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Discussing Virginia's 2012 recruiting class to Hoos Talking two months ago, Cavaliers head coach Tony Bennett said the following about Blair Academy (Blairstown, N.J.) senior center Mike Tobey: "He has a real big upside. He's skilled. Deceptively athletic. Has real nice touch. He can step out and shoot the face-up, but he has got some back-to-the-basket moves and good instincts. I think Virginia fans are going to be real excited to watch his career unfold because I think he has a big upside."
UVa fans should see a lot of the 6'11", 225-pound Tobey next season.
The Virginia men's basketball program earned its first trip to the NCAA Tournament since the 2007 event on Sunday. The Cavaliers received one of the 37 at-large bids to the Big Dance as a No. 10 seed in the West Region where it will meet No. 7 seed Florida from the Southeastern Conference. The contest is scheduled for Friday in Omaha, Nebraska.
Virginia's grind-it-out, possession-by-possession style could pay dividends in future postseason play but when it comes to the ACC Tournament and games with NC State, nothing seems to work for the Cavaliers. In Thursday's tourney quarterfinals in Atlanta, the Wolfpack once again sent the Hoos packing with a 67-64 defeat. UVa fell to 2-13 all-time against NCSU in the ACC Tournament.
Virginia flirted with another disappointing late-game collapse on Sunday, but the team's seniors produced monster games and the Hoos came through with an important overtime win against Maryland in College Park. The Cavaliers' Mike Scott and Sammy Zeglinski combined for 55 points, including 8 in the decisive OT period, to lead the way to a 75-72 victory. At 22-8, UVa posted its most regular season wins since 1982-83 when that team won 25 contests.
After dropping their fourth 3-point game to a top 3 ACC team in a 63-60 home loss to Florida State on Thursday, the Virginia Cavaliers (21-8, 8-7 ACC) head to College Park on Sunday for their traditional end-of-the-season game against the Maryland Terrapins (16-13, 6-9 ACC). Will UVa pick up a win and in all likelihood seal up a bid to the NCAA Tournament, or will the Terps trip up the Hoos and leave them with question marks heading into the ACC Tournament?
Despite being without the services of Malcolm Brogdon, Virginia had 22nd ranked Florida State on the ropes late Thursday night. But it couldn't deliver the knockout blow.
FSU mounted a furious rally in the final five minutes and landed one final counterpunch to win the game when guard Ian Miller buried an off balance 3-pointer to beat the buzzer. The Seminoles escaped John Paul Jones Arena with a 63-60 win.
After a gut-wrenching 54-51 home loss to UNC on Saturday, the Virginia Cavaliers (21-7, 8-6 ACC) are back in action Thursday night at the John Paul Jones Arena, playing host to the Florida State Seminoles (19-9, 10-4 ACC). Will the Cavs secure their first win against Florida State since their last NCAA Tournament appearance in 2007, or will the Noles pick up their 20th win on the season?
Virginia held North Carolina to a season-low 54 points, but it was not enough. The Cavaliers went scoreless in the final three minutes of the game at the John Paul Jones Arena on Saturday, eventually falling to the seventh-ranked Tar Heels 54-51. UVa is 21-7 on the season with an 8-6 ACC record.
After scraping by Virginia Tech, the Virginia Cavaliers (21-6, 8-5 ACC) return home to the John Paul Jones Arena for a Saturday tilt with No. 7 UNC (24-4, 11-2 ACC). Will the Hoos secure their first victory over a top 10 team this season and ensure a winning ACC record, or will the Tar Heels sweep the season series? The North Carolina Primer takes a closer look.
It's no secret that Virginia's Mike Scott is having an outstanding senior season. The Cavalier forward averages 17.3 points and 8.2 rebounds per game for UVa's 21-6 club after all. The scoring number has climbed in conference games to 18.8 points per game, no easy feat when you consider that Scott is literally a marked man for ACC defenses. The Hoos, however, have made it more difficult for teams to play tag on Scott in recent outings.
Virginia coach Tony Bennett likes for his players to embrace words like resilience and resolve. For one night in Blacksburg, the Hoos did more than just adopt those words. They clung to them with ferocity.
Already down to an eight-man scholarship rotation on the season, UVa lost two players to fouls and had a third limited with a foot injury while fending off a final Virginia Tech rally on Tuesday night, but the visiting Cavaliers survived to win 61-59. The 21st victory of the campaign ties the program's most in a season since 1994-95.
When it comes to free throws, Virginia point guard Jontel Evans is hard at work. Before practice. After practice. During practice. The results are noticeable for the junior from Hampton. The reason for the improvement is clear too.
