Remember when UVA shot had three free throw attempts for the entire game in a loss at then-#1 Villanova?
On two different occasions in Monday’s 71-55 win over #4 Louisville, Kyle Guy and Ty Jerome went to the line to shoot three free throws after getting fouled on shots from behind the arc.
For the night, the Cavs went to the line 20 times, making 18, while Louisville was 10-of-15.
Twice in their last three, and four times this season, all in losses, Virginia shot five or less times from the line while opponents shot 20 or more.
Tonight’s game featured special guest appearances on media row from a pair of luminaries from the ACC whose job titles have to do with oversight of officials, so there was that going on tonight.
That, plus a veteran crew of Jamie Luckie, Ted Valentine and Mike Eades.
As we’ve pointed out in this column space in the recent past, Virginia was more effective than its opponent in terms of getting the ball into the lane.
On Monday, UVA was 16-of-20 on dunks and layups. Yeah, wow.
Louisville was 7-of-19 on shots at the rim.
On jumpers and threes, the Cards shot 13-of-35; the ‘Hoos were 9-of-27.
Meanwhile, a few feet back of the Augusta Free Press section on media row were two guys taking copious notes.
London Perrantes was one of the beneficiaries of the … ahem, more balanced officiating. Perrantes was 6-of-7 at the line Monday, after getting to the line a total of six times in Virginia’s last four.
“I felt we needed to try to attack and touch the paint and be assertive and make the right plays from there. (London) had a nice feel and he did draw some fouls, which was good,” coach Tony Bennett said. “We’ve had those dry spells where we haven’t been able to get to the line so that was big tonight. To be able to cash in and make 18-of-20 is obviously important.”
Perrantes was more demonstrative on the court than he was after regarding the way the whistles ended up going.
“It’s just the way it happened,” Perrantes said in response to a question on his aggressive play. “I hit my second shot, a three, and obviously, everyone knows that I can shoot the ball so after that I’m just taking what the defense gives me. There were some opportunities to get to the paint and I got to the free throw line because of that.”
Plus-minus stuff
According to scacchoops.com data, the most effective UVA lineup by +/- was Devon Hall-Isaiah Wilkins-London Perrantes-Marial Shayok, which came in at +7 in its time together on the floor.
The least: Darius Thompson-Devon Hall-Jack Salt-Kyle Guy-Mamadi Diakite, which had a -5.
The individual +/- leaders were Isaiah Wilkins (+22), London Perrantes (+18), Darius Thompson (+14) and Devon Hall (+13).
Big night for DT
Thompson had that +14 in 20 minutes off the bench in which he scored 10 points (4-of-7 from the field), had four rebounds and a team-high four assists.
Thompson had been seeing his minutes cut with the emergence of freshmen Ty Jerome and Kyle Guy, logging 10 minutes in the loss at Syracuse over the weekend and seven minutes in last week’s win over Virginia Tech.
Guy, who had a team-high 14 points at Syracuse in the loss, didn’t get off the bench in the second half, and finished with two points in five minutes of floor time.
Jerome had three points and two assists in 14 minutes.
Four-guard
The four-guard lineup that has worked so well in ACC play barely got on the floor Monday night. The bigs got a combined 78 minutes.
The only four-guard lineup listed in the scacchoops.com rendering was Darius Thompson-Devon Hall -Isaiah Wilkins-London Perrantes-Ty Jerome, which in two minutes of game action had a +1.
The bigs got minutes because they played well. Wilkins, for one, had his first career double-double, with 13 points (5-of-7 shooting from the field, 3-of-3 at the line) and 11 rebounds, with a career-high five blocks.
Mamadi Diakite, back from bench purgatory, had six points (3-of-3 from the floor) and two blocks in 16 minutes off the bench.
Jack Salt had four points (2-of-2 from the floor) and six rebounds in 19 minutes.
Jared Reuter ate up six minutes. That’s all you can say for his effort Monday: didn’t shoot the ball, didn’t snare a rebound, only dented the scorebook with a turnover.
Sum total for your bigs: 10-of-12 shooting, 18 rebounds.
Not bad.
Efficiency numbers
How about 1.145 points per possession against a Louisville defense that gives up .874 per?
Again, not bad. Also, holding your opponent to .887 per possession, including .677 per in the second half.
Louisville averages 1.166 per on the season.
Sure, the Cards are down three starters. They’ve been playing without the one for a couple of weeks, and it didn’t seem to matter, and Virginia has been playing without one since early November, and is 8-3 in the ACC.
Column by Chris Graham
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