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Virginia Returns To Action On Saturday Against Oral Roberts
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CHARLOTTESVILLE—After a 79-46 victory over Rider on Thursday night (Nov. 19) at John Paul Jones Arena, the Virginia men’s basketball team faces a quick turnaround to prepare for a home game Saturday afternoon (Nov. 21) against Oral Roberts. Saturday’s game is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. and like the Rider game is part of the Cancun Challenge.
Due to the simultaneous scheduling of the Virginia men’s basketball game against Oral Roberts and the UVa football game at Clemson on Saturday, radio coverage will be split for these games. The men’s basketball game against Oral Roberts will air only on AM 1070 WINA in Charlottesville. The pre-game show will begin at 1:30 p.m. with tip-off at 2 p.m. Jay James will handle play-by-play duties alongside analyst Cory Alexander for this game. Statewide coverage of the football game at Clemson will be available on the Virginia Sports Network.
Virginia and Oral Roberts both enter Saturday afternoon’s game with 2-1 records and both are coming off impressive victories. In their 33-point victory over Rider, the Cavaliers shot 51.8 percent (29-56) from the field, held the Broncs to 33.3 percent (17-51) shooting from the field and had a 42-27 edge in rebounding. Oral Roberts is coming off an 83-81 win at Stanford on Wednesday (Nov. 18).
Reserved seat tickets are available for the Virginia-Oral Roberts game.
Junior forward Mike Scott led Virginia with 17 points, nine rebounds and three assists in the victory over Rider. Scott was joined in double figure scoring by sophomore guard Sammy Zeglinski with 12 points, junior guard Jeff Jones with 11 and sophomore guard Sylven Landesberg with 10 points.
Junior forward Will Sherrill provided a lift off the bench for the Cavaliers. Sherrill scored two points and had a career-high six rebounds in a career-high 16 minutes of playing time.
The Cavaliers led Rider by 14 points at halftime (36-22) and opened the second half on a 14-3 run to expand the lead to 50-25 with 15:06 left to play. The Broncs got no closer than 20 points the rest of the game.
The 46 points Rider scored against the Cavaliers are the fewest a Virginia opponent has scored in John Paul Jones Arena.
Landesberg leads the Cavaliers in scoring with an average of 15.7 points a game, while Scott is averaging 12.7 points a game and Zeglinski, Jones and junior guard Mustapha Farrakhan are all averaging 9.3 points a game. Scott is the team’s leading rebounder with an average of 9.0 rebounds a game.
Oral Roberts opened the season with a 76-56 loss at Wake Forest, but has won its last two games. The Golden Eagles beat Northwestern Oklahoma 86-50 at home before their victory at Stanford. Oral Roberts is a member of The Summit League.
The Golden Eagles have four players averaging in double figures in scoring. Sophomore forward Dominique Morrison is averaging 14.7 points a game to lead the team. Other double figure scorers include senior center Kevin Ford (12.7 ppg.), junior forward Michael Craion (12.0 ppg.), and freshman guard Warren Niles (11.3 ppg.). Ford leads the team in rebounding with an average of 8.7 rebounds a game.
Scott Sutton is in his 11th season as the head coach at Oral Roberts. His teams have compiled an overall record of 186-127 and he was The Summit League Coach of the Year in 2009. He is the son of long-time collegiate head coach Eddie Sutton.
Saturday’s game is the first meeting between Oral Roberts and Virginia.
After the Oral Roberts game, the Cavaliers travel to Mexico for the Cancun Challenge. Virginia plays Stanford on Tuesday, Nov. 24, and either Cleveland State or Kentucky on Wednesday, Nov. 25.