as eight points on more than one occasion in the first half but Virginia was able to close to within two at 38-36 at halftime. The 38 points the Redhawks scored was the most Virginia has given up in the first half this season and more than Drexel scored in an entire game against the Cavs.
Virginia was able to slowly take control of the game as the second half wore on and took a 63-49 lead with about eight minutes remaining. But Seattle stormed back as Virginia kept forcing shots and turning the ball over (14 turnovers in all) and pretty soon, Seattle retook the lead by one point, 68-67, with 3:28 left. Sammy Zeglinski made a huge 3 on the ensuing possession, and Virginia never relinquished the lead after that, thanks to some clutch free throws shooting by Scott and true freshman Malcolm Brogdon (And no thanks to Assane Sene's free-throw shooting. The 7-footer came into the game shooting 81 percent from the line but made just one of six, including two key misses down the stretch that could have helped put Seattle to sleep.). Brogdon looked like a veteran down the stretch with ice water in his veins. He made eight of his nine free throws.
Joe Harris (14), Zeglinski (11), and Brogdon (10) all ended up helping out Scott and posting double figures in points. Harris was playing in front of dozens of friends and family since he is from nearby Chelan, Washington, so that was cool to see.
I'm not going to pretend to know a lot about the X's and O's of basketball, but Seattle must be a bad matchup for us. It's odd that for the second straight year they had a great chance to pull off the upset. Of course, last year, Virginia couldn't put anything in the basket, and Seattle just barely played better. Last night, I thought it was more a case of Seattle playing not only its best game of the season, but lights out for most of it. The Redhawks made eight 3s but it felt like more. They sped up the pace and didn't let us settle into our pack-line defense. They pressed us constantly on the defensive end to force the tempo of the game up to a higher level. This all from a team that was 2-7 and is just recently getting back into Division I play. They are an independent, like Longwood, but will play in the West Coast Conference next season (think Gonzaga, St. Mary's, San Francisco, etc.). I also think it was a case of Seattle getting hyped for the game. I think I read somewhere that we were the first ranked opponent they've played at home since the 1970s. They were also retiring the number of one of their greats, Eddie Miles. I didn't know this, but Elgin Baylor went to Seattle and led it to the NCAA championship against Kentucky in 1958 where it lost. This is a school with a good hoops tradition and I bet they can become a midmajor force within the next decade.
A win in a win though, and Virginia will take it as it makes a push for March. Let's just hope though that whatever Seattle's done the past two seasons isn't something ACC teams will look to replicate. The Hoos have a short Christmas break now then come back home Tuesday to face Maryland-Eastern Shore, another two-win squad.
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NFC EAST
Who wants to win it? The Giants, who had the division lead going into last weekend's games, tripped up by getting beat down by the Redskins 23-10 on Sunday. The Cowboys took care of business in Tampa Bay with a 31-15 win on Saturday and, don't look now, but the Eagles stomped the Jets 45-19 and are still in the race to win the division. The Cowboys are now back in the division lead at 8-6 while the Giants are 7-7 and the Eagles are 6-8. The Cowboys and Eagles play in a huge game in Dallas on Saturday. If Dallas wins, Philly is eliminated from playoff contention. If Philly wins but then Dallas wins against the Giants in the finale on Jan. 1, Dallas wins the division. For Philly to win the division, it must beat Dallas and Washington in its final two games and have the Giants lose to the Jets on Saturday and then have the Giants beat the Cowboys. This Saturday, the Jets and Giants play at 1 p.m. while Dallas and Philly play at 4:15 p.m., so by the time the Philly-Dallas kickoff, the Eagles should know if they still have a chance to win the division.
Dallas is in a catch-22 if you ask me. If the Giants lose to the Jets, then the Cowboys can win the division Saturday by beating the Eagles. But also, in that situation, the Eagles will have extra motivation knowing they can still win the division. If the Giants win, the Eagles might not be as pumped up to play the Cowboys but it also means the Cowboys will need to beat the Giants the following week to make the playoffs. It wouldn't surprise me if Eagles coach Andy Reid makes it a point to make sure the team does not know the outcome of the Giants-Jets game, thus giving Philly motivation to go out and play their hardest and try to beat the Cowboys.
Like usual, it is coming down to these three teams and the drama is high.
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