Basketball Features 
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Basketball Features
What's cooler than being cool? Ice cold.
No Virginia didn't play those Outkast lyrics throughout the John Paul Jones Arena on Thursday night, but it could have. After all, there's no other way to describe the Hoos' shooting performance against Maryland in a 66-42 ACC loss. 33.3% field goal shooting. 23.5% 3-point shooting. 46.2% free throw shooting.
The Virginia men's basketball team picked up an ACC win the last time it hit the floor of the John Paul Jones Arena, netting a 72-64 victory against Georgia Tech. As fans get ready for the showdown with Maryland at the JPJ, take a look at this 56-image photo gallery from the win over the Yellow Jackets that features photos of Joe Harris, Assane Sene, Jontel Evans, and more!
I figured it's about time to own up to it. So yes, Mustapha Farrakhan, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for writing you off so early in your career. I'm sorry for pegging you as a "he'll never change and never contribute" category player. I'm sorry I didn't give you a chance to put together a career first. Because now, Farrakhan is proving me wrong. Very wrong.
Greater Atlanta Christian (Atlanta, GA) guard Malcolm Brogdon and Landon School (Bethesda, MD) power forward Darion Atkins are playing well as seniors, just a year away from wearing the orange and blue of the University of Virginia. Get the latest on these two recruits and a look at a junior point guard on Virginia's radar in this edition of "Notes."
In some games this season, the Virginia men's basketball team has had trouble getting shots to go down. On Saturday, that wasn't a problem. The Cavaliers scorched Georgia Tech's defense with 10 3-pointers on 66.7% shooting en route to a 72-64 victory. The win snapped a three-game ACC skid for the Hoos, who improved to 17-1 in Tony Bennett's tenure when scoring 70 points.
The Virginia basketball team led UNC at the half in its last game at the John Paul Jones Arena, but couldn't pull out the win. The Hoos will try to turn the tables at home this weekend when Georgia Tech visits on Saturday. Get ready for the Yellow Jackets with an EDGE photo gallery that features 59 images of KT Harrell, Mustapha Farrakhan, Joe Harris, and more!
After rallying in what became an entertaining seesaw battle at Boston College on Wednesday night, the Virginia men's basketball team could not come up with the critical plays in the final minutes and fell 70-67 in Chestnut Hill, Mass. The Cavaliers have dropped three straight ACC games and own a 1-3 mark in league play after defeating Virginia Tech in the conference opener.
The Virginia men's basketball team led at halftime for the third time in three ACC games this season, but for the second straight Saturday the Hoos didn't hold the advantage. This time around, Duke spoiled UVa's upset hopes with a devastating second half scoring punch, which helped turn a six-point deficit at intermission into a 76-60 win. The Cavaliers fell to 1-2 in ACC play with the loss.
The Virginia men's basketball has a tough road trip to Duke on the schedule for this weekend as the ACC contest tips off at Cameron Indoor Stadium at 2 p.m. Get ready for the showdown with the Blue Devils with three photo galleries of the Hoos, who picked up wins against LSU and Howard with a setback against Iowa State. There are 113 images in all.
In the final 30 seconds of Saturday's game with North Carolina, Virginia faced a 58-56 deficit with possession of the ball under UNC's basket. Going into a timeout called by the Tar Heels, UVa coach Tony Bennett had decisions to make. Go for the win or tie? Who takes the shot? In the end, Virginia's second-year coach settled on a play familiar to his team that has been used throughout his tenure in Charlottesville. Let's take a closer look.
Senior forward Mike Scott elaborated Tuesday on the scope of his season-ending injury, and affirmed his desire to return for a fifth season. Scott has struggled with ankle problems at times during his career at Virginia; a high ankle sprain limited his production as a freshman and the lingering effects of that previous injury have contributed to his troubles this season.
A spirited effort, particularly defensively, had the Virginia fans at the John Paul Jones Arena excited and anticipating a win against North Carolina on Saturday. A late scoring drought, part of an overall second-half struggle on offense, quickly took the air out of that potential upset balloon though. The Tar Heels closed on an 18-7 run in the final 7:48 to steal one in Charlottesville 62-56. The Hoos did not score for a critical 3:44 spell during the game's closing stretch.
