Virginia 67, Norfolk State 56
As I suspected, Norfolk State gave Virginia all it could handle during the first round of the NIT on Tuesday in Charlottesville, but the Cavaliers came away with a hard-fought victory.
Akil Mitchell led the way with 15 points and 11 rebounds (though he did not shoot that well -- 5 of 11 from the field and 5 of 11 from the free throw line) while Justin Anderson had a solid all-around game with 15 points, five rebounds, four assists, a steal, and a block. He also sparked the 'Hoos late in the second half with six straight points that essentially put the game away. Joe Harris added 12 points on 4 of 7 shooting, 2 of 5 from 3-point range. Teven Jones added seven points, his best outing since a season-high 13-point effort Nov. 20 vs. North Texas. Mike Tobey had five points and Evan Nolte, a freshman who has been as quiet as anyone for a long time, recorded seven points, a far cry from the 18-point effort he had at Virginia Tech on Jan. 24, but still higher than most of his outputs since then.
The game was very sloppy with lots of turnovers in the first half and several fouls in the second half. Virginia had 17 turnovers (10 in the first half) but was topped by the Spartans' 18 turnovers. The teams combined to shoot more than 60 free throws. UVa shot just 59.5 percent from the line. Norfolk State got kind of chippy late in the game -- star player Pendarvis Williams fouled out with 10 seconds left and the game well out of hand -- and Anderson said it actually helped him focus at the stripe.
"I just stepped up the free throw line and shot them with confidence. It helped they were talking a little bit of trash. I just tried to refocus and knock them down." Anderson went 7 of 9 from the free throw line.
The heady freshman continued: "I knew this would be a tough team. I knew they were going to come in hungry and that they were going to fight. It reminded me of the same way ODU came in against us earlier in the year."
Virginia bowed out to the Monarchs in Richmond in December -- one of the most damaging losses on UVa's NCAA tournament resume -- but it responded against the Spartans and fought back in a game that was ugly, but entertaining, especially the second half. It was good for the team -- especially the freshmen -- to get some more minutes and gain more experience heading into next season. The Spartans pressed the 'Hoos and that gave them some trouble but UVa, in the end, figured it out. Breaking the press has been an issue for Virginia this season so the more work it gets against it this year, the better off it should be next year.
You could tell Norfolk State came out as the hungrier team and Mitchell even said after the game the team was kind of deflated after not making the Big Dance. The Spartans wanted to show they could hang with one of the best teams in the state. Norfolk State was no joke, either. It is a veteran squad that has been there and done that. It lost a great player to the NBA in Kyle O'Quinn from last year's squad that beat Missouri in the dance, but the Spartans looked the part of a savvy squad confident in their abilities. And with only one senior contributing a lot, I expect they will probably go undefeated or close to undefeated in the MEAC again next year. I applaud Virginia for sticking it out and persevering in a tough contest. The game was not pretty, but a win is a win and now the young 'Hoos will get more experience in the second round.
The second-round game will be played against St. John's at John Paul Jones Arena on Sunday at the weird time of 11 a.m. But that is when ESPN will be in Charlottesville to televise the game so the 'Hoos and Red Storm will be there I guess. St. John's is 17-15 out of the Big East and beat St. Joseph's on the road in the first round Tuesday 63-61 on a buzzer beater.
As I suspected, Norfolk State gave Virginia all it could handle during the first round of the NIT on Tuesday in Charlottesville, but the Cavaliers came away with a hard-fought victory.
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| Justin Anderson |
The game was very sloppy with lots of turnovers in the first half and several fouls in the second half. Virginia had 17 turnovers (10 in the first half) but was topped by the Spartans' 18 turnovers. The teams combined to shoot more than 60 free throws. UVa shot just 59.5 percent from the line. Norfolk State got kind of chippy late in the game -- star player Pendarvis Williams fouled out with 10 seconds left and the game well out of hand -- and Anderson said it actually helped him focus at the stripe.
"I just stepped up the free throw line and shot them with confidence. It helped they were talking a little bit of trash. I just tried to refocus and knock them down." Anderson went 7 of 9 from the free throw line.
The heady freshman continued: "I knew this would be a tough team. I knew they were going to come in hungry and that they were going to fight. It reminded me of the same way ODU came in against us earlier in the year."
Virginia bowed out to the Monarchs in Richmond in December -- one of the most damaging losses on UVa's NCAA tournament resume -- but it responded against the Spartans and fought back in a game that was ugly, but entertaining, especially the second half. It was good for the team -- especially the freshmen -- to get some more minutes and gain more experience heading into next season. The Spartans pressed the 'Hoos and that gave them some trouble but UVa, in the end, figured it out. Breaking the press has been an issue for Virginia this season so the more work it gets against it this year, the better off it should be next year.
You could tell Norfolk State came out as the hungrier team and Mitchell even said after the game the team was kind of deflated after not making the Big Dance. The Spartans wanted to show they could hang with one of the best teams in the state. Norfolk State was no joke, either. It is a veteran squad that has been there and done that. It lost a great player to the NBA in Kyle O'Quinn from last year's squad that beat Missouri in the dance, but the Spartans looked the part of a savvy squad confident in their abilities. And with only one senior contributing a lot, I expect they will probably go undefeated or close to undefeated in the MEAC again next year. I applaud Virginia for sticking it out and persevering in a tough contest. The game was not pretty, but a win is a win and now the young 'Hoos will get more experience in the second round.
The second-round game will be played against St. John's at John Paul Jones Arena on Sunday at the weird time of 11 a.m. But that is when ESPN will be in Charlottesville to televise the game so the 'Hoos and Red Storm will be there I guess. St. John's is 17-15 out of the Big East and beat St. Joseph's on the road in the first round Tuesday 63-61 on a buzzer beater.
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