The Virginia men's basketball team officially opened the 2006-2007 season Saturday night, hosting Augusta State in an exhibition game at the new John Paul Jones arena. The Cavaliers defeated the Jaguars 78-63 and were led by junior forward Adrian Joseph, who scored 17 points. Joseph displayed his sharpshooter ability by hitting four three-pointers, three of which came in the first half.
The dynamic tandem of senior guard JR Reynolds and junior guard Sean Singletary picked up right where they left off last year. Reynolds netted 16 points and Singletary chipped in 13 points and distributed the ball nicely, finishing with eight assists. Sophomore forward Mamadi Diane also added 10 points.
Virginia was particularly dominant on the boards. Senior forward Jason Cain grabbed 11 rebounds and sophomore forward Laurynas Mikalauskas had 10. Virginia crashed the boards and came up with a number of big offensive rebounds.
"Last year we did pretty well with offensive rebounding, so this year we'll do even better," Mikalauskas said. "We'll lead the ACC, hopefully, in rebounding."
Virginia started the game off slowly and committed six turnovers in the first 10 minutes. However, the Cavaliers picked it up and finished the first half with 43 points. Virginia also stayed on top of Augusta State in the first half defensively, holding the Jaguars to just 22 points on 25-percent shooting from the field.
The second half proved to be a different story, as the Cavaliers were outscored by the Jaguars, 41-35. Virginia's play was again marred by turnovers and the team committed 12 more turnovers in the second half. Overall, Virginia had 24 turnovers in the game.
"Twenty-four is far too many" turnovers, Virginia head coach Dave Leitao said. "We have been talking about it. When you pick up the pace you are going to turn it over. Some of them were turnovers of aggression, the rest of them were turnovers of non-aggression. I'm much more concerned about that."
Virginia was without many key players because of injuries Saturday night. Junior center Tunji Soroye, freshman guard Solomon Tat and freshman guard/forward Will Harris were all inactive for the game and watched from the sidelines. The losses of Harris and Tat were particularly damaging because it limited Virginia's backcourt depth.
The injuries were damaging "especially without Solomon [Tat], because he's done a pretty good job of taking care of the basketball," Leitao said. "I think the two guys that we have are very good, but I'd like to have four or five of them, obviously."
Next weekend the Cavaliers will have a tough test. Virginia opens its season Sunday, Nov. 12 at the John Paul Jones Arena against Arizona. The Wildcats are a perennial national power and should present a number of challenges for Virginia.
"We're going to have to impose" on Arizona, Leitao said. "The five guys on the floor, the seven or eight guys on the bench and the 15,000 people in the stands are going to have to collectively impose the will of the basketball team and program on Arizona if we're going to have a chance to win."
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