Virginia beats Stony Brook : On Wednesday night, #9 Virginia (9-1) defeated Stony Brook (7-6) at home by a score of 56-44. The Cavaliers had some struggles on offense on the way to their ninth win of the season. Virginia is starting a stretch of games against lesser opponents before they head into the full conference slate.

First Half

Virginia started the game with a three-pointer from sophomore point guard Kihei Clark. Stony Brook would answer with a basket of their own before the Cavaliers went on a 7-0 run. After the dunk in transition by Kody Stattman, Stony Brook called their first timeout, trailing 11-2 four minutes into the game.

After the timeout, Kody Stattman hit a deep three to put his team up 14-2. Stony Brook would commit their fifth turnover of the game with 14:00 remaining in the game. Braxton Key made his first appearance after missing three games due to a wrist injury.

Stony Brook finally ended the scoring drought with a layup with 13:20 to go in the opening half, closing the gap to 10 points. Both teams would miss free throws, combining to go 1-6 over the next four minutes.

Stony Brook would convert on a pair of difficult shots near the basket, narrowing the deficit to 14-9 with nine minutes left in the half.

Mamadi Diakite would make a couple of free throws and a floater near the basket to put his team up 18-9 with a little more than seven minutes to go before the intermission. He had eight of the Cavaliers first 18 points.

Both teams traded some buckets near the end of the half. The score at halftime would be 28-21 in favor of Virginia. Kihei Clark had 11 points, Diakite had eight, while Stattman added five. Stony Brook was only down seven, despite having more turnovers (11) than made shots (9).

Second Half

Both teams would come out hot, shooting the ball well. Virginia’s lead was closed to five, the closest the game had been since early in the game. The score was now 35-30 with 15 minutes left in the game.

Virginia forced their third shot clock violation of the night but Stony Brook was not giving up. A made three would close the gap to 37-33, the closest it had been since the score was 5-2.

Virginia would capitalize on three free throws and some stingy defense, including a block from Diakite to regain the momentum. Shortly after, Jay Huff had a chance at a close shot but was blocked twice on the same possession.

Stony Brook would nail a deep three to once again make it a four point game before Woldetensae drained one of his own. Virginia would still be ahead at the under-eight minute media timeout, leading 43-36.

Virginia would find a quick burst with Huff pulling down a rebound and finishing with one arm being held. He would make another quick basket before Kihei Clark threw an alley-oop to Stattman for the dunk. The Cavalier lead was growing once again, now 49-38 with 4:42 remaining.

Virginia continued to run away with the game when Diakite hit a couple of free throws and Woldetensae made his second three-pointer of the game. The Hoos wouldn’t look back as they finished the game strong on defense, winning the game 56-44.

Players of the Game

Kihei Clark finished the game with 14 points, six rebounds and five rebounds. Diakite had 13 points and six rebounds while Huff poured in 10 of his 12 points in the second half to go along with seven rebounds.

Tomas Woldetensae scored eight points and Kody Stattman provided a lot of energy, adding in seven points, four rebounds, and a pair of assists.

Mouhamadou Gueye scored nine points for Stony Brook while also grabbing five rebounds and blocking six shots. Elijah Olaniyi had a team-high 11 points and seven rebounds.

Hoos Next?

#9 Virginia (9-1) will have a few days to rest before taking on South Carolina (7-4). The game will be in Charlottesville at 3:00pm.

You can follow me on Twitter @Alex2TheSimpson for more basketball content.

Also, be sure to check out the Overtime Heroics Forums page to join me and many others in discussing all things sports.

https://dsgntree.com/overtime-heroics/mvp

https://www.overtimeheroics.net/index.php/2019/12/18/oth-nfl-fans-special-edition-pete-the-penguin/

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

More

Email

WhatsApp



Pocket

Pinterest



Print

Skype



Telegram

LinkedIn



Reddit

Tumblr





Like this: Like Loading...