Cavalier Corner is the publication just for UVa sports fans!
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/105202
the opposition to take a longer amount of time on each possession. In turn, that lowers the total number of possessions in the game and, subsequently, the score. The most important defensive stat to Bennett is opponents' field goal percentage — from both two- and three-point range. "You always say, 'Did you make them work to get shots? Did they have to shoot contested shots?'" Bennett told The Daily Progress in 2010. "If they're getting transition baskets or in the lane or at the rim a majority of the time or getting a bunch of second-chance opportunities — those things hurt." Mitchell said thinking about defense first and foremost is the key to the entire program's success. "That's the mindset I try and just float throughout the team," he said. "When we have that mindset, we lock teams down. That's what we do. We've taken that as our identity and kind of grown into it and I'm proud of it." ◆ Wahoos Work Through Injuries Heading into the 2012-13 season, Jontel Evans and Malcolm Brogdon were expected to be Virginia's starting guards. As it turned out, they never played a single game together. Brogdon underwent left foot surgery last March and was slow to recover. The 6-5 second-year elected to take a medical redshirt season, with the hopes of returning at 100 percent next season. Evans had played in just seven of Virginia's first 16 games due to a slow recovery from a right foot injury, though the 5-11 fourth-year looked like he was finally healthy again after a solid outing in Virginia's 61‑52 win over North Carolina Jan. 6. If there has been a bright spot to the duo's absence, it has been the play of redshirt first-year Teven Jones. Head coach Tony Bennett has called the 6-0, 180-pounder from Kannapolis, N.C., a "pleasant surprise" of the season. The best part about Jones' emergence was that it allowed third-year Joe Harris and second-year Paul Jesperson to return to their natural positions on the wings. "When he's not on the floor," said Bennett, referring to Jones, "we don't have a true point guard. We had to do it kind of by committee [previously]. I like it better when there's more of a ball handler out there." Without Evans and Brogdon, Jones started nine games. Jones, who took a post-grad year at nearby Fishburne Military Academy in Waynesboro before enrolling early at UVa last January, hasn't put up huge stats — 3.8 points and 2.0 assists per game through Jan. 13 — but has been solid on defense and unexpectedly steady on offense. The Cavaliers were dealt another big blow Jan. 15, when it was announced that second-year forward Darion Atkins would be shut down indefinitely due to a stress reaction near his right shin. Atkins, who started 12 of UVa's first 16 games, had been bothered for about three weeks by the pain caused by the injury and his play had suffered as a result. "When you watch it on tape and just seeing him, he's kind of certainly favoring his leg, and he's not the same as he was earlier," Bennett said. "I think sometimes you can play if you're not quite 100 percent, but you've got to be close, especially the way Darion plays and has been effective for us. I feel it's unfortunate for him." Atkins' injury will be assessed on a week-to-week basis. — Whitelaw Reid