Virginia 68, St. John's 50
The Cavaliers kept their season alive with a lively victory over St. John's on Sunday morning in the second round of the NIT. The game started out a little slowly and Virginia had just four points eight minutes into the game as St. John's led 8-4.
Then the first-years came in the game.
One of them, Teven Jones, hit a 3-pointer and it was all Cavs from there, as they closed the half on a 28-13 run. In the second half, the lead wavered back and forth between double and single digits, but the Red Storm never got closer than seven points.
Justin Anderson, the only freshman who started, scored a career-high 18 points but he wasn't the only first-year to have a quality game as 46 of Virginia's 68 points came via freshmen. Taylor Barnette hit three 3s and
had a career-high 13 points, Mike Tobey added 10, and Jones finished with five.
Bennett said after the game: "I thought the first-years really gave us a lift and played very good basketball, and that was pivotal in this game. They made good decisions, obviously shot it well, got to the line, just did some nice things, and I was very pleased with that opportunity to be in this setting and get those guys in there. They really pushed this thing through for us."
Some of the down games Virginia has had this season, especially on the road, came when the freshmen didn't contribute as much. The fact that they had such a great game this late in the year is encouraging. The Cavs can really get rolling when the first-years are playing well. Even Anderson had not been contributing as much lately. His last double-digit effort before the NIT was vs. Georgia Tech on Feb. 24 when he had 11 points. But in the two NIT games, he's combined for 33 points.
Not only is Virginia extending this season and piling on wins in hopes of grabbing an NIT title, but the youthful team is gaining invaluable experience that will help build toward next year. Jontel Evans is the only main senior contributor leaving, so most of this team will be together next year. That means that all this court time the players are getting can translate to next year very well since many of the same pieces will be back.
After the game, even Anderson was caught looking ahead a little bit: "I've said all year, I hate thinking about the future. I like thinking about the next game and thinking about Iowa that we have coming in. But it always feels good to look to your left and to your right and say, 'I feel comfortable with these guys.' I can't wait to go to battle every single night with them. With everybody stepping up, it's the best feeling. You're part of a great basketball program and all we can do is continue to build off this."
This is how well the freshmen played Sunday: I'm into the ninth paragraph of this post and just now getting around to mentioning Joe Harris and Akil Mitchell. The juniors were both held well below their season averages. Harris only had seven points, the first time he has been held to single digits since a Jan. 26 home win against Boston College when he had seven as well. Mitchell recorded 11 points and nine rebounds, a great effort, but below what he is capable of. When your stars have an off game and you still win against a quality opponent by 18 points, that is very good.
Virginia hosts Iowa in the NIT quarterfinals with a trip to Madison Square Garden on the line Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Wahoos will look to extend their home winning streak to 20 games.
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Baseball keeps it going with sweep of N.C. State
Not wanting to be overlooked by the basketball team's late-season run, the Cavalier baseball team is making noise early in the season. The squad, which features just three seniors, is 22-2 on the season and just completed a sweep of No. 16-ranked N.C. State over the weekend (8-2 and 4-3 Saturday and 6-3 Sunday). The squad is ranked No. 8 in the country and is 7-2 in the ACC.
Virginia's been getting it done at the plate and on the mound, not just one or the other. The team is batting .313 with Branden Cogswell leading the way at .402. Brandon Downes has four home runs. Meanwhile, Virginia's pitchers have an ERA of 2.32 and have held opponents to a .232 batting average. Freshman Brandon Waddell is 2-0 with a 2.60 ERA, sophomore Nick Howard is 3-1 with a 1.65 ERA, and senior Scott Silverstein is 4-0 with a 3.58 ERA.
It really is remarkable so far the run that the youthful Cavs are on. Last year, the team was also young, and had a bit of a down year, not even reaching 40 wins (but still did host an NCAA regional). Late in March, the team is already over halfway there now.
Next up, UVa hosts Towson on Wednesday before entertaining Miami in a three-game set this weekend at Davenport Field.
The Cavaliers kept their season alive with a lively victory over St. John's on Sunday morning in the second round of the NIT. The game started out a little slowly and Virginia had just four points eight minutes into the game as St. John's led 8-4.
Then the first-years came in the game.
One of them, Teven Jones, hit a 3-pointer and it was all Cavs from there, as they closed the half on a 28-13 run. In the second half, the lead wavered back and forth between double and single digits, but the Red Storm never got closer than seven points.
 |
| UVa freshman Taylor Barnette |
had a career-high 13 points, Mike Tobey added 10, and Jones finished with five.
Bennett said after the game: "I thought the first-years really gave us a lift and played very good basketball, and that was pivotal in this game. They made good decisions, obviously shot it well, got to the line, just did some nice things, and I was very pleased with that opportunity to be in this setting and get those guys in there. They really pushed this thing through for us."
Some of the down games Virginia has had this season, especially on the road, came when the freshmen didn't contribute as much. The fact that they had such a great game this late in the year is encouraging. The Cavs can really get rolling when the first-years are playing well. Even Anderson had not been contributing as much lately. His last double-digit effort before the NIT was vs. Georgia Tech on Feb. 24 when he had 11 points. But in the two NIT games, he's combined for 33 points.
Not only is Virginia extending this season and piling on wins in hopes of grabbing an NIT title, but the youthful team is gaining invaluable experience that will help build toward next year. Jontel Evans is the only main senior contributor leaving, so most of this team will be together next year. That means that all this court time the players are getting can translate to next year very well since many of the same pieces will be back.
After the game, even Anderson was caught looking ahead a little bit: "I've said all year, I hate thinking about the future. I like thinking about the next game and thinking about Iowa that we have coming in. But it always feels good to look to your left and to your right and say, 'I feel comfortable with these guys.' I can't wait to go to battle every single night with them. With everybody stepping up, it's the best feeling. You're part of a great basketball program and all we can do is continue to build off this."
This is how well the freshmen played Sunday: I'm into the ninth paragraph of this post and just now getting around to mentioning Joe Harris and Akil Mitchell. The juniors were both held well below their season averages. Harris only had seven points, the first time he has been held to single digits since a Jan. 26 home win against Boston College when he had seven as well. Mitchell recorded 11 points and nine rebounds, a great effort, but below what he is capable of. When your stars have an off game and you still win against a quality opponent by 18 points, that is very good.
Virginia hosts Iowa in the NIT quarterfinals with a trip to Madison Square Garden on the line Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Wahoos will look to extend their home winning streak to 20 games.
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Baseball keeps it going with sweep of N.C. State
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| My dad, Mike, and I took in Game 1 of the Saturday doubleheader and half of the second game. |
Virginia's been getting it done at the plate and on the mound, not just one or the other. The team is batting .313 with Branden Cogswell leading the way at .402. Brandon Downes has four home runs. Meanwhile, Virginia's pitchers have an ERA of 2.32 and have held opponents to a .232 batting average. Freshman Brandon Waddell is 2-0 with a 2.60 ERA, sophomore Nick Howard is 3-1 with a 1.65 ERA, and senior Scott Silverstein is 4-0 with a 3.58 ERA.It really is remarkable so far the run that the youthful Cavs are on. Last year, the team was also young, and had a bit of a down year, not even reaching 40 wins (but still did host an NCAA regional). Late in March, the team is already over halfway there now.
Next up, UVa hosts Towson on Wednesday before entertaining Miami in a three-game set this weekend at Davenport Field.  |
| The Nationals' Racing Presidents took in Saturday's DH. Teddy got out in front early but he, of course, lost. |
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| And, of course, TJ won, since this is UVa. |
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