Inside the Numbers: That was a classic Virginia win

If Tony Bennett writes the script for his ideal Virginia win, it looks like the 68-46 victory over Louisville Saturday night.

Tempo: 60 possessions. Below Virginia’s best-in-the-nation 61.8 possessions-per-game pace.

(We value restraint here in Cavland.)

Defense: Louisville shot 26.7 percent and scored .754 points per possession. That was a tick better than the .758 points per possession that UVA allowed in its 63-47 win at Louisville on Jan. 30. The two games against the Cardinals are about as good as a Virginia team can play defense.

Offense: after a slog of a first half, the Cavs shot 70.6 percent from the field in the second half, pushing them over 50 percent for the game.

Virginia scored 1.133 points per possession Saturday night, against a team that is ranked third nationally, giving up .906 points per possession on the season.

Virginia owned the boards: 38-28. Mike Tobey had 20 all by himself.

The only thing Tony would throw away: the 13 turnovers.

Even with those turnovers, Virginia put up 68 on one of the nation’s best defenses, and held an offense that scores 75.0 points per game under 50 for the second time this season.

Classic Virginia win.

 

Nolte jumpstarts Cavs

Evan Nolte hit a pair of threes in the first four minutes to help jumpstart the game-opening 13-1 run that put the game out of reach before the second media timeout.

Nolte got the Senior Night start, but his effort and output earned him 16 minutes, and though he didn’t score again, he had a nice stat sheet: six points on 2-of-3 shooting, two assists, a turnover and a blocked shot, with a +11.

 

Another strong game for AG

Anthony Gill carried Virginia in the first half, scoring 13 of his 15 points to lift the Cavs to a 29-17 halftime lead.

Gill was 4-of-6 from the field and an impressive 7-of-8 from the foul line.

He got to the line because he was aggressive. An aggressive Gill is the best Gill.

 

Off-night for Brogdon?

Malcolm Brogdon finished with a game-high 17. On an off-night.

Brogdon was just 4-for-11 from the field, and 0-of-4 from three-point range, but Louisville kept fouling Brogdon dribbling the ball in the backcourt, for whatever reason, and he got some nice charity getting to the line and took advantage, going 9-of-11 from the stripe.

So he leads the team in scoring in a game against the 11th-ranked team in the country on an off-night, and holds the opponent’s leading scorer, Damion Lee, to nine points on 3-of-13 shooting.

This is why Malcolm Brogdon is your ACC player of the year, folks.

 

Minutes Watch

Brogdon went 37, and London Perrantes 36. Nobody else got more than 25. You’d never guess who that was.

Mike Tobey was third on the team in minutes played?

If Tobey can earn 25 floor minutes a night, this team is going to be cutting down three sets of nets the next few weeks.

Anthony Gill played 24, Devon Hall got 20 and Isaiah Wilkins 19 off the bench, Evan Nolte played 16 with the start, and Darius Thompson 12.

– Story by Chris Graham