Note: I was unable to watch the Wake-UVa game because of work and it will probably be too painful to go and watch :) I'm writing this based off what I'm reading about the game, the box score, and also my personal experience with the Wahoo Letdown (Virginia should get that copyrighted.).
Wahoo fans thought the men's basketball team had maybe put some of their struggles behind them. Coming off a great home win over UNC (not to mention a nearly 40-point victory over Wofford), surely the Cavs would take care of business at Wake Forest, a team that had won just five ACC games the past two seasons.
Nope.
The up-and-down season for this young 'Hoo squad continued Wednesday night with a narrow, 55-52 loss to the Demon Deacons in Winston-Salem. According to virginiasports.com's postgame notes, Virginia has now lost ten straight games at Joel Coliseum. In my preview, I had the Cavs dropping eight consecutive contests at the venue, but I guess the streak is actually worse than originally thought.
C.J. Harris led Wake with 16 points and Travis McKie added 14. For Virginia, Mike Tobey scored 14 points, Joe Harris added 13 (on just five of 14 shooting), and Akil Mitchell chipped in 10 points to go along with 10 rebounds. After that, Evan Nolte had six points. He was just 1 of 7 shooting (all 3-pointers) after hitting on 3 of 4 against the Tar Heels.
Based on what I'm reading on thesabre.com's message board, Tobey was the only one who really showed up. He had a career-high 19 points against Wofford and 14 again tonight on six of nine shooting. He played 21 minutes.
Darion Atkins contributed just two free throws. His contribution has really fallen off in recent games. The sophomore forward has scored in double figures five times this season and had a career-high 17 points against Morgan State. But his last four games he's scored four, zero, two, and two points. I have to wonder if he's being bothered at all by the shin splints he was said to be suffering from starting with the ODU game. Paul Jesperson, after recording seven points against UNC, had zilch against the Deacons and also didn't contribute any rebounds or assists. Teven Jones had zero points, too. Jontel Evans, after looking like his old self a little bit against the Heels with eight points and six assists, contributed just two points and three assists, to go along with four turnovers vs. the Deacons.
As a team, Virginia had 17 turnovers, the second-most this season, and Wake Forest turned those into 15 points.
Virginia shot just 36.4 percent from the field, making three 3-pointers (out of 11) after swishing eight against UNC.
Incredibly, Wake Forest made its final field goal with 10:22 left in the game and made just five of 19 shots after halftime. That last field goal made it 46-32, Wake's biggest lead of the night. But the Demon Deacons were solid at the charity stripe, making 15 of 18 free throws in the second half to hold on for the win.
So, the trio of Evans, Jesperson, and Atkins contributed just four points, two rebounds, three assists, and seven turnovers. Obviously, that's three starters and you have to get way more production out of three starters than that.
I know it sounds like an excuse, but Virginia has a young team. Just one senior, Evans, plays significant minutes and he was not good on Wednesday. The inconsistency should be partly expected. UVa has shown all season that it can play great and it can also look terrible. Victories over Wisconsin, Tennessee, and North Carolina and losses to Delaware, Old Dominion, and now Wake Forest prove that. You would hope that the players had learned their lesson. But they were obviously not dialed in or focused for this game. It took the 'Hoos all of about six or seven minutes to close the gap to one point, at 53-52, with under a minute remaining. Virginia played its best ball for just a few desperate minutes of the game. I don't know what it is, but for some reason, coach Tony Bennett can't fully get the attention of this team and get them to focus. Perhaps it was the lack of a vocal home crowd backing the Cavs, as they had against UNC. Maybe they began to believe they could waltz over any opponent because of things being said about them. One article before the Wake Forest game (http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-basketball/story/2013-01-09/virginia-tony-bennett-acc-north-carolina-duke-nc-state-miami-florida-state) said the 'Hoos could possibly finish No. 2 in the ACC's regular-season standings.
Whatever it is, I hope Bennett figures it out and this team learns to play with some consistency. Any pipe dreams of a second straight NCAA tournament appearance are getting damaged badly by losses to four not-so-great teams. I'd like to think this bunch of 'Hoos could at least make the NIT, but as one of my friends and fellow UVa hoops fanatic Matt Berman said on Facebook, hopefully they can just come to play Saturday, when they have another ACC road test, this one at Clemson.
