Virginia 80, Maryland 60
The Cavaliers came away from College Park with a rivalry win over the Terrapins on Sunday. I'm going to focus on runs during the game in this post. UVa did a great job of answering runs by Maryland with big baskets. Six of those baskets in the last half alone were 3-pointers, which are real momentum killers. That is a great way to come up with a road win. Maryland never got closer than eight in the second half. The crowd never fully got into the game in the second half because the team never could quite get within real striking distance.
Here are some runs Maryland made during the game and how Virginia answered them:
First half
UVa lead: 20-11; Maryland run of 4-0; answered by Joe Harris with two-pointer to make it at 22-15
UVa lead: 22-15; Maryland run of 4-0; answered by Harris 3 to make it 25-19
UVa lead: 25-19; Maryland run of 5-0; answered by Justin Anderson with 3-pointer to make it 28-24
UVa lead: 28-24; Maryland run of 4-0; answered by Anderson with two to make it 30-28
After a Maryland free throw, Anderson went up for a 3-pointer and was fouled, making all three free throws. After Maryland tied it at 28, Virginia ended the half on a 7-1 run to go into the locker room with a 35-29 lead. It was a big day for Anderson in more ways than one. He had a career-high 17 points and tied a career best with nine rebounds while playing against the school he formerly committed to. Anderson is a freshman from Montross, Va., but he went to high school at a prep school, Montrose Christian, in Rockville, Md., which is a little less than half an hour from College Park and the University of Maryland. Anderson was committed to Maryland until Gary Williams retired as coach of the Terrapins. Anderson then switched his commitment to Virginia. He said after the game he didn't have any extra motivation but that he just wanted to get a big road win for the Wahoos. You have to wonder, though. Anderson seems like a nice, young man, and he would never say it, but he had to enjoy rubbing in the Terrapin fans' faces the fact that they missed out on him. His exclamation came with about a minute of action left when he went up for a layup, was fouled hard by 7-foot-1 center Alex Len, but still muscled his way through and made the basket.
Back to the runs.
Second half: Virginia quickly bolted out with a 5-0 run to take a 40-29 lead.
UVa lead: 51-37; Maryland 5-0 run; answered by Harris with two-pointer to make it 53-42; also during this stretch, Evan Nolte made consecutive 3-pointers. Maryland made a pair of two-pointers, but Nolte's big 3s helped UVa take a 59-46 lead.
UVa lead: 59-46; Maryland run of 5-0; answered by Akil Mitchell with two free throws to make it 61-51.
Then a couple more big plays happened down the stretch that helped Virginia inch closer to a win. Maryland's Seth Allen went up for a layup to cut the margin to six and both Anderson and Harris went up for the block, with Anderson connecting. Harris helped set an aggressive tone near the end of the first half when he went up for a block on a dunk and fouled the player, but still, I think he sent a message to his teammates that they were going to be the aggressors. The other big play was Paul Jesperson, who made all four of 3-pointers (all in the second half) for a career-high 12 points, hitting a 3 that pushed the lead back to 11 points as Maryland was threatening to make it a tighter game. Jontel Evans followed up that 3 with a layup. After four straight Terrapin points, Evans knocked down a free throw, and Jesperon hit another 3, giving Virginia a 13-point cushion and effectively putting the game out of reach.
As you can see, when they needed it, the 'Hoos came up with big plays that helped stave off a Terrapin comeback. Maryland never mounted a run of more than five points and never got to within eight points once Virginia took its first double-digit lead in the second half. That was a big reason why Virginia was able to come up with a nice ACC road win.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Virginia Tech at Virginia, 7 p.m. ESPNU
Virginia battles Virginia Tech tonight at John Paul Jones Arena in the second meeting this season between these two teams. In the first meeting, Virginia was down 17-10 before a 24-2 run, fueled by numerous 3-pointers, helped carry the Cavaliers to a 34-25 halftime lead. Once the Wahoos were able to get the lead to double digits in the second half, they maintained that cushion and ended up winning, 74-58.
Erick Green scored a career-high 35 points (60.3 percent of his team's total) but was unable to get any help from his teammates. For Virginia, freshman Evan Nolte hit five 3s and scored 18 points, still a career best. Joe Harris added 17, Justin Anderson had 11, and Mike Tobey chipped in 10. Tobey came down with a bout of mono before the Clemson game last Thursday, and isn't expected to play for awhile, maybe even the rest of the season. In the past two games, Virginia hasn't needed him.
The two teams have been headed in opposite directions since the Jan. 24 meeting in Blacksburg. Including that game, Virginia has won five of six and six of seven overall. The Hokies, meanwhile, came into that contest on a two-game winning streak but Virginia sent them on a tailspin that has seen them lose six in a row.
These Cavaliers can take nothing for granted, though. Tech is still a dangerous squad and I'm sure it would love to damage UVa's NCAA tournament resume. Virginia Tech has lost six straight games, but three have been by single digits (one was to league-leading Miami), one was in overtime at North Carolina (72-60), and one was by 10 points.
Green has been carrying the load for the Hokies, and that is not an overstatement. In a visceral sight near the end of Tech's most recent loss, Saturday at home against Georgia Tech, the senior, who scored 28 of Tech's 54 points, collapsed on the bench from dehydration and briefly passed out. He is OK, though, and his minutes might be a little curtailed in this game, but expect a full effort from the Hokie point guard.
Virginia needs to either try to limit Green, something it could not do last time, or limit all his teammates, which it did well. Doing one or the other should give the 'Hoos a good chance to win. As long as they shoot well. Last year, Virginia played good defense on Tech at JPJ, but a poor shooting day helped the Hokies escape with a 47-45 victory.
