Cavalier Corner

December 2012

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V BY WHITELAW REID IRGINIA WENT 15-16 IN head coach Tony Bennett's first season, and 16-15 in his second. Last year, the Cavaliers posted a 22-10 re- cord (9-7 in the ACC) and made it to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2006-07 season. The goal is to return to the Big Dance, but three main questions must be answered positively for Bennett, now in his fourth season with the Wahoos, to accomplish that feat. First, can Virginia replace the scoring of departed fourth-year Mike Scott? Second, will UVa's first- years be able to contribute quickly? Third, can the Wa- hoos stay healthy? Three yeses could mean back-to-back NCAA Tour- naments for the first time in 17 years. Anything less could spell trouble. At the recent Operation Basketball in Charlotte, N.C., media members picked Virginia to finish seventh in the ACC. "Would I take that? No," As a first-year, Harris averaged 10.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, sinking the second-most three-pointers as a rookie since Curtis Staples in 1994-95. Last season, he averaged 11.3 points and 3.9 rebounds — numbers that were no doubt impacted by his playing with a broken left hand in the season's final eight games. But even with a cast, Harris found a way to be QUICK FACTS Head Coach: Tony Bennett, 53-41 at UVa (4th year); 122-74 career (7th year) 2011-12 In Review: 22-10, 9-7 ACC (T-4th) Starters Returning/Lost: 4/2 Lettermen Returning/Lost: 8/7 Key Additions: G Justin Anderson, F Evan Nolte, C Mike Tobey Key Losses: F Mike Scott (18.0 ppg. and 8.3 rpg.), G Sammy Zeglinski (8.6 ppg. and 2.7 apg.) RETURNING LEADERS Points: Joe Harris (11.3 per game) Rebounds: Akil Mitchell (4.4 per game) Assists: Jontel Evans (3.9 per game) Steals: Evans (1.6 per game) Blocks: Darion Atkins (0.7 per game) FG Pct.: Atkins (.581) 3FG Pct.: Harris (.380) FT Pct.: Malcolm Brogdon (.800) said Bennett, whose team finished in a three-way tie for fourth last season. "I want to do better than that." Scott, a first-team All-ACC pick last season who is now a member of the NBA's Atlanta Hawks, accounted for nearly 30 percent of the team's offense last season. This season, the onus will be on third-year Joe Harris, the team's only other double-digit scorer in 2011-12, to pick up some of the slack. a factor, doing whatever was needed for a short- handed team that was down to just seven scholarship players by the time Virginia bowed out to Florida (71- 45) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Harris said he knows a lot will be on his shoulders this season. "Not having Mike — he was a huge part of our team last year," Harris said. "Our offense really flowed through him. I think on that end of things, I've taken it upon myself to be a lot more aggressive. "I feel like the first cou- ple of years I played off other guys and didn't re- ally try and force the issue. I wasn't as aggressive as maybe I could have been. This year I have to make a point of being aggressive offensively." Harris, no doubt, will be a marked man this season — Sports Illustrated recently tabbed the Chelan, Wash., native as one of the 10 best players in the ACC — but Bennett thinks he will do what- ever it takes for the team to be successful. "He wants to win desperately," Bennett said. "If I said, 'Don't shoot once Joe and go guard the best guy,' he'd do it.

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