Last year Sean Singletary had a heroic performance in the RBC Center giving the Virginia Cavaliers (10-8, 4-4) a victory. On Wednesday night the Virginia Cavaliers visited the #18 ranked North Carolina State Wolfpack (17-4, 5-2) but came up short in an upset bid 66-64. Poor execution and extremely cold shooting from behind the three point line (2-21, 9%) played a key role in the Hoos' misfortunes.
In the early going the Cavaliers fell behind as they were unable to find the range on their shots. In fact, the Wolfpack surged out to a 14-2 lead before Laurynas Mikalauskas and Sean Singletary scored the game's next six points. The Hoos would shoot only 35% from the field in the first half and were fueled by J.R. Reynolds' surge in the first stanza's final seven minutes to head into the locker room down 29-26.
As the second half opened the lid on the rim opened up a little for Virginia as their shots began to fall with more frequency. The first eight points of the second half for the Hoos came from the frontcourt as the team built some momentum. At the 7:46 mark Sean Singletary's driving layup gave UVa their first lead of the night 53-52. NC State however had an answer it seemed all night for each run the Cavaliers made at them. In the game's final three minutes the Cavaliers only managed 1-6 shooting from the field as Sean Singletary heaved a long desperation three pointer to try and do in the Wolfpack again for a second straight year but his shot was off to no avail.
Junior shooting guard J.R. Reynolds lead the UVa attack with 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists while point guard Sean Singletary contributed 13 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds. Freshman Laurynas Mikalauskas had a nice game with 10 points and four rebounds all on the offensive end, while Mamadi Diane added 8 points, 5 boards, and 3 assists for Dave Leitao's squad.
After the game Sean Singletary had this to say, "We had multiple chances to take control of the game but we just didn't do it. Bottom line. We didn't deserve to win." Head coach Dave Leitao didn't have to say much the expression on his face as the buzzer sounded said it all as the Cavaliers let a very winnable game get away from them. Afterwards the first year coach said, "Like I've said 100 times, it's never pleasing to lose. We didn't do the things we needed to."
While the team is obviously disappointed with the loss tonight they now turn their attention to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (12-9, 1-7) who come to Charlottesville on Saturday afternoon. The Demon Deacons are currently at the bottom of the ACC standings but the coaching staff will not take them lightly as they possess one of the conference's premier big men in Eric Williams and the league's second leading scorer in Justin Gray (19.6 ppg). Although the Cavaliers have done much better than most had anticipated already this season expect the staff and players to try and continue to develop their chemistry to have a strong finish in the second half of conference play.
Our HooNation.com Player of The Game award goes to J.R. Reynolds for his performance tonight. Without his offensive burst to end the first half the Hoos would've been looking at a larger halftime deficit than just 3 points.