With lingering injuries to Will Sherrill and Mike Scott, much of the offensive load has been dumped into the lap of Mustapha Farrakhan. "I just try and play the game the same way every time and if my shot is there I shoot it and if not, pass the ball," says Farrakhan. Fans hope a hot-shooting Farrakhan and his fellow Hoos play a winning game this weekend against North Carolina as ACC play reopens for the Cavaliers.
Led by senior guard Mustapha Farrakhan's 31-point performance, the Cavaliers continued their positive play and delivered a convincing win over Howard University to close out their non-conference schedule. Virginia struggled earlier this season against lesser opponents, and took some time getting up to speed against the Bison, but eventually handled Howard 84-63 at home on Tuesday night.
The 2010 portion of Virginia's men's basketball schedule wrapped up with a pair of losses and the team struggling to find anything resembling consistency on offense. The Cavaliers couldn't frequently generate post touches without Mike Scott in the line-up and opponents started to jam jumpshooters and crowd driving lanes in helpside defense. The strategy, really, was simple - turn UVa into a slashing and driving team instead of a catch-and-shoot team. It worked. Until the Hoos started to make some adjustments, which paid off in a win against LSU.
The Virginia men's basketball program got more than just a win over LSU on Sunday. Head coach Tony Bennett and company scored their first commitment of the 2012 class in 6-11 center Mike Tobey. Tobey, who is attending The Hotchkiss School (Lakeville, CT), committed to the Hoos over offers from Miami, Northwestern, Pittsburgh, Siena and Xavier. Notre Dame, Stanford and Wake Forest showed interest as well.
The statistics panels on the John Paul Jones Arena scoreboard did not light up when the Virginia men's basketball team faced LSU on Sunday. No, the Cavaliers didn't shoot the lights out. Fortunately, however, the Hoos did somewhat shake off an offensive slump - six players scored at least 8 points as the team shot 40.4% from the field, including 45.8% in the second half - in a 64-50 win that snapped a two-game skid.
With Mike Scott sitting again, the Virginia men's basketball team's recent struggles continued on Thursday night as Iowa State popped into town and dropped the Cavaliers 60-47. UVa scored a paltry 15 points in the first half and managed just 45 overall, both home records for futility in the John Paul Jones Arena as the December doldrums on offense extended through another miserable shooting night.
The Virginia men's basketball team returns to action Thursday night with a contest against Big 12 foe Iowa State. Get tuned up for the game with a look back at UVa's strong 63-48 win against Pac-10 opponent Oregon before the holiday break. The 58-image gallery includes photos of Tony Bennett, Sammy Zeglinski, KT Harrell, and more.
Virginia had flirted with disaster twice in recent home games before escaping with wins against Radford and Norfolk State. Well you've heard the old saying about playing with fire. The Hoos got burnt on Wednesday night by another sluggish performance as Seattle swiped a 59-53 victory in the John Paul Jones Arena, simultaneously the first home loss and first road win of the season for the two teams.
Before my team's game on Monday night, I reminded the players in the pregame talk that "it's never easy to win." It takes effort and execution every time out against any team you ever play to leave with a victory. As I watched the second half tick away of Virginia's eventual 50-49 win against Norfolk State, I kept reflecting on that phrase and how it applied to the Hoos on this forgettable December night.
The sluggish post-exam break outing Wahoo fans expected to see against Oregon made a late arrival Monday night in the John Paul Jones Arena. Fortunately for Virginia, Assane Sene's tap-in of KT Harrell's missed free-throw with 4.8 seconds left turned what could have been a devastating loss into a disappointing 50-49 victory over 1-8 Norfolk State on Monday night.
Virginia coach Tony Bennett loves the feel of the underdog - the Rocky mentality where the size of the fight in the dog matters most. Bennett also loves when his teams control the pace of play and force opponents to labor in search of offense. So you can safely bet that Bennett loved the grit-and-grind nature of the Cavaliers' 63-48 victory over Oregon in the John Paul Jones Arena on Friday.
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