Virginia shoots its way to victory over Pittsburgh, gets offensively minded Notre Dame in quarterfinals
No. 21 Virginia 75, Pittsburgh 63
For the second straight game, both against Pitt, the Cavaliers shot 11 from 22 from beyond the arc on their way to a double-digit victory over the Panthers, who were much more competitive in the second round of the ACC tournament in Brooklyn than at John Paul Jones Arena on Saturday.
Kyle Guy scored 20 points for the second time this season, helped along by converting 4 of his 6 shots from beyond the arc. London Perrantes finished with 15 points and made 2 of his 5 3s, both in the second half. Ty
Jerome recorded 11 points and made 3 of his 6 3-pointers. Isaiah Wilkins had eight points and eight rebounds, and Darius Thompson scored six points on a pair of treys.
For those keeping score, Guy, after playing two minutes in the home loss against Miami and not taking a shot, is averaging 15.5 points the past four games and has made 16 of his 25 3-pointers (64 percent). On the year, he is at 51 percent from beyond the arc.
But it was the hustle play of Jack Salt that seemed to turn the tide in the second half. Virginia led by 11, 34-23, at the break, but Pitt threatened to come back like so many teams have on the Cavaliers this year. The Panthers cut it to one, 44-43 with about 13 minutes left in the game. A couple of minutes later, Wilkins was the first to make a nice play, tipping out a missed shot to give the Cavaliers another opportunity. He then went up for another rebound but ended up sprawled on the floor next to a Panther as the ball bounded toward the baseline. The ball was clearly going to be off Wilkins, Pittsburgh possession. But Salt dove toward the ball, parallel to the floor, and threw the ball behind him without looking. It bounced off a Pitt player's shin and then out of bounds, giving possession back to the Wahoos. Guy sank a corner 3-pointer, making it 49-44 UVa. Virginia never led by fewer than five the rest of the way. So Salt's dive ended up being a huge play that set the tone for the rest of the game and got the fans fired up. Plus, it led to a good play, a Guy made 3.
Another funny play involved Salt later. With just under five minutes left, Virginia led 65-54. On an offensive possession, Salt ran toward the backcourt and even crossed the midcourt stripe. What the heck is he doing? Turns out he was trying to run away from a defender who was trying to foul him intentionally to put him on the line since he is a bad free throw shooter. It was a comical sequence. He ended up getting fouled anyway and went to the line, of course sinking both shots. He was then subbed out and had a good laugh with his teammates on the bench.
Pitt made it a close contest, twice cutting into 11-point deficits, once in the first half in addition to the second-half surge. The Panthers shot 29 3s, making 10 of them, four each from Cameron Johnson and Jamel Artis, who had 20 and 18 points, respectively. Michael Young added 14. Pitt got zero points from its bench, though, whereas the 'Hoos got 23 from their bench.
It was both a good challenge and a good solid game for Virginia to get its feet wet in tournament play.
No. 21 Virginia vs. No. 22 Notre Dame, 9 p.m. ESPN/NBC29
In the quarterfinals, the Cavaliers get the Fighting Irish, who have been able to sit and watch the action the past two days as the third seed in the tournament, ending the regular season with a 23-8 record, 12-6 in the conference.
UVa and Notre Dame met for the only time this season in late January in South Bend, Ind. Virginia came in with a four-game winning streak, and Notre Dame had won eight of nine and was undefeated at home. The game was close until the closing minutes, but 3-point shooting ended up being the big difference. The Wahoos went 9 of 19 from deep while the Irish were just 3 of 18. Virginia grabbed a double-digit lead for the first time with 3:59 left and ended up cruising to a 71-54 victory. London Perrantes led the way with 22 points and made 5 of his 8 3-pointers. Both Devon Hall and Isaiah Wilkins were close to double-doubles with 11 and 13 points, respectively, and nine rebounds each. Marial Shayok added 10 points, and this was a mini-breakout game for Ty Jerome, who scored eight points and made 2 of 3 shots from behind the arc. Kyle Guy, who is from Indianapolis, added one 3 late in the game in his home state.