This is a game the Cavs should win. The key word is "should." Virginia has been playing well as of late, and Tech has fallen toward the cellar of the ACC. But you can expect it to come out swinging in this one. UVa needs to be ready for a fight. In a year that includes a loss to three CAA teams (one with just three wins -- Old Dominion, yes, three, still), no opponent can be taken lightly.
The Cavaliers came away from College Park with a rivalry win over the Terrapins on Sunday. I'm going to focus on runs during the game in this post. UVa did a great job of answering runs by Maryland with big baskets. Six of those baskets in the last half alone were 3-pointers, which are real momentum killers. That is a great way to come up with a road win. Maryland never got closer than eight in the second half. The crowd never fully got into the game in the second half because the team never could quite get within real striking distance.
Here are some runs Maryland made during the game and how Virginia answered them:
First half
UVa lead: 20-11; Maryland run of 4-0; answered by Joe Harris with two-pointer to make it at 22-15
UVa lead: 22-15; Maryland run of 4-0; answered by Harris 3 to make it 25-19
UVa lead: 25-19; Maryland run of 5-0; answered by Justin Anderson with 3-pointer to make it 28-24
UVa lead: 28-24; Maryland run of 4-0; answered by Anderson with two to make it 30-28
 |
| UVa freshman Justin Anderson |
Back to the runs.
Second half: Virginia quickly bolted out with a 5-0 run to take a 40-29 lead.
UVa lead: 51-37; Maryland 5-0 run; answered by Harris with two-pointer to make it 53-42; also during this stretch, Evan Nolte made consecutive 3-pointers. Maryland made a pair of two-pointers, but Nolte's big 3s helped UVa take a 59-46 lead.
 |
| UVa sophomore Paul Jesperson |
Then a couple more big plays happened down the stretch that helped Virginia inch closer to a win. Maryland's Seth Allen went up for a layup to cut the margin to six and both Anderson and Harris went up for the block, with Anderson connecting. Harris helped set an aggressive tone near the end of the first half when he went up for a block on a dunk and fouled the player, but still, I think he sent a message to his teammates that they were going to be the aggressors. The other big play was Paul Jesperson, who made all four of 3-pointers (all in the second half) for a career-high 12 points, hitting a 3 that pushed the lead back to 11 points as Maryland was threatening to make it a tighter game. Jontel Evans followed up that 3 with a layup. After four straight Terrapin points, Evans knocked down a free throw, and Jesperon hit another 3, giving Virginia a 13-point cushion and effectively putting the game out of reach.
As you can see, when they needed it, the 'Hoos came up with big plays that helped stave off a Terrapin comeback. Maryland never mounted a run of more than five points and never got to within eight points once Virginia took its first double-digit lead in the second half. That was a big reason why Virginia was able to come up with a nice ACC road win.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Virginia Tech at Virginia, 7 p.m. ESPNU
Virginia battles Virginia Tech tonight at John Paul Jones Arena in the second meeting this season between these two teams. In the first meeting, Virginia was down 17-10 before a 24-2 run, fueled by numerous 3-pointers, helped carry the Cavaliers to a 34-25 halftime lead. Once the Wahoos were able to get the lead to double digits in the second half, they maintained that cushion and ended up winning, 74-58.
Erick Green scored a career-high 35 points (60.3 percent of his team's total) but was unable to get any help from his teammates. For Virginia, freshman Evan Nolte hit five 3s and scored 18 points, still a career best. Joe Harris added 17, Justin Anderson had 11, and Mike Tobey chipped in 10. Tobey came down with a bout of mono before the Clemson game last Thursday, and isn't expected to play for awhile, maybe even the rest of the season. In the past two games, Virginia hasn't needed him.
The two teams have been headed in opposite directions since the Jan. 24 meeting in Blacksburg. Including that game, Virginia has won five of six and six of seven overall. The Hokies, meanwhile, came into that contest on a two-game winning streak but Virginia sent them on a tailspin that has seen them lose six in a row.
These Cavaliers can take nothing for granted, though. Tech is still a dangerous squad and I'm sure it would love to damage UVa's NCAA tournament resume. Virginia Tech has lost six straight games, but three have been by single digits (one was to league-leading Miami), one was in overtime at North Carolina (72-60), and one was by 10 points.
Green has been carrying the load for the Hokies, and that is not an overstatement. In a visceral sight near the end of Tech's most recent loss, Saturday at home against Georgia Tech, the senior, who scored 28 of Tech's 54 points, collapsed on the bench from dehydration and briefly passed out. He is OK, though, and his minutes might be a little curtailed in this game, but expect a full effort from the Hokie point guard.
Virginia needs to either try to limit Green, something it could not do last time, or limit all his teammates, which it did well. Doing one or the other should give the 'Hoos a good chance to win. As long as they shoot well. Last year, Virginia played good defense on Tech at JPJ, but a poor shooting day helped the Hokies escape with a 47-45 victory.
This is a game the Cavs should win. The key word is "should." Virginia has been playing well as of late, and Tech has fallen toward the cellar of the ACC. But you can expect it to come out swinging in this one. UVa needs to be ready for a fight. In a year that includes a loss to three CAA teams (one with just three wins -- Old Dominion, yes, three, still), no opponent can be taken lightly.
Solid analysis in this one. Well done. I'm really starting to like this Anderson kid. I think he'll step in and be our leading scorer in the post-Harris era.
ReplyDeleteThanks and yeah, Anderson has really come into his own lately.
ReplyDelete