Virginia 78, Clemson 41
I think it is safe to say Virginia got revenge on Clemson on Thursday at John Paul Jones Arena, embarrassing the Tigers after Clemson won the first meeting of the season Jan. 12 in South Carolina, 59-44.
The Tigers managed just 10 first-half points, the fewest in any half by any team in JPJ. The previous record was 13, numerous times, most recently by Seattle back in November. The 37-point victory was the biggest in an ACC game since Duke beat Maryland 85-44 in 2009. For Virginia, it was its biggest ACC win since blowing out Duke 109-66 in the 1983 ACC tournament and biggest ACC regular-season win since pounding Georgia Tech 83-42 in 1981.
The Cavaliers extended their home winning streak to 13 games, which is the longest in the history of JPJ, which opened in 2006. That surprised me, since I know the 2006-07 team went 15-1 at home, but it makes sense because that team's only home loss was to Stanford in the middle of the season, whereas this year's team lost to Delaware in the second home game of the season. Virginia's next home game is Tuesday against Virginia Tech.
Clemson was on the wrong end of tons of highlight-reel plays, most notably freshman guard Justin Anderson's reverse alley-oop dunk off a lob by Jontel Evans. It made SportsCenter's Top 10 plays and landed at No. 2.
Check it out here:
http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/justin-anderson-reverse-dunk-off-the-alley-oop-acc-must-see-moment/2ok1b1fdk
Anderson also had a second Top 10 play on a no-look, behind the head pass to Akil Mitchell for a dunk. Anderson finished with 14 points, three assists, and a block.
Joe Harris led Virginia with 21 points on an efficient 7 of 10 shooting in 27 minutes. Akil Mitchell had another monster game with 16 points, six rebounds, four steals, and a block and did a better job of finishing around the rim this game than game vs. Georgia Tech.
The Cavs also had two players finishing with nine points each, Evan Nolte and Taylor Barnette, who saw his first extended action in several games. Barnette made 3 of his 4 3-point attempts, all in the second half. Nolte made 3 of 4 as well. As a team, Virginia started the game 0 for 9 from beyond the arc before making three straight to end the half -- one from Harris, one from Paul Jesperson (five points, two rebounds, two blocks) and one from Nolte. Virginia ended the game, however, with 10 3-pointers in 24 attempts, meaning the 'Hoos made 10 of their final 15 shots from beyond the arc.
The slow start from the land of 3 didn't really matter to Virginia. The Cavs led 29-10 when Harris finally broke the ice from long range.
Jontel Evans did not have a lot of points, but it was OK, because he wasn't needed and he contributed in other ways with eight assists (season-high and ACC career-high) and, this is the key, ZERO turnovers. A nice, solid game from Evans.
The game was such a blowout that walk-on Caid Kirven, from nearby Woodberry Forest School on the border of Madison and Orange counties, got into the game with five minutes remaining. He ended up with two rebounds, and fellow walk-on Thomas Rogers finished with a pair of rebounds and an assist.
It is incredible to me how well UVa is playing at home and how badly it has stunk it up on the road. At JPJ, Virginia now owns a nine-point victory over UNC, 14-point win over Boston College, 20-point win over Florida State, and now a 37-point victory over Clemson (not to mention the 35-point win over Wofford in late December). On the road, this same team has fallen to the likes of Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, and this same Clemson team on the road. The victory Thursday night over Clemson represented a 52-point swing from the game at Clemson. What a stat.
The Wahoos need to somehow bottle this energy and execution and take it out on the road. This is a young team that seems to really be subject to the emotions of playing in front of the home crowd, and then on the road in a hostile environment. They need to start getting a little mean on the road (if that is possible without fouling), create their own energy, and relish the chance to walk into an opponent's home building and come out with a hard-fought ACC road victory.
It is not like the cupboard is completely bare for the 'Hoos on the road this year. Their biggest win of the year so far, probably (N.C. State is debatable as it is slumping right now) has to be at Wisconsin in November. Virginia also beat rival Virginia Tech on the road. And this past Sunday, the Cavs probably should have won at Georgia Tech, as it held a lead for the majority of the game.
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Virginia at Maryland, 1 p.m. Sunday ACC Network
The Cavs have a chance to build on what success they have experienced on the road at Maryland this Sunday.
