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Virginia gets 16 from Leon Bond III in 80-51 win over North Carolina A&T

Chris Graham
ryan dunn
Photo: UVA Athletics

We learned what we could learn from Virginia’s 80-51 win over North Carolina A&T on Tuesday. Not much, but we knew that when we got in the car to come over here.

UVA (3-0) led 49-19 at the half, got a little sloppy on D in the second half – the Aggies (0-3) were 7-of-16 from three in the final 20 minutes.

You’d want to say, at least nobody got hurt, but starting guard Isaac McKneely was in a walking boot after injuring an ankle late in the first half and leaving the floor in obvious pain.

This one was an opportunity for Tony Bennett to get looks at his depth guys, like Leon Bond III, who only got four minutes off the bench in the 73-70 win over Florida on Friday, after going for 12 points and nine boards in the 80-50 win over Tarleton State in the opener on Nov. 7.

Bond got 19 minutes off the bench Tuesday night, and used ‘em – scoring 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting, going 5-of-7 on jumpers.

LB3 was one of 10 guys to get double-digit minutes in this one, the even distribution a function of the 28-8 lead Virginia built 11 minutes in.

Which will be a help with a game in 48 hours here at JPJ with Texas Southern, which has been the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s NCAA Tournament representative each of the past three seasons.

No starter got more than 23 minutes, which is nice, given the circumstances.

Ryan Dunn had a double-double – 13 points and 11 rebounds in 21 minutes.

Jake Groves had 11 points and nine rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench.

Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham, the king of "fringe media," a zero-time Virginia Sportswriter of the Year, and a member of zero Halls of Fame, is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, or subscribe to his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].