No. 2 Virginia 79, No. 15 Belmont 66
Like many high-seeded teams Thursday and Friday, the Wahoos survived and advanced past a spunky lower-seeded team in the Bruins from Belmont, the champions of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament. Every higher-seeded team Friday has won so far as I'm writing this but there have been close calls. No. 4 Louisville beat No. 13 UC Irvine, 57-55. No. 5 West Virginia withstood a run from No. 12 Buffalo and won, 68-62. No. 7 Michigan State held back a late rally from No. 10 Georgia and buried the Bulldogs, 70-63. No. 4 Maryland escaped No. 13 Valparaiso, 65-62. No. 7 Wichita State overcame an early deficit to defeat No. 10 Indiana, 81-76.
I wrote before the game that Virginia might have to win with its offense and that is kind of what it did, which I was glad to see. Belmont challenged the Cavaliers with its shooting and fire and I wasn't surprised at all. The game had a similar feel to the Davidson one earlier this season when the Wildcats took a 12-point lead on Virginia in the first half at JPJ but the 'Hoos won, 83-72.
The Bruins took a small early lead but nothing I was too panicked about. UVa recovered nicely, as Malcolm Brogdon had 16 first-half points. Justin Anderson also made a 3 in the first half, much to the delight of Wahoo fans. Anderson had not scored since hurting his finger against Louisville in early February. He ended up making 4 of 6 field goals (1 of 2 from 3) and 6 of 7 free throws for 15 points, an extremely good sign for the team going forward. Virginia led, 40-32, at halftime.
Virginia extended the lead to 14 midway through the second half but Belmont didn't back down, continuing to bomb 3-pointer after 3-pointer. Craig Bradshaw in particular was nails with 25 points (game high and 15 of those in the second half) on 5 of 9 shooting from 3, several from a couple feet behind the arc and/or with a hand in his face or at least nearby. The Bruins closed the gap to 62-60 with 4:37 left. Brogdon struggled in the second half with his shot but ended up playing tight defense on Bradshaw at the end, disrupting his rhythm. UVa closed it out with fantastic free-throw shooting,
making 11 for 11 after it was 62-60.
 |
| Justin Anderson shoots over Belmont's Mack Mercer during Friday's game. Anderson had 15 points. |
Brogdon finished with 25 points for the Wahoos and Anthony Gill had 16, 13 of those in the second half. He made eight of his 11 free throws or 72.7 percent, about five percentage points better than his average. Darion Atkins had 10 points and London Perrantes put up nine. Gill, Perrantes, Atkins, Brogdon and Anderson all made clutch free throws or field goals down the stretch, exactly what you want to see from your leaders. Virginia made a concerted effort to go down low to its bigs, a good move given UVa's size advantage; it also helped at the free-throw line. The 'Hoos made 21 of 25 free throws whereas Belmont shot just six, sinking five.
Overall, Belmont challenged UVa defensively and that was to be expected. But it still just made eight 3s on 32.5 percent from beyond the arc, six percent below its season average. Taylor Barnette, the transfer from UVa, was ineffective, making just 1 of 7 shots from 3-point land while recording seven points overall. I was surprised at how often the Bruins looked inside and did well down low. That was probably a product of UVa keeping a close eye on the 3-point line. I think Belmont, despite a poor strength of schedule and 10 losses overall, showed it belonged and was stronger than your typical 15 seed. UVa didn't play up to its best level, but also didn't play badly. Belmont was a great test.
Scoring 79 points was a good thing to see. Defense is the hallmark of Virginia, but extra offense can be a bonus. Virginia's season average is 65.3 points, but 60.4 in the 10 games Anderson did not play in or did not score in since. To me, whenever UVa scores more than 66, that is extra chocolate syrup on top of the sundae. UVa scored more than 79 just once in regulation this season and hit exactly 79 on two occasions. In fact, just five teams so far in the second round of the tournament have scored more than 79 -- Duke, Wichita State, Arizona, Villanova, and Georgetown -- despite the national narrative that UVa slows the game down too much and is bad for offensive-minded basketball. Belmont is by no means a defensive stalwart, quite the opposite, but it is hard to not see what UVa did on offense as a positive development.
If Anderson showed he is getting his form back, UVa will be a tough out for Michigan State and other teams should UVa keep advancing. The Spartans knocked he Cavaliers out of the tournament last year in the Sweet 16 during a hard-fought, 61-59 game.
Comments
Post a Comment