Basketball Features 
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Basketball Features
An uncharacteristic outing defensively left Virginia in an offensive barnburner Wednesday night, but while Seattle became the first opponent to surpass 60 points this season, a resilient UVa team survived the upset bid to win its eighth straight game. The Cavaliers, 10-1 for the first time since 2000-2001, captured the 83-77 victory behind a career-high 33 points from Mike Scott, who missed just two shots in a virtuoso performance.
The University of Virginia has thrown its hat in the ring for junior point guard Jaren Sina, currently no. 45 in ESPN.com's Super 60 national rankings for the 2013 class. Head coach Tony Bennett offered a scholarship to the 6'2" standout almost two weeks ago, and Sina is interested.
Virginia coach Tony Bennett presented reporters with a simple question during the week: would the Cavaliers' game travel well in the first true road test of the season? The answer after the first contest of a two-game West coast swing proved to be yes. The Hoos, after all, overcame a somewhat sluggish first half to grind out a 67-54 win at Oregon on Sunday. UVa is 9-1 for the first time since 2003-04.
Paul VI (Fairfax, VA) junior Stanford Robinson is a hot commodity among major Division 1 programs. The 6'3", 185-pound two-guard has picked up another ACC scholarship offer, from the University of Virginia, to go along with previous ACC offers from Miami, N.C. State, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest. Current Big East and future ACC program Pittsburgh has offered, and so have Big East programs including Marquette, Rutgers, Seton Hall and Villanova.
With the annual exam break looming, the Virginia men's basketball team didn't check out mentally before an important in-state basketball test on Tuesday night. Instead, the Hoos continued their strong play at the John Paul Jones Arena with a 68-48 victory against George Mason in what felt like a blue collar effort for most of the night. UVa has never lost to its neighbors from Fairfax (7-0 all time).
The Virginia men's basketball team takes the court again Tuesday night when George Mason visits the John Paul Jones Arena. The Hoos hope to remain undefeated at home, which includes the most recent 86-53 win against Longwood. During that victory, an interesting post combination logged minutes for the Cavaliers. Can that post duo provide some versatility going forward?
In a game scheduled as an expected tune-up type of contest, the Virginia men's basketball team took care of business in dominating fashion on Saturday. The hosts dispatched visiting Longwood 86-53 at the John Paul Jones Arena as five Cavaliers had at least 8 points and the Lancers joined the under 60 club. None of UVa's first eight opponents have cracked 60 points during the Hoos' 7-1 start to the season. That's the best start to a season since 2004-05.
Virginia toppled 14th-ranked Michigan in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, 70-58. The Cavaliers won the game with stellar defense and a dominating performance by senior forward Mike Scott, who put in 18 points to go with 11 rebounds. Joe Harris also led the Cavs with 18 points, seven rebounds and four steals.
This photo documentary features 78 photos from that exciting win. Enjoy.
The Virginia men's basketball team picked up a big win the Big Ten/ACC Challenge on Tuesday night, downing Michigan 70-58 in Charlottesville. One of the main reasons for the victory proved to be UVa's continued efforts on the defensive end of the floor where the Cavaliers have been outstanding so far during a 6-1 start to the season.
The Virginia men's basketball team suffered neither a post-Thanksgiving nor a post-Island letdown Friday night when Green Bay visited Charlottesville. In fact, the Cavaliers led by double digits for nearly the entire game en route to a 68-42 victory against coach Tony Bennett's alma mater. Virginia is 5-1 on the season.
The Virginia men's basketball team built a 17-point lead early in the second half and then held off a Drake comeback attempt to win its final game in the Paradise Jam Tournament in the Virgin Islands, 60-52. UVa posted a 2-1 record in the event and owns a 4-1 record on the season. Though disappointed with a Friday night loss to TCU, Cavalier coach Tony Bennett was pleased to head back to Charlottesville with two wins in tow.
Defensively, the Virginia men's basketball team has opened the season with a stingy attitude. Very stingy. Drexel became the latest team to stumble against the curmudgeonly Cavaliers on Saturday afternoon in the Paradise Jam Tournament in the Virgin Islands. Virginia allowed just 25.9% shooting for the game and smothered the Dragons from beginning to end in a 49-35 victory.
University of Virginia 2012 signee Mike Tobey attended Don Bosco Prep in New Jersey for the first two years of his high school career. He moved on to the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut for his junior school before deciding to return to the Garden State for his fourth and final year on the high school level. The 6'11", 230-pound center is finishing out his prep career at Blair Academy (Blairstown, N.J.), a school no stranger to sending prospects to the college level.
Virginia struggled from 3-point range for most of the night, but set a new record at the free throw line to dispatch visiting Winthrop on Tuesday, 69-48. The Cavaliers made 19 of 19 free throws in the 21-point win, eclipsing the previous program record for most free throws in a perfect game. UVa made all 16 attempts in a 64-60 loss to South Carolina on Jan. 8, 1965.
Lopsided. In every sense of the word, Virginia's season-opening men's basketball game featured an overmatched South Carolina State team. The contest resulted in a 75-38 win for the Cavaliers, the largest margin of victory for the program in the Tony Bennett era and the biggest win since a 94-52 triumph against Northwestern on Nov. 27, 2007.
All four of the University of Virginia men's basketball 2012 class recruits have signed, according to a release posted on VirginiaSports.com this evening. Justin Anderson, Teven Jones, Evan Nolte and Mike Tobey are Tony Bennett and company's latest additions, and the group is ranked in the top 25 nationally by ESPN.com, Rivals.com and Scout.com.
Virginia fans will finally get an opportunity to see James Johnson play on the court this season. Johnson, a 6'9", 238-pound forward, was redshirted last season in order to develop his mental and physical game. He and the coaching staff felt he needed an extra year to improve in some areas. With the season opener and Johnson's debut just days away, it's an opportune time for "The Sabre Interview" with the redshirt freshman.
Rounding out our "Q&A" features with the University of Virginia incoming freshman is 6'6", 197-pound wing Paul Jesperson, the 2010/2011 Gatorade and Associated Press Player of the Year in the state of Wisconsin. In this "Q&A", the versatile freshman discusses making the transition from playing point guard in high school to off guard in college, the work being done by Strength and Conditioning Coach Mike Curtis, working with fellow freshman Malcolm Brogdon, and much more.
Evan Nolte verbally committed to the University of Virginia this past April, becoming then the second 2012 class prospect to commit to the Hoos. Next Wednesday, which is the first day of Division 1 men's basketball's Early Signing Period, the Milton (Alpharetta, GA) senior will make his commitment to Virginia official.
The University of Virginia's most decorated freshman, guard Malcolm Brogdon, earned Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Georgia Sportswriters Association Group AA Player of the Year honors as a junior and AJC All-Division Player of the Year honors his senior season. Primarily playing the two -guard position but also seeing time at the point, the 6'5", 215-pound Brogdon averaged close to 26 points, almost 13 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.3 steals per game his senior year. TheSabre.com caught up with Brogdon as practice opened for a Q&A.
Darion Atkins became known for at least two things in his career at Landon School: defense and rebounding. The 6'8", 222-pound forward averaged about 12 rebounds and seven blocked shots per game over the course of his junior and senior seasons, and he is looking to contribute in these areas in his freshman season at the University of Virginia. Atkins discusses his expected role this season and much more in this Sabre Q&A.
There's no way to ignore it. There are higher expectations for the Virginia men's basketball team this season. Experience and a growing talent pool usually lead to those sorts of things. So while the NCAA Tournament is a goal every season, the Cavaliers concede that this is their best opportunity to go dancing in Tony Bennett's tenure.
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