This is the first meeting of the season between the two rivals. Virginia won both games last year. At home, the Cav whooped the Terps 71-44 behind 25 points from Mike Scott on 10 of 20 shooting. In another display of how much home court can matter sometimes, the second game of the 2011-12 season between UVa and Maryland, only a couple weeks later in College Park, was a much tighter affair, but the banged-up 'Hoos pulled out a nailbiter in overtime, 75-72, behind a career-high 35 points from Scott, who added 11 rebounds.
The Wahoos are now 16-6, 6-3 in the ACC on the year. Maryland is 17-6, 5-5 in the league.
The Terrapins started out the season extremely hot, dropping their season opener to Kentucky by three points, but then running off 13 consecutive victories. Their final win of the streak was a victory over Virginia Tech. Since then, Maryland is 4-5, with two losses to Florida State (by a combined five points) and losses at Miami, at North Carolina, and at Duke, and wins at Virginia Tech and at home against N.C. State (by one point), Boston College, and Wake Forest.
The Terrapins are led in scoring by a 7-foot-1 sophomore from Ukraine, Alex Len, who averages 12.6 points and eight rebounds per game. Only one other player -- sophomore Dez Wells -- scores in double figures (12). He also averages 4.7 rebounds per game. Maryland is a very good rebounding team, leading the nation in that category.
Four other players score six or more points per game: sophomore Nick Faust (8.3), freshman Seth Allen (7.4), freshman Charles Mitchell (6), and senior James Padgett (6). Additionally, Maryland's top 3-point shooter, senior Logan Aronhalt at 47.4 percent, scores 5.8 points per game in 12.6 minutes per game.
Maryland is solid all across the board, not just in rebounding. The Terrapins are also top 100 in the nation in points per game, assists per game, and field goal percentage. Maryland's defense ranks fifth in the ACC in terms of points given up per game (61). They are not great in free-throw shooting (66.4, ninth in the ACC) and are just middle-of-the-road in 3-point shooting (34.7, seventh).
Sometimes a better predictor of defense is field goal percentage allowed, and in that department, the Terps rank first in the ACC (36.2 percent, UVa is second, 37 percent). They also rank high in 3-point percentage defense (30 percent, third, UVa is first at 28.5 percent).
This is a game Virginia can win but it will be tough. UVa is going for its fourth straight victory over the Terrapins. Maryland is a young team that started the year hot but it has fallen on hard times recently. It needs to come up with some wins down the stretch to get into the NCAA tournament. I'm sure the Terrapins will be looking to make things tough on the 'Hoos.
I think it is safe to say Virginia got revenge on Clemson on Thursday at John Paul Jones Arena, embarrassing the Tigers after Clemson won the first meeting of the season Jan. 12 in South Carolina, 59-44.
The Tigers managed just 10 first-half points, the fewest in any half by any team in JPJ. The previous record was 13, numerous times, most recently by Seattle back in November. The 37-point victory was the biggest in an ACC game since Duke beat Maryland 85-44 in 2009. For Virginia, it was its biggest ACC win since blowing out Duke 109-66 in the 1983 ACC tournament and biggest ACC regular-season win since pounding Georgia Tech 83-42 in 1981.
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| UVa freshman Justin Anderson |
Clemson was on the wrong end of tons of highlight-reel plays, most notably freshman guard Justin Anderson's reverse alley-oop dunk off a lob by Jontel Evans. It made SportsCenter's Top 10 plays and landed at No. 2.
Check it out here:
http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/justin-anderson-reverse-dunk-off-the-alley-oop-acc-must-see-moment/2ok1b1fdk
Anderson also had a second Top 10 play on a no-look, behind the head pass to Akil Mitchell for a dunk. Anderson finished with 14 points, three assists, and a block.
Joe Harris led Virginia with 21 points on an efficient 7 of 10 shooting in 27 minutes. Akil Mitchell had another monster game with 16 points, six rebounds, four steals, and a block and did a better job of finishing around the rim this game than game vs. Georgia Tech.
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| UVa junior Joe Harris |
The Cavs also had two players finishing with nine points each, Evan Nolte and Taylor Barnette, who saw his first extended action in several games. Barnette made 3 of his 4 3-point attempts, all in the second half. Nolte made 3 of 4 as well. As a team, Virginia started the game 0 for 9 from beyond the arc before making three straight to end the half -- one from Harris, one from Paul Jesperson (five points, two rebounds, two blocks) and one from Nolte. Virginia ended the game, however, with 10 3-pointers in 24 attempts, meaning the 'Hoos made 10 of their final 15 shots from beyond the arc.
