Virginia 65, Boston College 51
Virginia beat Boston College on Saturday at John Paul Jones Arena, 65-51. It was a third straight impressive showing for the 'Hoos, who beat Florida State last Saturday by 20 and Virginia Tech by 16 on Thursday. This one was especially encouraging because the Cavs just played two days ago, didn't shoot well from 3, and still won by double digits.
In the first half, Virginia came out hot, getting up 8-0. BC battled back, though, and took a lead in the teens during the second part of the first half and ended up leading 26-24 at the half. The Eagles hit five 3-pointers in the first half and UVa was not doing a good job defending the perimeter. After a quick burst to start the game, it looked like the Cavs were showing some fatigue. It is tough to shoot solid 3-pointers when your legs are tired and Akil Mitchell also looked a little slow down low and was getting enough on his shots after making post moves.
The second half was a different story, though. The team looked energized and took control from the beginning of the period. BC hit just two 3-pointers and Virginia shot 77 percent from the field in the second half. Justin Anderson scored a career-high 16 points on 7 of 9 shooting. He hit a couple jumpers and also looked good driving the lane and threw down an exclamation point dunk with less than 30 seconds left in the game. Mitchell, despite some second half struggles, ended up with 16 points as well, on 6 of 10 shooting. He also grabbed six rebounds. Evan Nolte, coming off a career-high 18 points against the Hokies and starting again for the banged up Darion Atkins, followed up that impressive effort with nine points on 4 of 5 shooting (1 for 2 from 3) but got in some foul trouble early in the second half and only saw the floor for a total of 11 minutes. Joe Harris only had seven points, but he dished out four assists and contributed on the defensive end with three blocks. Mike Tobey finished with eight points and after having some problems in the first half handling some passes, rebounded in the second half for a solid game and made 4 of his 7 field goal attempts. Paul Jesperson tallied six points and added seven rebounds, which tied for a game-high. He also stole the ball three times. Another solid game for Jesperson. He drove into the lane for some of his points, showing an aggressive streak he debuted against UNC. He is better when he is more than just a 3-point shooter so I hope he keeps it up. Jontel Evans had a game-high six assists with only three turnovers after having six assists and zero turnovers against Virginia Tech so another strong game for Evans, who seems to definitely be getting in the swing of things after coming back from his surgery and injury.
For BC, leading scorer Ryan Anderson put in 14 points and had four rebounds, well below his season average of 9.4. Olivier Hanlan and Joe Rahon added 10 points each for the Eagles, who showed a spark in the first half hitting some big 3s. UVa was having a hard time stopping BC's slashing guards, who would dish out beyond the arc for open 3-pointers. Lonnie Jackson made three of them, finishing with nine points. UVa did a good job keeping Boston College off the boards, winning the rebounding battle 29-23.
This was another great game for this young team as it builds upon success. After hitting a wall early in the first half, perhaps because they were tired, UVa shook it off for a strong second half. Hopefully, this has a contagious effect and the 'Hoos can take these performances and apply them even more to the road like they did Thursday in Blacksburg. Also, Tony Bennett is bringing in some great guys that represent the school well. I listened to Anderson talk on the radio after the game and he is very well-spoken and thoughtful and has a high basketball IQ. It hard to believe he is a freshman.
Next up, the Cavs get just two days off and play one of the tougher teams in the ACC in Charlottesville, N.C. State. It'll be their third game in six days but hopefully the 'Hoos can muster up some energy, come up with a gutsy effort against the highly rated Wolfpack, and snag a fourth consecutive victory.
Virginia beat Boston College on Saturday at John Paul Jones Arena, 65-51. It was a third straight impressive showing for the 'Hoos, who beat Florida State last Saturday by 20 and Virginia Tech by 16 on Thursday. This one was especially encouraging because the Cavs just played two days ago, didn't shoot well from 3, and still won by double digits.
In the first half, Virginia came out hot, getting up 8-0. BC battled back, though, and took a lead in the teens during the second part of the first half and ended up leading 26-24 at the half. The Eagles hit five 3-pointers in the first half and UVa was not doing a good job defending the perimeter. After a quick burst to start the game, it looked like the Cavs were showing some fatigue. It is tough to shoot solid 3-pointers when your legs are tired and Akil Mitchell also looked a little slow down low and was getting enough on his shots after making post moves.
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| UVa's Justin Anderson |
The second half was a different story, though. The team looked energized and took control from the beginning of the period. BC hit just two 3-pointers and Virginia shot 77 percent from the field in the second half. Justin Anderson scored a career-high 16 points on 7 of 9 shooting. He hit a couple jumpers and also looked good driving the lane and threw down an exclamation point dunk with less than 30 seconds left in the game. Mitchell, despite some second half struggles, ended up with 16 points as well, on 6 of 10 shooting. He also grabbed six rebounds. Evan Nolte, coming off a career-high 18 points against the Hokies and starting again for the banged up Darion Atkins, followed up that impressive effort with nine points on 4 of 5 shooting (1 for 2 from 3) but got in some foul trouble early in the second half and only saw the floor for a total of 11 minutes. Joe Harris only had seven points, but he dished out four assists and contributed on the defensive end with three blocks. Mike Tobey finished with eight points and after having some problems in the first half handling some passes, rebounded in the second half for a solid game and made 4 of his 7 field goal attempts. Paul Jesperson tallied six points and added seven rebounds, which tied for a game-high. He also stole the ball three times. Another solid game for Jesperson. He drove into the lane for some of his points, showing an aggressive streak he debuted against UNC. He is better when he is more than just a 3-point shooter so I hope he keeps it up. Jontel Evans had a game-high six assists with only three turnovers after having six assists and zero turnovers against Virginia Tech so another strong game for Evans, who seems to definitely be getting in the swing of things after coming back from his surgery and injury.
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| UVa's Akil Mitchell |
This was another great game for this young team as it builds upon success. After hitting a wall early in the first half, perhaps because they were tired, UVa shook it off for a strong second half. Hopefully, this has a contagious effect and the 'Hoos can take these performances and apply them even more to the road like they did Thursday in Blacksburg. Also, Tony Bennett is bringing in some great guys that represent the school well. I listened to Anderson talk on the radio after the game and he is very well-spoken and thoughtful and has a high basketball IQ. It hard to believe he is a freshman.
Next up, the Cavs get just two days off and play one of the tougher teams in the ACC in Charlottesville, N.C. State. It'll be their third game in six days but hopefully the 'Hoos can muster up some energy, come up with a gutsy effort against the highly rated Wolfpack, and snag a fourth consecutive victory.
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