Notre Dame was led by 20 points from Bonzie Colson, and Steve Vasturia scored 14 and had two of the Irish's three 3s. Matt Farrell had the other one. V.J. Beachem, a 38.7 percent 3-pointer shooter on the season, went 0 for 5 from 3 and was 1 for 10 overall.
On the year, Notre Dame is at 38.9 percent from 3-point land and 80.9 percent from the free throw line, the best mark in the country. But the Irish hit only 11 of their 17 free throws against UVa in January. The Cavaliers need to come into this game expecting the Irish to shoot much better this time around from the charity stripe and from deep and for someone like Beachem to get on track and hit some shots. Virginia might need a similarly good game on offense to win like it had in the first meeting and like it had against Pitt on Wednesday. And of course, the defense needs to be ready for a more average (better) game on offense from the Irish.
Notre Dame averages 79 points per game, but it is worth noting it is pretty dependent on the four players I've mentioned, all who average between 13.5 and 17 points. They all shoot at least 35.7 percent from 3, including Colson, an undersized forward who averages 10.4 rebounds and was under heavy consideration for ACC player of the year (North Carolina's Justin Jackson won the award). Farrell leads the charge at 42.5 percent from beyond the arc. After those top four, Temple Gibbs is fifth in line at 5.1 ppg. By comparison, Virginia, which is thought to have much less firepower on offense, and does in the traditional sense, has as its fifth scorer Isaiah Wilkins, who is at 7.2 ppg, and also has one more player above the 5.1 ppg mark of Gibbs, Darius Thompson at 5.9. Virginia is not as explosive on offense, but does have more depth. Point being, if Virginia can lock down on at least a couple guys, the Irish could be in trouble.
I'm expecting another fairly high-scoring game by Virginia's standard, and Notre Dame will play better on the offensive end than it did in the South Bend meeting. But I like the way Virginia is playing, and the Cavaliers somehow have the psychological edge right now over the Fighting Irish, having won 10 in a row in the series. That streak will end sometime, but I like the gusto Virginia appears to be playing with right now.
Gut feeling: Virginia wins by 1-5 points.
For the second straight game, both against Pitt, the Cavaliers shot 11 from 22 from beyond the arc on their way to a double-digit victory over the Panthers, who were much more competitive in the second round of the ACC tournament in Brooklyn than at John Paul Jones Arena on Saturday.
Kyle Guy scored 20 points for the second time this season, helped along by converting 4 of his 6 shots from beyond the arc. London Perrantes finished with 15 points and made 2 of his 5 3s, both in the second half. Ty
 |
| Kyle Guy isn't missing much from beyond the arc recently. |
For those keeping score, Guy, after playing two minutes in the home loss against Miami and not taking a shot, is averaging 15.5 points the past four games and has made 16 of his 25 3-pointers (64 percent). On the year, he is at 51 percent from beyond the arc.
But it was the hustle play of Jack Salt that seemed to turn the tide in the second half. Virginia led by 11, 34-23, at the break, but Pitt threatened to come back like so many teams have on the Cavaliers this year. The Panthers cut it to one, 44-43 with about 13 minutes left in the game. A couple of minutes later, Wilkins was the first to make a nice play, tipping out a missed shot to give the Cavaliers another opportunity. He then went up for another rebound but ended up sprawled on the floor next to a Panther as the ball bounded toward the baseline. The ball was clearly going to be off Wilkins, Pittsburgh possession. But Salt dove toward the ball, parallel to the floor, and threw the ball behind him without looking. It bounced off a Pitt player's shin and then out of bounds, giving possession back to the Wahoos. Guy sank a corner 3-pointer, making it 49-44 UVa. Virginia never led by fewer than five the rest of the way. So Salt's dive ended up being a huge play that set the tone for the rest of the game and got the fans fired up. Plus, it led to a good play, a Guy made 3.
