National Basketball Association
Virginia 70, Cleveland St. 54
When: 7:00 PM ET, Thursday, December 18, 2014
Where: John Paul Jones Arena, Charlottesville, Virginia
Officials:
# Brian Dorsey, # Sean Hull, # Wally Rutecki
Attendance:
11812
By SportsDirect Inc.
No. 5 Virginia 70, Cleveland State 54: Justin Anderson scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half as the host Cavaliers matched their best start to a season since 2000-01.
Malcolm Brogdon also chipped in 16 points while Anthony Gill added 13 points and eight rebounds for Virginia (10-0), which returned from an 11-day layoff to post its 16th consecutive home victory. The Cavaliers, whose No. 1 scoring defense held their nation-leading 16th straight opponent under 70 points, shot 21-of-28 from the foul line and matched a season low with six turnovers.
Trey Lewis drained four 3-pointers and led the way with 18 points for Cleveland State (5-6), which has alternated wins and losses over its last seven contests. The Vikings only committed seven turnovers, but could not overcome an 18-point first half and collected only four steals after entering Thursday ranked sixth in the country (10.5).
Following a bucket from Anton Grady 3 ½ minutes into the contest, Cleveland State missed 12 consecutive shots over the next 10 minutes and Virginia ran off 10 straight points before the Vikings connected on back-to-back 3-pointers. Brogdon scored nine of the final 13 points of the first half for the Cavaliers, who settled for a 13-point lead at the break after holding Cleveland State to 26.9 percent shooting.
Anderson came out of the break red-hot, converting a pair of layups and a four-point play to account for Virginia’s first eight points of the second half as the Cavaliers stretched the margin to 20 with 14:42 remaining on his second 3-pointer of the half. Lewis answered with two triples over the next two minutes to draw Cleveland State within 13, but Anderson countered with a three-point play and the Vikings could get no closer than 14 points thereafter.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Cavaliers look to match their best start to a season since 1992-93 on Sunday when they host Harvard. … Virginia, which limited the Vikings to 37.7 percent from the field, has held each of its opponents this season to 40 percent or less from the field and hasn’t allowed any team to shoot 50 percent in 34 consecutive games. … Cavaliers F Darion Atkins (ribs, back) returned from a one-game absence and finished with three points and five rebounds off the bench.
Top Game Performances
| Cleveland St. |
|
Virginia |
|
Trey Lewis 18 |
Scoring |
Justin Anderson 16 |
|
Kaza Keane 2 |
Assists |
London Perrantes 5 |
|
Marlin Mason 5 |
Rebounds |
Anthony Gill 8 |
|
Charlie Lee 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Malcolm Brogdon 8 |
|
Anton Grady 1 |
Steals |
Marial Shayok 2 |
|
N/A |
Blocks |
Justin Anderson 1 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Cleveland St.
|
54 |
36.5 |
7-23 |
7-9 |
9 |
22 |
0 |
3 |
7 |
| Virginia
|
70 |
50.0 |
5-11 |
21-28 |
14 |
31 |
6 |
4 |
6 |
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