Buoyed by huge efforts from sophomore reserve forwards Justin Anderson and Mike Tobey, the Virginia men’s basketball team cruised to an 83-63 win Saturday against Missouri State to win the Corpus Christi Challenge in Texas. The pair combined for 37 points and eight rebounds to erase an early deficit and lift the Cavaliers to their sixth straight victory.
Virginia (7-1) reached the final with a thrilling 76-73 win Friday against Southern Methodist (6-2) — coached by Basketball Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown — and faced Missouri State (6-1) after the Bears beat Texas A&M in their semifinal. Coach Tony Bennett altered his starting lineup Saturday for the first time since since Nov. 19, starting sophomore forward Anthony Gill in place of Tobey.
Virginia struggled early against Missouri State — a 3-pointer by senior guard Joe Harris was the Cavaliers’ only score for the first six and a half minutes of the game. Trailing 11-3 with 13:54 left in the first half, the Cavaliers took a timeout to regroup. Virginia looked like a different team from then on, finishing the half on a 30-11 run to enter the break leading 32-22. Anderson had 17 points in the first half alone and finished with 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting.
Virginia continued to pull away in the second half as they scored 51 points in the period. Harris, Tobey and sophomore guard Malcolm Brogdon were all in double figures with 15, 14 and 13 points, respectively. Gill had eight points and eight rebounds, helping Virginia to a 38-22 rebounding edge.
The Cavaliers will return to action Wednesday when they host No. 10 Wisconsin as part of the ACC-Big 10 Challenge. Bennett’s father, Dick, coached the Badgers from 1995 to 2001.
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