Another funny play involved Salt later. With just under five minutes left, Virginia led 65-54. On an offensive possession, Salt ran toward the backcourt and even crossed the midcourt stripe. What the heck is he doing? Turns out he was trying to run away from a defender who was trying to foul him intentionally to put him on the line since he is a bad free throw shooter. It was a comical sequence. He ended up getting fouled anyway and went to the line, of course sinking both shots. He was then subbed out and had a good laugh with his teammates on the bench.
Pitt made it a close contest, twice cutting into 11-point deficits, once in the first half in addition to the second-half surge. The Panthers shot 29 3s, making 10 of them, four each from Cameron Johnson and Jamel Artis, who had 20 and 18 points, respectively. Michael Young added 14. Pitt got zero points from its bench, though, whereas the 'Hoos got 23 from their bench.
It was both a good challenge and a good solid game for Virginia to get its feet wet in tournament play.
No. 21 Virginia vs. No. 22 Notre Dame, 9 p.m. ESPN/NBC29
In the quarterfinals, the Cavaliers get the Fighting Irish, who have been able to sit and watch the action the past two days as the third seed in the tournament, ending the regular season with a 23-8 record, 12-6 in the conference.
UVa and Notre Dame met for the only time this season in late January in South Bend, Ind. Virginia came in with a four-game winning streak, and Notre Dame had won eight of nine and was undefeated at home. The game was close until the closing minutes, but 3-point shooting ended up being the big difference. The Wahoos went 9 of 19 from deep while the Irish were just 3 of 18. Virginia grabbed a double-digit lead for the first time with 3:59 left and ended up cruising to a 71-54 victory. London Perrantes led the way with 22 points and made 5 of his 8 3-pointers. Both Devon Hall and Isaiah Wilkins were close to double-doubles with 11 and 13 points, respectively, and nine rebounds each. Marial Shayok added 10 points, and this was a mini-breakout game for Ty Jerome, who scored eight points and made 2 of 3 shots from behind the arc. Kyle Guy, who is from Indianapolis, added one 3 late in the game in his home state.
Notre Dame was led by 20 points from Bonzie Colson, and Steve Vasturia scored 14 and had two of the Irish's three 3s. Matt Farrell had the other one. V.J. Beachem, a 38.7 percent 3-pointer shooter on the season, went 0 for 5 from 3 and was 1 for 10 overall.
On the year, Notre Dame is at 38.9 percent from 3-point land and 80.9 percent from the free throw line, the best mark in the country. But the Irish hit only 11 of their 17 free throws against UVa in January. The Cavaliers need to come into this game expecting the Irish to shoot much better this time around from the charity stripe and from deep and for someone like Beachem to get on track and hit some shots. Virginia might need a similarly good game on offense to win like it had in the first meeting and like it had against Pitt on Wednesday. And of course, the defense needs to be ready for a more average (better) game on offense from the Irish.
Notre Dame averages 79 points per game, but it is worth noting it is pretty dependent on the four players I've mentioned, all who average between 13.5 and 17 points. They all shoot at least 35.7 percent from 3, including Colson, an undersized forward who averages 10.4 rebounds and was under heavy consideration for ACC player of the year (North Carolina's Justin Jackson won the award). Farrell leads the charge at 42.5 percent from beyond the arc. After those top four, Temple Gibbs is fifth in line at 5.1 ppg. By comparison, Virginia, which is thought to have much less firepower on offense, and does in the traditional sense, has as its fifth scorer Isaiah Wilkins, who is at 7.2 ppg, and also has one more player above the 5.1 ppg mark of Gibbs, Darius Thompson at 5.9. Virginia is not as explosive on offense, but does have more depth. Point being, if Virginia can lock down on at least a couple guys, the Irish could be in trouble.
I'm expecting another fairly high-scoring game by Virginia's standard, and Notre Dame will play better on the offensive end than it did in the South Bend meeting. But I like the way Virginia is playing, and the Cavaliers somehow have the psychological edge right now over the Fighting Irish, having won 10 in a row in the series. That streak will end sometime, but I like the gusto Virginia appears to be playing with right now.
Gut feeling: Virginia wins by 1-5 points.
Comments
Post a Comment