Hoos Dismantle Hurricanes 71-51

Tuesday night saw the Virginia Cavaliers put forth one of their best efforts thus far in the Dave Leitao era in a 71-51 drubbing of the Miami Hurricanes. Once again Sean Singletary lead the way but the team effort was fueled by an energetic University Hall crowd.

Sean Singletary lead the Virginia Cavaliers to a 71-51 blowout victory over the visiting Miami Hurricanes on Tuesday night.

Coming into Tuesday night's game both teams featured stellar backcourts and much was made of the matchups between Singletary and Reynolds again Diaz, Hite, and Harris. For a while the Hurricanes jumped out to an early lead behind the play of Anthony Harris but J.R. Reynolds and the Hoos responded down the stretch of the opening half. That coupled with a zone defense by the Hoos that sort of set the tone for the Canes offense for the rest of the night. At halftime the scored favored the Hoos 32-26.

Early in the second half it looked like Miami was prepared to put up a fight but after a acrobatic layup by J.R. Reynolds who fell hard to the court the Hoos never looked back. (Reynolds is believed to have suffered a mild concussion and did not return to the game) What happened over the course of the remainder of the second half was probably some of the best basketball the Cavaliers have put together thus far this season. The Hurricanes playing from behind were forced to hoist three pointer after three pointer, and the Cavaliers picked their spots getting out on the fast break or settling into a halfcourt set and breaking down the Miami defense.

Virginia fans were treated to a great display by sophomore point guard Sean Singletary who wowed University Hall and a national television audience with some incredible moves. Those moves resulted in 22 second half points for Singletary as he finished the game with 29 on the night.

Before falling hard to the floor shooting guard J.R. Reynolds was also having a superb game netting 12 points and 4 rebounds in 21 minutes of action. The Cavaliers are going to need a speedy recovery for the Roanoke native as they continue to try and keep their momentum rolling in conference play.

Quickly becoming a crowd favorite for UVa fans is freshman power forward Laurynas "Lars" Miklauskas who has developed rather nicely for Dave Leitao. Lars enjoyed the best game of his young career for a second consecutive game with 12 points and 8 rebounds. The Blue Ridge School product energizes the crowd with his enthusiasm and hard work in the paint. The coaching staff can only hope that his development continues as it has over the last two games.

Sophomore swingman Adrian Joseph knocked down quite a few critical baskets once again tonight on his way to 11 points and 6 rebounds. Back to back three pointers by Joseph and freshman Mamadi Diane kept the UVa lead in double digits as the route was on powered behind Singletary's dynamic offensive performance.

Also of note was the strong presence made by backup point guard T.J. Bannister who had some beautiful assists against the Hurricanes. For the most part Bannister played under control and provided the Hoos with some great opportunities due to his penetration and ability to find the open man. Bannister has come on nicely in the last few games and solidfies the Hoos' backcourt as one of the best in the conference.

For Frank Haith's bunch it was a dismal shooting night as they languished trying to knock down buckets with UVa's extended zone defense. Anthony Harris paced the Canes with 13 points while Guillermo Diaz and Robert Hite hit for 10 points each. As a team the Canes shot 32% from the field and 22% from behind the three point line.

On the other end of the spectrum the Cavaliers shot an impressive 54% from the field. That coupled with taking care of the ball, playing solid defense, and a loud/supportive University Hall proved way too much for the Hurricanes.

4-2 in the ACC. Not many people could've imagined it at this point but Dave Leitao and his team have surprised just about everyone thus far. The task won't get any easier as the Hoos will next travel to Cameron Indoor Stadium to face the #2 Duke Blue Devils on Saturday. The Hoos are going to have to continue to take their game up another level if they want to come out with a victory in Durham Saturday evening.

Our HooNation.com Player of The Game award goes to dynamic Philadelphia native Sean Singletary for his 29 point outburst in leading the Hoos to yet another victory and second place in the ACC standings.

Notes of Interest
-Strong guard play will win the Cavaliers 1 or 2 extra games that many people weren't counting on as Singletary and Reynolds have been extremely strong so far

-I mentioned a while back on our premium board the fact that at the time Lars wasn't getting many shots up and it's great to see that the staff is confident enough to let him work down low at times

-Hats off to T.J. Bannister for his recent play. He's provided a great spark off the bench and the Hoos haven't missed a beat due to his ability to push the ball and penetrate

-I'm going to echo something the announcers said towards the end of the game when a certain young man from Philly was knocking shots down all over the court...All-ACC!!!

7 footer with a UVa offer already? Solomon Tat, will he go pro and play FIBA or will he come to Charlottesville? For more discussion of tonight's game, recruiting, and UVa hoops in general please join us in our message board forums: (HooNation: free for everyone, and Hooforia: premium)