Simba’s minutes: With UVA guard Justin Anderson and his 29.4 minutes per game in street clothes, a big question heading into Wednesday’s game at N.C. State was how coach Tony Bennett would go about trying to replace Anderson in the rotation.
Junior Evan Nolte got the start and played 24 minutes. Nolte didn’t exactly fill up the stat sheet, scoring three points on 1-of-2 shooting from the field, recording an assist, a steal and a blocked shot. Bennett had praise for Nolte’s contribution postgame, largely focusing on his defense against State’s terrific trio of perimeter players (Ralston Turner, Anthony Barber and Trevor Lacey).
Redshirt freshman Devon Hall got 12 minutes off the bench, and did some things that registered on the stat sheet, going 2-for-3 from the field and recording an assist.
True freshman Marial Shayok got 11 minutes, and was largely ineffective, missing all three of his shots from the field and getting beaten on a couple of plays into the lane defensively.
Save their legs: Malcolm Brogdon played 38 minutes, and London Perrantes 34. All told, eight guys played 11 or more minutes. Isaiah Wilkins got in for just five.
TOs: After a nearly flawless effort Saturday night against #8 Louisville that saw Virginia commit just two turnovers, Virginia struggled in the TO department Wednesday, committing 12.
The Pack had a modest 8-2 advantage in points off turnovers, so the sloppiness didn’t impact the Cavs in that respect.
UVA recorded 15 offensive rebounds, and with State gathering just 20 defensive rebounds, that gave the Cavs
Offensive rebounding: Virginia had a slim 13-9 advantage in second-chance points, but it wasn’t because the Cavs had any trouble snaring its own misses.
UVA recorded 15 offensive rebounds, and with State gathering just 20 defensive rebounds, that gave the Cavs an effective offensive rebounding percentage of 42.9 percent.
The ‘Hoos won the rebounding battle overall by a 43-31 margin.
– Column by Chris Graham
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