UVA wake up early vs Demon Deacons Win 68-45 (1-22-19)

By: Darrell Owens

Headline Photo Credit: Darrell Owens-LMS Network

CHARLOTTESVILLE,VA- Tuesday Night’s ACC contest between #3 Virginia (16-1 overall 4-1 ACC) and Wake Forest  (8-9 overall 1-4 ACC) would be both teams 6th ACC matchup Of the season. Both teams were coming off losses. Wake Forest lost 87-71 to #11 Virginia Tech in Blacksburg and Virginia battled but came up short to then #1 Duke at Cameron Indoor 72-70.  Wake Forest is lead by 1988 National Player Of The Year and Head Coach Danny Manning. Manning is in his 5th season behind the bench for the Demon Deacons. Unfortunately, Manning is still searching for the right formula to put Wake Forest among the top teams in the ACC. Junior Guard Brandon Childress (16.8 points per game) and Freshman Forward Jaylon Hoard (14.3 points per game & 8 rebounds per game) will have to be the two of the young man to lead the turnaround for Wake Forest. When it comes to the Cavaliers, they are looking to start another winning streak. The tough loss to Duke will do one or two things for this Virginia team. 

1. Refocus the team to make a run for the ACC title and set up the stretch run for the NCAA tournament.
2. Set the team back, forcing them to reevaluate the team just a little bit.

Well, Virginia would pick up where they left off last week vs. Virginia Tech and dominate Wake Forest 68-45. UVA had a balanced effort in last tonight’s contest. 5 five players scored in double figures. Kyle Guy (12 points), Jay Huff (12 points), Mamadi Diakite (11 points), De’Andre Hunter (11 points) and Ty Jerome had 10 points for the Cavs. UVA went on a 25-3 run to start the game and never looked back. Here’s what Coach Tony Bennet said after the games about the run and their overall effort during the game:

“I think [it was] 25-to-3. We jumped off, making shots and really just defending the right way. Are you going to make all those shots? No. I told them at halftime that I thought we got seduced, or it was a little bit of fool’s gold, into shot selection. The shot discernment wasn’t strong all of the sudden and that lead to nine fast-break points. I got on them a little bit, not too bad, and said ‘who are you?’ The start was amazing basketball, both offensively and defensively, and maybe the ball doesn’t go in, but you can’t all of the sudden start trying to turn it into a pickup game, as it looked like for stretches and that wasn’t acceptable. I thought they righted the ship the second half, ran harder offense, got the right kinds of shots and shored up the defense.”

On the Wake Forest end, they started slow and that hurt them early. The Demon Deacons played better later in the first half outscoring Virginia 20-13 making it a 13-point game at Halftime 36-23. Wake Forest shoot better early in the second half but it wouldn’t  be enough for the Demon Deacons. Brandon Childress led the Demon Deacons in scoring with 12 points. Olivier Sarr would score 11 points and grab 8 rebounds in last nights lost.

Thoughts

UVA got off to the start they needed to help them forget about last Saturday’s game vs Duke at least until Duke rolls into John Paul Jones Arena on February 9. UVA didn’t shoot lights out from 3 point land like they normally do at home but did enough to get the victory. Jay Huff seemed to get more time tonight and I believe that’s important. Huff brings great energy off the bench and is definitely a fan favorite. I think overall we will see an even better you VA team this weekend versus Notre Dame. 

Next Games:

#3 UVA: Jan 26 @ Notre Dame 1pm

Wake Forest: Jan 26 vs Boston College 4 pm