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No. 4 Virginia Dominates Grambling State, 112-67
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Dec 30, 2001
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) – Virginia coach Pete Gillen worried the fourth-ranked Cavaliers might be overconfident entering Sunday’s game against Grambling State, so he reminded his players of several recent upsets.
“I’ve seen more upsets this year than I’ve ever seen before,” Gillen said. “As a coach, you’re afraid, because every time you pick up the paper, somebody’s upsetting somebody.”
He needn’t have worried, as every player on the Virginia roster scored in the Cavaliers’ 112-67 victory over Grambling.
Virginia (9-0) reached the 100-point mark for the 12th time in four years under Gillen on Jermaine Harper’s jumper with six minutes remaining, but the outcome was secure long before that.
“Our guys came out focused. We’re a bigger and stronger team, so we should have been able to do some things,” Gillen said.
Virginia blew out the Tigers with a 19-0 run in the first half, holding Grambling scoreless for a six-minute stretch. Grambling finally scored on a layup by Paul Haynes with 13 minutes remaining, but the Cavaliers had taken a 23-6 lead.
“They just beat you in every phase of the game,” Grambling State coach Larry Wright said. “They can play with anyone in the country.”
Travis Watson scored 17 points, leading six Cavaliers scoring in double figures. Chris Williams and Roger Mason Jr. had 15 each, Elton Brown scored 14, Harper had 12 and Adam Hall had 10.
Grambling (3-8) was led by reserve guard Nick Hall, who put in 19 points, marking the first time all season the Tigers were led by a player other than Haynes. The leading scorer in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, Haynes was held to a season-low 10 points, and the Tigers’ second-leading scorer, Jamel Gooding, was held to just two points.
“They took Paul out of it,” Wright said. “I’m not sure they had to double (team) him, given the type of athletes they had.”
Virginia shot 60 percent in the first half, taking a 68-25 lead into halftime.
Most of the Cavaliers’ starters were out of the game with 10 minutes remaining.
The Cavaliers swarmed Grambling all game, taking a 40-point lead in the first half and a 78-29 lead 2:34 into the second half on a pair of Mason free throws.
Grambling shot 31.4 percent and turned the ball over 17 times.
Virginia also beat the Tigers on the boards, with 30 points off offensive rebounds and a 53-44 overall rebounding edge.