After dominating the second half in a 71-44 home victory over Maryland, the Virginia Cavaliers (20-6, 7-5 ACC) hit the road again and travel across the state for a return engagement with the Virginia Tech Hokies (15-12, 4-8 ACC) on Tuesday night. Can the Cavaliers notch 8 ACC wins in a season for the first time under Tony Bennett, or will the Hokies snag the season sweep?
After losing consecutive games for the first time this season, the Virginia Cavaliers (19-6, 6-5 ACC) return home from a two-game road trip to face the Maryland Terrapins (15-10, 5-6 ACC) on Saturday. Will the Hoos pick up a much-needed win against the Terps to bolster their chances at securing a bid to the NCAA Tournament? A soldout crowd will be on hand to find the answer.
The Virginia men's basketball team's shaky February showing took another wobble Tuesday night when the Cavaliers suffered a 60-48 setback at Clemson. The Hoos, who soared to an 18-3 record through January, dropped their third loss in four games this month. All three defeats have come on the ACC road.
After foul trouble and UNC's 19 offensive rebounds doomed UVa to a 70-52 loss at the Dean Dome, the Cavaliers (19-5, 6-4 ACC) head to Littlejohn Coliseum on Tuesday night for their second game of the season against Clemson (12-12, 4-6 ACC). Can the Cavs pick up a much needed win to buoy their hopes of securing an NCAA Tournament bid, or will the Tanner Smith and the Tigers sink the Hoos?
Simply put, it's hard to win games against North Carolina when you barely crack the 50-point barrier. The Virginia men's basketball team's periodically sluggish offense couldn't keep pace with the Tar Heels on Saturday in a 70-52 ACC defeat. The Cavaliers produced just 11 points in the final 16 minutes of the disappointing loss.
After cruising to a 68-44 victory over Wake Forest on Wednesday, the Virginia Cavaliers (19-4, 6-3 ACC) travel down to the Dean Dome on Saturday afternoon. There, they will face a UNC squad reeling after coughing up a 10-point lead with 2 minutes remaining and losing a heartbreaker to Duke on a last second Austin Rivers 3-pointer. Can UVa pick up its second straight win in Chapel Hill, or will the Tar Heels take out their frustrations on the Cavs?
When senior center Assane Sene suffered an ankle fracture against Georgia Tech last month, sophomore Akil Mitchell immediately inherited an important role for the UVa men's basketball team. Mitchell entered the starting lineup for the past six games in Sene's absence. In this week's 68-44 victory against Wake Forest, Mitchell logged career-high numbers in points (10) and assists (4) to go with 6 rebounds and 1 steal.
If teams don't match Virginia's sense of purpose on the defensive end this season, it quickly can become a long night on the basketball floor. Wake Forest found that out the hard way on Wednesday night at the John Paul Jones Arena.
The Cavaliers held the visitors to 34.1% shooting and then torched the lackluster defensive effort from the Demon Deacons to the tune of 53.7% shooting. The lopsided nature of those shooting statistics tell the whole story of a dominant 68-44 Cavalier victory.
After falling just short in a 58-55 loss to Florida State in Tallahassee on Saturday, the Virginia Cavaliers (18-4, 5-3 ACC) return home on Wednesday to open the second half of ACC play against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. After playing a Seminoles squad that is in the penthouse of the conference standings, the Hoos will face a Wake team (11-12, 2-7 ACC) that is once again in the cellar after finishing last year with a 1-15 conference mark. Of course, that one win came at the expense of UVa. Let's jump into the Wake Forest Primer.
Virginia mounted a furious comeback late in the second half, but could not hold on to a brief lead as its road woes in Tallahassee continued. Florida State claimed a 58-55 victory on Saturday afternoon in a battle between two of the ACC's premier defensive teams. The Cavaliers have not won at FSU since 2001. FSU holds a share of the ACC lead at 7-1, while UVa falls to 5-3 in league play.
After staving off a late Clemson rally on Tuesday, the Virginia Cavaliers (18-3, 5-2 ACC), travel to Tallahassee on Saturday to face the red hot Florida State Seminoles (15-6, 5-1 ACC), who are tied for the lead in the ACC standings. The Tucker Center has been a house of horrors for the Hoos over the past decade, with UVa's last win at the Seminoles' house being a 69-66 nail biter in 2001 after a Roger Mason 3-pointer with one second left. Let's look at the Florida State Primer.
The "Defending Virginia" article last week mentioned ways for UVa to counter teams' defensive strategies to double and contain Mike Scott while freeing up shots for Joe Harris and Sammy Zeglinski. The Cavaliers included a different concept against Clemson to prevent a double team, however, so let's examine the strategy.
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