The slow start from the land of 3 didn't really matter to Virginia. The Cavs led 29-10 when Harris finally broke the ice from long range.
Jontel Evans did not have a lot of points, but it was OK, because he wasn't needed and he contributed in other ways with eight assists (season-high and ACC career-high) and, this is the key, ZERO turnovers. A nice, solid game from Evans.
The game was such a blowout that walk-on Caid Kirven, from nearby Woodberry Forest School on the border of Madison and Orange counties, got into the game with five minutes remaining. He ended up with two rebounds, and fellow walk-on Thomas Rogers finished with a pair of rebounds and an assist.
It is incredible to me how well UVa is playing at home and how badly it has stunk it up on the road. At JPJ, Virginia now owns a nine-point victory over UNC, 14-point win over Boston College, 20-point win over Florida State, and now a 37-point victory over Clemson (not to mention the 35-point win over Wofford in late December). On the road, this same team has fallen to the likes of Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, and this same Clemson team on the road. The victory Thursday night over Clemson represented a 52-point swing from the game at Clemson. What a stat.
The Wahoos need to somehow bottle this energy and execution and take it out on the road. This is a young team that seems to really be subject to the emotions of playing in front of the home crowd, and then on the road in a hostile environment. They need to start getting a little mean on the road (if that is possible without fouling), create their own energy, and relish the chance to walk into an opponent's home building and come out with a hard-fought ACC road victory.
It is not like the cupboard is completely bare for the 'Hoos on the road this year. Their biggest win of the year so far, probably (N.C. State is debatable as it is slumping right now) has to be at Wisconsin in November. Virginia also beat rival Virginia Tech on the road. And this past Sunday, the Cavs probably should have won at Georgia Tech, as it held a lead for the majority of the game.
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Virginia at Maryland, 1 p.m. Sunday ACC Network
The Cavs have a chance to build on what success they have experienced on the road at Maryland this Sunday.
This is the first meeting of the season between the two rivals. Virginia won both games last year. At home, the Cav whooped the Terps 71-44 behind 25 points from Mike Scott on 10 of 20 shooting. In another display of how much home court can matter sometimes, the second game of the 2011-12 season between UVa and Maryland, only a couple weeks later in College Park, was a much tighter affair, but the banged-up 'Hoos pulled out a nailbiter in overtime, 75-72, behind a career-high 35 points from Scott, who added 11 rebounds.
The Wahoos are now 16-6, 6-3 in the ACC on the year. Maryland is 17-6, 5-5 in the league.
The Terrapins started out the season extremely hot, dropping their season opener to Kentucky by three points, but then running off 13 consecutive victories. Their final win of the streak was a victory over Virginia Tech. Since then, Maryland is 4-5, with two losses to Florida State (by a combined five points) and losses at Miami, at North Carolina, and at Duke, and wins at Virginia Tech and at home against N.C. State (by one point), Boston College, and Wake Forest.
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| Alex Len |
Four other players score six or more points per game: sophomore Nick Faust (8.3), freshman Seth Allen (7.4), freshman Charles Mitchell (6), and senior James Padgett (6). Additionally, Maryland's top 3-point shooter, senior Logan Aronhalt at 47.4 percent, scores 5.8 points per game in 12.6 minutes per game.
Maryland is solid all across the board, not just in rebounding. The Terrapins are also top 100 in the nation in points per game, assists per game, and field goal percentage. Maryland's defense ranks fifth in the ACC in terms of points given up per game (61). They are not great in free-throw shooting (66.4, ninth in the ACC) and are just middle-of-the-road in 3-point shooting (34.7, seventh).
Sometimes a better predictor of defense is field goal percentage allowed, and in that department, the Terps rank first in the ACC (36.2 percent, UVa is second, 37 percent). They also rank high in 3-point percentage defense (30 percent, third, UVa is first at 28.5 percent).
This is a game Virginia can win but it will be tough. UVa is going for its fourth straight victory over the Terrapins. Maryland is a young team that started the year hot but it has fallen on hard times recently. It needs to come up with some wins down the stretch to get into the NCAA tournament. I'm sure the Terrapins will be looking to make things tough on the 'Hoos.
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