The Virginia men's basketball team pounded the boards and the L.A. City Stars as they cruised to a 98-69 win in its final exhibition game yesterday afternoon.
The Cavaliers out-rebounded the City Stars, 58-37, and grabbed an astounding 28 offensive rebounds. The Virginia players were aggressive the entire game, which coach Pete Gillen said led to the huge rebounding margin.
"We did a great job on the boards today," Gillen said. We had "38 offensive rebounds. That's crazy. But we are an aggressive team, and that has been one of our strengths as they all go crash the boards."
Chris Williams and Roger Mason Jr. led Virginia in scoring. Williams posted a double-double with 21 points and 12 rebounds. He also added three blocks. Mason scored 20 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out three assists.
"Our veteran guys played really good tonight," Gillen said. "They carried us this game. Roger and Chris did some really good things today. Chris has played well both games for us. We are excited about the way he has played in the two games."
With senior guard Adam Hall sidelined with a knee injury, Virginia's freshman guards Jermaine Harper and Keith Jenifer played a lot of minutes to prepare them for the regular season. Harper started in place of Hall and played 24 minutes. He scored 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting. Jenifer rebounded from a seven-turnover performance against the Nantucket Nectars on Nov. 2 with six assists and only two turnovers yesterday.
"I was nervous the first game," Jenifer said. "I had to get the first one out of the way. Today I played good though, a little more under control. I worked hard during the summer, and I think that is going to pay off soon."
Virginia started the game with a 14-4 run and never looked back. The Cavaliers led, 50-24, at the break, and opened a 33-point lead early in the second half. The Cavaliers shot 43 percent overall for the game.
L.A., however, shot poorly throughout the game. The City Stars finished the contest with a meager 33 percent field goal percentage. Jelani Janisee and Byron Wilson led L.A. with 11 points apiece. Derrick Anderson also chipped in 10 points for the City Stars.
Although Virginia looked good for most of the game, Gillen believes there are things that the Cavaliers will have to work on before Friday night's season opener against Wagner College.
"We're not quite ready," Gillen said. "We need to have three strong practices this week. There are still things the team as a whole needs to work on. I think we will be ready once Friday gets here though"
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