Cavalier Corner

April 2014

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BY WHITELAW REID I F YOU'RE A VIRGINIA FAN AND you're trying to pick out your favorite moment from the 2013-14 men's basketball season, well, you've got a slight problem. There are just way too many choices. Was it the Senior Night game at John Paul Jones Arena when Virginia clinched the ACC reg- ular-season title by beating Syracuse? Was it the win over Duke in Greensboro in the ACC Tourna- ment final? Was it the demolition of Memphis in the NCAA Tournament round of 32 in Raleigh? The word magical most certainly comes to mind when reflecting on a campaign in which Virginia (30-7 overall, 16-2 ACC) tied the school record for wins that was set by the 1981-82 team. Before its 61-59 loss to Michigan State in the Sweet 16, Virginia had won 18 of its previous 19 games. Who does that? The 2013-14 Wahoos did. But that's not to say the season was a cakewalk. The Cavaliers lost three times in their first 10 games, starting with a disappointing home loss to in-state rival VCU (59-56) in which they blew a late lead. Then there was an ugly home loss to Wisconsin (48-38) in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in which the Cavs struggled to score. A Dec. 7 game at Green Bay was supposed to be one of the feel-good moments of the season, with Tony Bennett returning home to face his alma mater for the first time as a head coach. However, there was nothing feel-good about that game. Virginia lost to the Phoenix 75-72. But UVa's most disheartening loss was yet to come. On Dec. 30, the Cavs lost by 35 points at Tennessee (87-52). "We were just disjointed," Bennett said follow- ing the game. "We looked slow; we looked tired and delayed in our reactions. Every mistake we made, they capitalized on." Fourth-year guard Joe Harris looked shell- shocked. "We just got out-toughed, out-played and out- worked — out-everything," said Harris, when asked what went wrong. "We know we're a lot better than what we showed. That's why it stings. It's very disheartening. Overall, it' just very em- barrassing to come out here and play the way we did." With the loss to the Volunteers, Virginia dropped to 9-4. At that point, even the most op- timistic fan couldn't have been expecting what would happen next. The turnaround began on New Year's Eve when Harris showed up at Bennett's house for a meet- ing. In the next game at Florida State, Harris sus- tained a concussion less than three minutes into the contest and didn't return. Virginia didn't miss a beat, though. The Wa- hoos — behind 16 points from second-year guard Justin Anderson, a career-high 14 points from first-year point guard London Perrantes, and 11 points and 13 rebounds from fourth-year forward Akil Mitchell — overcame a ghastly 18-of-33 performance from the free throw line to win their ACC opener 62-50 in front of a crowd of 5,588 at the Donald Tucker Center in Tallahassee, Fla. The victory snapped a 17-game losing streak in the state of Florida that dated back to 2001 and included three coaching regimes. Coming off the 35-point loss at Tennessee, Virginia looked like a different team. "That was really important for us after how we played against Tennessee," Bennett said af- terward. "Will I assume that's going to be there every night? I can't. But we at least took a step in the right direction." Virginia got back to its bread and butter — shutting people down via its defense (the Hoos ranked No. 1 nationally in scoring defense at 55.7 points allowed per game as of March 31). The Cavs held the Seminoles to 31-percent shooting and turned 16 turnovers into 24 points, which helped negate their poor foul shooting. i12-15.Men's BKB.indd 2 4/3/14 3:39 PM

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