#13 Virginia was supposed to manhandle Savannah State. No surprises: the ‘Hoos took care of the Tigers early en route to a 78-47 win.
UVA (10-1) led 29-5 at the under-8 media timeout, though Savannah State (3-11) actually made it somewhat interesting, albeit briefly, cutting the margin to 15, at 42-27, on a Dexter McClanahan three at the 18:38 mark of the second half.
A 19-0 Cavs run over the next nine minutes pushed the Virginia lead to 34, and the ‘Hoos would lead by as many as 43 before garbage time.
Ty Jerome had a career-high 17 points for Virginia, and Jack Salt tied a career-high with 10 points.
UVA shot 50 percent from the field (29-of-58) and limited Savannah State to 28.1 percent shooting (16-of-57).
John Grant had a career-high 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting from three-point range off the bench for Savannah State, which had scored 82.1 points per game coming in.
Next up for Virginia: Hampton (4-8) on Friday night in Charlottesville.
Team Notes
- Virginia (10-1) won the first-ever meeting between the teams
- Virginia improved to 27-0 against the MEAC, and 14-0 under head coach Tony Bennett
- The Cavaliers have held every opponent this year under 50 percent shooting from the floor
- Virginia is 7-0 this season when scoring more than 70 points and 102-6 when scoring 70 points under Bennett
- Virginia is 69-2 when holding teams under 50 points under Tony Bennett and 5-0 this season.
- The Cavaliers held the Tigers to 28.1 percent field goal shooting, the second lowest by an opponent this season behind Vanderbilt’s 23.1 percent.
- The Cavaliers opened the game on a 12-0 run over the first4:45
- Virginia went on a 19-0 run over8:29early in the second half and turned that into a 30-4 run over 13:42
Player Notes
- Double-figure scorers: Ty Jerome (17), Jack Salt (10), Mamadi Diakite (10)
- Ty Jerome scored a career-high 17 points
- Jack Salt tied his career-high with 10 points and set a career high with three blocked shots.
- De’Andre Hunter made a career-high seven free throws