Malcolm in the Middle
Virginia was effective in the first half using guard Malcolm Brogdon to attack the middle of the Syracuse zone.
The guard hit a couple of jumpers free-throw-line in at the vulnerable spot in the zone.
“We said, ‘Malcolm in the middle.’ I think that was a show,” UVA coach Tony Bennett said. “He did a good job. You like having playmakers there whenever you can. Malcolm could turn and face for the shot or he could drive it like a point guard. I thought that gave us a nice lift. We got a lot of buckets, whether that was him scoring or making plays.”
Isaiah needs to start
Also effective in the middle was Isaiah Wilkins, who had five points, on a couple of jumpers at basically the same spot, free-throw-line in, and three assists.
“Again, it’s huge to have a playmaker in the middle. He’s all heart. You see that in Isaiah. He just comes up with big plays,” Bennett said. “He really anchors us. When they took the big kid [DaJuan] Coleman out, I thought we needed to match Isaiah on [Tyler] Lydon and Anthony Gill on [Tyler] Roberson. They’re just more mobile that way.
“Again, some of the things Isaiah does show up in the stat sheet, but you watch those hustle plays. He hit one of two free throws at the end, but coming down with that rebound late was big.”
Final stat line for Wilkins: five points, five rebounds, three assists, 19 minutes.
Start him again. This team was at its best in December with Wilkins starting and getting 30 minutes.
Did the travel and weather affect Syracuse?
Basically, according to Orange coach Jim Boeheim, no.
“You just have to do it. We’ve never done that before.”
The Syracuse team got on a plane just before 11 a.m. Sunday. And no, that’s not the recommended itinerary for a college basketball team on game day, when you’d prefer that your longest adventure be from the team hotel a couple of miles to the arena.
Snow happens, though as it turns out, Jonas didn’t hit Syracuse, despite dumping a foot of snow or more (most places, a lot more) up and down the Eastern Seaboard.
On the road again
Virginia is now 4-0 at home in the ACC, and 0-3 on the road. It’s back on the road again Tuesday at Wake Forest (10-9, 1-6 ACC).
The cumulative ACC record of the home victims: 19-11.
The cumulative ACC of the road conquerors: 7-13.
Anthony Gill was asked what the Cavs needed to do to right the ship away from JPJ.
“I think we just have to come out with the energy that we need to be able to win the games,” Gill said. “We don’t really come out the way we should, the way we would at home games, and that has been a problem for us all year especially during ACC play.
“We just have to come out and be ready to attack the game from the beginning, because if not we are going to get down and fight our way back which is something we have not been good at this year.”
– Column by Chris Graham
Share
Contributors
