Virginia coach Tony Bennett desperately needs to find a solution at point guard – with senior starter Jontel Evans and sophomore backup Malcolm Brogdon on the bench for God-knows-how-long.
He may have found the answer – in 2012 Fishburne Military School alum Teven Jones.
Jones played 25 minutes in his UVa. debut in Saturday’s 83-43 win over Seattle, scoring four points, grabbing three rebounds, dishing out a single assist – and more important than what could be measured in the stat sheet, providing stability at a position that had been anything but stable through the season’s first three games.
“Statistically, it doesn’t show, but I think Teven gave us a great boost,” Bennett said following the win, which improved Virginia to 2-2 on the young season.
Jones had been set to make his Virginia debut on Tuesday against Delaware, but he suffered a pinched nerve in warmups and was scratched. With Jones, Evans and Brogdon not part of the rotation, the Cavs limped to a 1-2 start, with losses to George Mason and Delaware sandwiched around an uninspired win over Fairfield as UVa. averaged just 54 points a game.
Virginia nearly reached that mark in a dominant first half, rolling to a 44-13 lead as the ‘Hoos held Seattle to 20 percent shooting (5-for-20) from the field.
Bennett after the game gave a lot of the credit for the defensive performance to Jones.
“He lets us set our defense at halfcourt on the floor, which is big for us. If our pickup point can be out there, it helps us establish a better start to our defensive possession,” Bennett said.
Jones, for his part, was more than ready to get out on the court and finally play. The Kannapolis, N.C., native enrolled at UVa. in January and practiced with the team as a redshirt as the Cavs made their run to an NCAA Tournament berth in 2012.
He was suspended for the road opener at George Mason for violating a team rule before missing the team’s games against Fairfield and Delaware due to injury.
“It was exciting. I can’t even explain it right now. I’m just so excited that we got the win,” Jones said. “We were struggling, but it was really great to win. I feel very blessed. I felt very comfortable out there. I had been running it in practice, so I thought, what’s the difference? It’s just a big crowd of people. There is no difference.”
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Chris Graham
