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Written by Alex Friedman
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Tuesday, 02 January 2007 |
As we ring in the New Year, the Virginia men’s and women’s basketball teams looked to get back on track this past week.
The men returned from the debacle that was Puerto Rico to play American University and former Cavalier head coach Jeff Jones. The Cavaliers played spirited defense, slapping the floor before every defensive possession (much like Duke teams of the past), signifying a recommitment to defense. The men came away with a dominant, never in doubt, 91-70 win over the Patriot League foe to improve to 8-3 on the season. How improved was the Virginia defense? The Cavaliers held American to 19 points on 7 of 29 shooting (24.1%) in the first half and only 5 of 23 shooting (21.7%) on the game from behind the arc. The game also included a career accomplishment for one Cavalier player.
The Virginia women also bounced back from the embarrassing loss to UCONN with two victories this past week to capture The Marriot Cavalier Classic championship. Virginia bested Maine 86-66 and UAB 81-63 for the tournament championship and improved to 10-3 on the season. Two Lady Cavaliers made the All-Tournament team and one also took home Most Valuable Player honors for the tournament.
I present to you, fellow Fanatics, a much more positive BMOC this week. Here are the candidates.
J.R. Reynolds
The senior co-captain retuned from a disappointing and embarrassing shooting performance in Puerto Rico to produce his highest scoring game of the season. JR finished the game with 26 points on an efficient 9 of 15 shooting. JR also added 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and was 8 of 8 from the free throw line. But JR played second fiddle to his teammate and fellow captain.
 Sean Singletary
The junior co-captain turned in his best performance on the year and truly dominated the game. When Sean decided to take over to start the game and halfway through the second half as well, he could not be stopped. Sean scored 13 of Virginia’s first 15 points, and finished the game with a team high and season high 33 points on 9 of 16 shooting and 5 of 9 from behind the arc. Sean also added 2 rebounds, 6 assists, and was a perfect 10 of 10 from the charity stripe. Virginia fanatic or not, Sean Singletary looked like the best point guards in the nation at times in the game against American. Sean also reached a milestone in the second half, scoring his 1,000th point in his illustrious, three-year career at Virginia. Double “S” became the 41st player in Virginia history to reach the 1,000 point milestone and joined his backcourt mate JR Reynolds on the list.
 Lyndra Littles
The sophomore forward continued her double-double domination of all opponents. Littles scored 38 points and pulled down 18 rebounds in the two Cavalier wins in The Marriot Cavalier Classic. Littles also logged her seventh double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds in the win over UAB. Littles shot 13 of 26 (50%) from the field and was a perfect 12 of 12 from the free throw line in for the tournament. Lyndra’s performance in the two games earned her All-Tournament honors. Littles was joined on the All-Tournament team by another Virginia star.
 Sharnee Zoll
The junior point guard did her best Lyndra Littles impression in the two Cavalier wins. Zoll finished with 32 points on 11 of 22 (50%) shooting and an astonishing 19 assists for the tournament. Zoll, not to be out done by her teammate Littles, also logged a double-double in the Marriot Cavalier Classic, her first of the season and fourth of her Virginia career. Zoll finished with 17 points and 10 assists to go with 4 steals and 3 rebounds in the win over Maine. Zoll, just like Littles, earned All-Tournament team honors for her performance. Sharnee added one more accolade for the week, earning Marriot Cavalier Classic MVP honors.
There are your BMOC candidates for the week that was in Cavalier sports. Until next week, WaHooWa, and get out there and support your men’s and women’s basketball teams. The men have huge non-conference games on January 3rd at 9 pm against the Gonzaga Bulldogs, who have outgrown their mid-major classification, and January 7th, 5 pm against Stanford, who ousted Virginia from the NIT last year.
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Alex Friedman |
| About the author: |
| Alex is a second-year Psychology major, with minors in college sports, fantasy sports, and poker, preferring college basketball, fantasy baseball, and no-limit texas hold'em. While UVA is Alex's school, he still has a strong allegiance to the Longhorns of Texas, having lived in Austin and watched Ricky Williams run into the record books. He spends most of his weekends watching his Longhorns and Wahoos and following recruiting online. In Alex's eyes March is the best sports month of the year for obvious reasons and Vince Young is a saint.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 06 September 2007 )
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