Inside the Numbers: Quantifying Woldetensae’s emergence, influence on ‘Hoos

Any guess as to who has led Virginia in scoring over its recent 7-1 hot streak?

OK, it’s still Mamadi Diakite, but now that I’ve let you in on that, you also now know who’s a close second.

Yep, Tomas Woldetensae.

Diakite is averaging 14.1 points per game on 50 percent shooting over UVA’s last eight games, a tick up from the 13.4 points per game on 47.3 percent shooting over the course of the season to date.

Woldetensae, averaging a modest 7.3 points per game for the season, has come into his own over the past eight.

The junior is averaging 13.3 points per game over Virginia’s past eight games, shooting 46.8 percent from the field and 44.8 percent from three.

For the season, Woldetensae is shooting 38.4 percent from the floor and 38.8 percent from deep.

Kihei Clark is the third guy in the reconfigured Big Three – averaging 13.1 points and 6.4 assists per game over the past eight, shooting 42.9 percent from the floor and 32.0 percent from three-point range.

For the season, Clark is averaging 10.8 points and 6.0 assists per game, on 37.7 percent shooting from the floor and 34.9 percent shooting from behind the arc.

Braxton Key is largely holding steady: averaging 9.8 points per game (down slightly from his season average of 10.0 points per game) on 38.6 percent shooting (down from his 43.6 percent season average).

Jay Huff has been disappearing, unfortunately – averaging 6.1 points (down from 8.1 points per game for the season) on 50 percent shooting (season: 57.2 percent).

Big picture: Virginia’s overall scoring is up over the past eight, to 62.6 points per game, versus the season average of 57.7 points per game.

Over that stretch, the Cavaliers are shooting 43.8 percent from the floor (up from the season rate of 41.4 percent) and 38.1 percent on threes (up from the season rate of 30.4 percent).

Worth pointing out here that Woldetensae, over the past eight, is 30-of-67 from three; his teammates are an aggregate 31-of-93 (33.3 percent).

The rising tide is lifting all the boats.

Bottom line: get Huff back into things, and this team will be close to full throttle.

Story by Chris Graham