Wahoo fans thought the men's basketball team had maybe put some of their struggles behind them. Coming off a great home win over UNC (not to mention a nearly 40-point victory over Wofford), surely the Cavs would take care of business at Wake Forest, a team that had won just five ACC games the past two seasons.
Nope.
The up-and-down season for this young 'Hoo squad continued Wednesday night with a narrow, 55-52 loss to the Demon Deacons in Winston-Salem. According to virginiasports.com's postgame notes, Virginia has now lost ten straight games at Joel Coliseum. In my preview, I had the Cavs dropping eight consecutive contests at the venue, but I guess the streak is actually worse than originally thought.
C.J. Harris led Wake with 16 points and Travis McKie added 14. For Virginia, Mike Tobey scored 14 points, Joe Harris added 13 (on just five of 14 shooting), and Akil Mitchell chipped in 10 points to go along with 10 rebounds. After that, Evan Nolte had six points. He was just 1 of 7 shooting (all 3-pointers) after hitting on 3 of 4 against the Tar Heels.
Based on what I'm reading on thesabre.com's message board, Tobey was the only one who really showed up. He had a career-high 19 points against Wofford and 14 again tonight on six of nine shooting. He played 21 minutes.
Darion Atkins contributed just two free throws. His contribution has really fallen off in recent games. The sophomore forward has scored in double figures five times this season and had a career-high 17 points against Morgan State. But his last four games he's scored four, zero, two, and two points. I have to wonder if he's being bothered at all by the shin splints he was said to be suffering from starting with the ODU game. Paul Jesperson, after recording seven points against UNC, had zilch against the Deacons and also didn't contribute any rebounds or assists. Teven Jones had zero points, too. Jontel Evans, after looking like his old self a little bit against the Heels with eight points and six assists, contributed just two points and three assists, to go along with four turnovers vs. the Deacons.
As a team, Virginia had 17 turnovers, the second-most this season, and Wake Forest turned those into 15 points.
Virginia shot just 36.4 percent from the field, making three 3-pointers (out of 11) after swishing eight against UNC.
Incredibly, Wake Forest made its final field goal with 10:22 left in the game and made just five of 19 shots after halftime. That last field goal made it 46-32, Wake's biggest lead of the night. But the Demon Deacons were solid at the charity stripe, making 15 of 18 free throws in the second half to hold on for the win.
So, the trio of Evans, Jesperson, and Atkins contributed just four points, two rebounds, three assists, and seven turnovers. Obviously, that's three starters and you have to get way more production out of three starters than that.
I know it sounds like an excuse, but Virginia has a young team. Just one senior, Evans, plays significant minutes and he was not good on Wednesday. The inconsistency should be partly expected. UVa has shown all season that it can play great and it can also look terrible. Victories over Wisconsin, Tennessee, and North Carolina and losses to Delaware, Old Dominion, and now Wake Forest prove that. You would hope that the players had learned their lesson. But they were obviously not dialed in or focused for this game. It took the 'Hoos all of about six or seven minutes to close the gap to one point, at 53-52, with under a minute remaining. Virginia played its best ball for just a few desperate minutes of the game. I don't know what it is, but for some reason, coach Tony Bennett can't fully get the attention of this team and get them to focus. Perhaps it was the lack of a vocal home crowd backing the Cavs, as they had against UNC. Maybe they began to believe they could waltz over any opponent because of things being said about them. One article before the Wake Forest game (http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-basketball/story/2013-01-09/virginia-tony-bennett-acc-north-carolina-duke-nc-state-miami-florida-state) said the 'Hoos could possibly finish No. 2 in the ACC's regular-season standings.
Whatever it is, I hope Bennett figures it out and this team learns to play with some consistency. Any pipe dreams of a second straight NCAA tournament appearance are getting damaged badly by losses to four not-so-great teams. I'd like to think this bunch of 'Hoos could at least make the NIT, but as one of my friends and fellow UVa hoops fanatic Matt Berman said on Facebook, hopefully they can just come to play Saturday, when they have another ACC road test, this one at Clemson.
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