The Virginia men's basketball team came out sporting new uniforms for Friday night's exhibition against the Nantucket Nectars, but fans were treated to something very familiar in the Cavaliers' 82-70 win.
Junior Travis Watson dominated in the blocks, scoring eight of the Cavaliers' first 10 points. Virginia jumped out early and never looked back.
Watson was unstoppable in the low post, scoring on up-and-under moves at will against the traveling semi-pro team. "I'm confident in my game," Watson said after his performance of 24 points and 12 rebounds. "I think I can score any time I can touch the ball. I'm more patient this year."
Senior Chris Williams followed Watson's lead with 17 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists. Junior Roger Mason Jr. contributed 14 points and four assists in 34 minutes, spending most of his time at the point guard position.
"I'm pleased with the overall result," Virginia coach Pete Gillen said. "We have a different type of team with all of the veterans and a lot of young guys. Roger played the point and the two, and I think he did some real nice things, but I thought he was a little out of sync because he was trying to play both positions and we were trying to get him shots."
Gillen also was interested in seeing how the Cavaliers' freshmen would play in their first game at Virginia. Freshman Elton Brown did not disappoint, scoring seven points and grabbing three rebounds in 16 minutes of play. His numbers, however, were not what caught the eye of the crowd at Friday night's game. As soon as Brown entered the game, he slid into the paint and yelled for the ball. On his first touch, he hit a turn-around jumper from 12 feet, much to Gillen's delight.
"I thought Elton was terrific," he said. "He had some nice moves inside. He did some very nice things all game. He's a terrific low-post player. He's going to play a lot of minutes for us this year."
The two other freshmen who played, Keith Jenifer and Jermaine Harper, looked timid at times as they adjusted to the college game. Jenifer appeared jittery in 23 minutes of play, as he racked up seven of Virginia's 19 turnovers, and Harper was not quick to take the open jumper.
"Keith's a good player," Gillen said. "The seven turnovers was kind of disappointing, but that's going to happen. Point guard is probably the toughest position to play on the court."
While Virginia had its moments during the game, its sloppiness was apparent throughout the match. Turnovers and getting in shape are two areas Gillen stressed the Cavaliers need to work on before their regular season opener against Wagner College in less than two weeks.
"Because of injuries and such, we're not in great condition," Gillen said. "We have a lot of work ahead of us. It was sloppy at times. We have a lot of work ahead of us. We need every day to practice"
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