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CHARLOTTESVILLEThe Virginia men’s basketball team will be looking to get back on the winning track Tuesday (Dec. 2) when the Cavaliers play at the University of Minnesota in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.
The game is scheduled to begin at 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time and will be televised by ESPN2.
Virginia enters the game with a 3-2 record after losing its last two games, including a tough 73-70 loss at Syracuse on Friday (Nov. 28). Minnesota is 6-0, the best start for the Golden Gophers since they opened the 1999-2000 season with six consecutive victories.
This is the 10th ACC-Big Ten Challenge and it marks the third time Minnesota is Virginia’s opponent in the Challenge. The Golden Gophers defeated the Cavaliers 74-62 in the first ACC-Big Ten Challenge during the 1999-2000 season and Virginia beat Minnesota 86-78 in Charlottesville during the 2003-04 season.
Last season UVa defeated Northwestern 94-52 in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge at John Paul Jones Arena. Virginia’s 42-point victory margin is the largest in the history of the event. The Cavaliers have a 5-3 record in the Challenge, including a 4-0 mark at home.
The 2008 ACC-Big Ten Challenge features 11 games. The ACC has won the Commissioner’s Cup the nine previous years of the Challenge. The ACC won eight of 11 games last season.
Five Virginia players scored in double figures in the loss to Syracuse led by freshman guard Sylven Landesberg’s 16 points. It marked the fourth time in the first five games of the season that Landesberg led the Cavaliers in scoring.
Junior guard Calvin Baker and freshman guard Sammy Zeglinski each scored 14 points against the Orange, while sophomore forward Mike Scott added 10 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high four assists, and junior forward/center Jerome Meyinsse 10 points and eight rebounds. The double-double was the second of the season for Scott and the fourth of his UVa career.
Virginia led Syracuse by as many as 13 points (40-27) with 30 seconds left in the first half after a 9-0 run that featured five points by Baker and the Cavaliers led by 11 (40-29) at halftime. UVa’s biggest lead of the second half was 12 points on two occasions, the last with 16:57 to play in the game (45-33) after a jump shot by Baker.
Syracuse scored 10 consecutive points, the first six on two three-pointers by Andy Rautins, to take a six-point lead at 62-56 with 6:12 remaining in the game and the Orange went on to the three-point victory over the Cavaliers. Rautins’ second three-pointer in the run gave Syracuse its first lead (58-56 with 7:54 left to play) since a 2-0 lead in the first minute of the game. The victory improved Syracuse’s record to 6-0.
Landesberg continues to lead Virginia in scoring with an average of 20.8 points a game and he ranks second in the ACC in that department. He is also averaging 5.6 rebounds a game and is shooting 54.4 percent from the field (37-68). Zeglinski is averaging 13.8 points and 3.2 assists a game, while Scott is averaging 12.0 points and a team-leading 11.2 rebounds a game. Scott has had three double figure rebound games in the first five games of the season and is shooting 58.1 percent (25-43) from the field. He ranks second in the ACC in rebounding and sixth in field goal percentage. Baker leads the team in assists with an average of 3.6 a game
As a team, Virginia is averaging 80.8 points and allowing an average of 79.4 points a game.
UVa leads the overall series with Minnesota 4-1. Tuesday’s game will be the third meeting between the two teams at Williams Arena in Minneapolis. The teams have split the previous two meetings at Williams Arena with the Cavaliers winning 79-72 during the 1990-91 season before losing in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge at Minnesota during the 1999-2000 season.
The Golden Gophers are coming off a 90-76 home victory over North Dakota State on Saturday (Nov. 29). Minnesota is 5-0 at home this season and 1-0 on the road.
Minnesota has just one player averaging in double figures in scoring, but six other players are averaging between 9.3 and 7.0 points a game. Junior guard Lawrence Westbrook is the Golden Gophers’ leading scorer with an average of 14.2 points a game. Other leading scorers for Minnesota are sophomore guard Blake Hoffarber (9.3 ppg.), junior forward Damian Johnson (9.3 ppg.), senior guard/forward Jamal Abu-Shamala (9.2 ppg.), freshman forward/center Colton Iverson (8.7 ppg.), sophomore guard Al Nolen (8.3 ppg.) and freshman forward/center Ralph Sampson III (7.0 ppg.). The 6-11 Sampson, son of former Virginia standout Ralph Sampson, leads the team in rebounding with an average of 4.7 a game. Nolen has 35 assists to lead the team in that department with an average of 5.8 a game.
Orlando “Tubby” Smith is in his second season as the head coach at Minnesota. He led the Golden Gophers to an overall record of 20-14 last season and a berth in the National Invitation Tournament. The 2008-09 season is his 18th as a collegiate head coach and his teams have compiled an overall record of 413-159. Before becoming the head coach at Minnesota, he was the head coach at Tulsa for four years (79-43), at Georgia for two years (45-19) and at Kentucky for 10 years (263-83). Smith’s teams have participated in the NCAA Tournament 14 times, including all 10 seasons at Kentucky where his 1997-98 team won the National Championship.
After Tuesday’s game with Minnesota, Virginia takes a break for exams and doesn’t return to action until Dec. 17 when the Cavaliers host Longwood University at John Paul Jones Arena. That game is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.