In most regards, this year’s men’s basketball homeopener paled in comparison to last year’s against Arizona to inaugurate the John Paul Jones Arena. No Michael Buffer to announce the team. No t-shirts on every seat. No Hoo legends to honor at half time. No white haired coach with an NCAA championship ring to vanquish. No future NBA players on the other team. There were plenty of empty seats at the JPJ, with an attendance of only 11,893 compared to the 15,219 who turned out last year.
But UVA emerged with a win, albeit one that required focus to not let up on an early lead rather than a dramatic comeback, as happened last year. The Vermont Catamounts are a strong mid-major program that reached the second round of the NCAA tournament in 2005 and that last year beat Boston College. Yet UVA could hardly do wrong on offense in the first half, shooting 64 percent. While senior Sean Singletary played like, well, Sean Singletary, and junior forward Mamadi Diane did his part in scoring and rebounding, it was Adrian Joseph filling in the points that the Cavaliers missed without J.R. Reynolds. Joseph tied Singletary with 19 points to lead Virginia.
"I’m beginning to think he can be a really vital piece," said Head Coach Dave Leitao after the game of Joseph, a senior who averaged 7.2 points per game last season. "He’s attached emotionally and mentally where he wasn’t always that way. …He’s got a sense of urgency because it’s his last year."
 Head Coach Dave Leitao thinks that Adrian Joseph "can be a really vital piece" of the Cavalier basketball team. |
Thanks to Joseph and Singletary, UVA went into the locker room at half time up 46-32. The Cavs played a much sloppier second half, though were able to hold on for a 90-72 triumph thanks to workmanlike effort from the likes of Lars Mikalauskas and Calvin Baker, both of whom came off the bench.
Baker, a sophomore point guard who had to sit out last year after transferring from William and Mary, was the favorite sub for Singletary in the second half, after freshman point guard Sam Zeglinski turned over the ball three times in only five minutes of play in the first half. Baker finished with 11 points and played solid defense against Vermont’s best player, Mike Trimboli. Freshman guard Jeff Jones started at the two position, and had a solid performance, playing 23 minutes with 8 points and 6 rebounds.
UVA’s toughest challenger, however, will be in the post, with last year’s starting center, Tunji Soroye, out for six to eight weeks after arthroscopic surgery on his left knee November 8. Ryan Pettinella started the game in his stead, but only ended with 9 minutes in the game. Leitao favored Mikalauskas and Jamil Tucker, who played 19 and 17 minutes respectively. But even against a small Catamount squad, the Cavaliers’ big men had a hard time on defense and gave up 28 points in the paint.
Some of the biggest cheers of the game were reserved for the football team, which had just returned from trouncing Miami 48-0, earning Head Coach Al Groh his first win in the state of Florida. Quarterback Jameel Sewell and company looked bewildered when the JPJ cameras focused on their seats.
The Hoos play at home on Wednesday against Howard before heading out west for the team’s first real test against Arizona on November 17.
"We’ve got a lot of work to do," said Leitao. "I think I can nit pick enough, particularly the second half, of our lapses physically and mentally. It gives us a lot to work from. I’ll take it."
