Virginia kept the hope of dancing in March alive with Saturday evening's win over Virginia Tech. A home loss to the lowly Hokies likely would have ended any chance that the Cavaliers had of making the NCAA Tournament field. With Saturday's gritty overtime victory, however, Virginia avoided that potential dagger and notched its sixth conference victory, with five conference games remaining.
The story of Saturday's win must include the dazzling performance of junior guard J.R. Reynolds. With the spotlight always shining brightly on Sean Singletary, I feel that Reynolds rarely gets enough credit for how indispensable he is to the success of this team. While Singletary led the Cavaliers with 23 points Saturday, Reynolds was Virginia's most important offensive player, notching 19 points and a career-high 12 assists. Reynolds' most impressive assist came with 3:57 left in the second half. Slashing through the lane, Reynolds read Virginia Tech's hedging defense beautifully and slipped the ball to Laurynas Mikalauskas for a lay-up that gave the Cavaliers a one-point lead.
Another player who deserves much kudos for his performance Saturday is Adrian Joseph. The sophomore logged 40 minutes of playing time while putting up 15 points. Strength and conditioning coach Shaun Brown's intense drills must be paying off, as Virginia used only seven players throughout the game and the Cavaliers never seemed to waver due to fatigue.
As has been the case for most of the season, Virginia received the bulk of its scoring from its perimeter players -- Singletary, Reynolds and Joseph. In the paint, Jason Cain led Virginia's big men with 10 points and eight rebounds. Mikalauskas scored only two buckets but both were huge momentum jolts for Virginia. Mamadi Diane also hit several key shots, highlighted by an impressive put back of an errant Joseph three-point attempt. It was also nice to see offensively-struggling sophomore Tunji Soroye throw down a dunk early in the second half. After the game, coach Leitao spoke of the importance of trying to get his big men some more touches down low.
Despite the inclement winter weather, a boisterous crowd showed up to cheer on the Cavaliers. I find the growing tension between the Hoo Crew and the non-Hoo Crew parts of the student section quite amusing. First off, I must say that I appreciate the passion and dedication of the Hoo Crew's members and leaders. Yet, I also appreciate the values of individualism, so I had to chuckle when the Hoo Crew and its president were booed lustily by the non-Hoo Crew student section minutes before the opening tip. As we move into the future, I sincerely hope that the athletic department will give the same respect and consideration to non-Hoo Crew student fans as it does to the members of its Hoo Crew pet project.
To build a resume that would impress the NCAA selection committee, Virginia will likely have to win its remaining conference home games -- against Boston College and Maryland -- and snatch at least one, if not two, road victories from a schedule that includes trips to Florida State, Clemson and North Carolina. Although the failure to win at either N.C. State or Maryland hurt Virginia's chances, the window of opportunity for the Cavaliers' first NCAA Tournament berth since 2001 remains slightly ajar.
Wednesday's matchup with Longwood should provide Leitao with an opportunity to give playing time to some seldom-used bench players. Seeing Matt Deasey score in double digits will make an interesting evening out of a game should otherwise be lopsided.
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