#4 Virginia Blasts Coppin State, 97-40
Posted on Friday, Nov. 16, 2018, 9:51 pm
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Photo by Jon Golden
By Scott Ratcliffe
Virginia sophomore forward De’Andre Hunter’s skill set was on full display as the Cavaliers moved to 3-0 on the season with an easy 97-40 win over Coppin State Friday night at John Paul Jones Arena.
Hunter scored nine of his game-high 20 points over a three-minute span in the second half, including a pair of 3-pointers and a dunk out of a Coppin State turnover. It was part of a 23-5 Virginia run to start the second half after leading comfortably by 28 at halftime.
When all was said and done, Hunter was one of three Wahoos in double figures as the team shot 60 percent from the field (35-58 FG) and knocked down 15 3-pointers (out of 25 attempts) on the evening. All 12 UVA players that saw the floor scored at least two points, and the 97 points were the most by any Cavalier team under Tony Bennett.
“I really liked our activity,” said Bennett, whose teams haven’t lost a game in the month of November (21-0) going all the way back to 2015. “I like how we shared the ball tonight, I like how energized and alert and active we were defensively and didn’t play the score once it got stretched out to that level.”
This one was never in doubt. The ‘Hoos scored the game’s first seven points and were never in danger of relinquishing the lead, as the Eagles never got any closer than 5 points.
Hunter knocked down his first two 3s by the first media timeout, then added a spinning three-point play and a mid-range jumper before picking up his second foul with 9:06 left in the half and didn’t return until after the break. He still led the Wahoos with 11 points at halftime.
“Seeing the early ones go in, it definitely helps your confidence,” said Hunter.
Added Bennett of Hunter’s third career game with a 20-plus points: “It was nice to see him knock down some shots,” he said. “It’s good to see the ball go through the hoop. They laid off of [freshman PG Kihei Clark] and [Hunter] kept taking them, made a couple threes and then it just loosened it up. But to see De’Andre, that’ll open up anybody’s game, especially him.
“When you can be a threat from the three and then the drives open up and the pull-ups and all that. I thought that he was assertive, but there was an unselfishness with aggressiveness. There was the right balance in the way we played, the way the ball moved, and the way in which we cut.”
With Jack Salt in street clothes due to back stiffness, Mamadi Diakite got his second career start. It broke a streak of 70 straight starts for the Big Kiwi, dating back to his freshman season.
Diakite scored two quick buckets and added a putback before he had to sit with his second foul at the 6:25 mark.
Without Salt, Hunter and Diakite, sophomore Jay Huff picked up the slack down low, along with Braxton Key. Huff made up for a front-end miss on a one-and-one with a spin move inside off the glass on the next trip down the floor. He nailed an open triple from the top of the key and also was the recipient of a nice dish from Jerome for an easy jam.
“When they’re out there it feels like everyone’s a shooter and everyone’s a threat,” Hunter said of Diakite and Huff. “We can really space the floor, get to the rim easier, and Mamadi and Jay can also post up and score so it makes the flow a lot easier.”
Clark sank his first 3 as a Wahoo with 4:31 on a touch-assist by Jerome to give UVA a 31-15 lead. The 5-foot-9 Clark wasn’t finished though, nailing two more from beyond the arc on consecutive possessions — Guy found him in front of the CSU bench on the first, then Jerome set up the second — and Virginia led 45-17 at the half.
“It was nice,” Clark said of getting that first one to fall. “I wasn’t making shots early on, but I was just going to keep shooting no matter what. I put in the work and I’m just going to keep shooting.”
After being held scoreless in the first half, Kyle Guy scored seven straight before the first media timeout of the second half, part of a 10-3 spurt out of the break.
“We let up in the second half against George Washington and the first thing Coach said in the locker room [Friday] was, ‘Don’t let up, just keep on them,’” Key said. “He loved our defense in the first half and I thought we did a great job in the second half.”
Diakite sank back-to-back triples to give him a new career high with 18 points with just over seven minutes remaining, giving Virginia a 52-point lead at that point.
“It felt pretty good,” Diakite said of his career night, adding that he took the same approach after learning he’d get the start. “I trusted my teammates and I was playing free. I was more relaxed than the past few games I’ve had.
“Before practice, Coach came and told me that he wanted me to be very active on the ball, and I did what he asked me. And offensively, I just let the game come to me.”
Bennett was pleased with Diakite’s activity.
“Mamadi can shoot the ball,” said Bennett. “He’s worked hard on his outside shot and we wanted to go in to him and I thought he was better today, and that’s important for him. He’s mobile, he’s quick, and when he’s locked in, he’s a threat to shoot the ball.”
The starters watched from the bench for the remainder of the contest — Grant Kersey sank his first career 3 with a minute to go to likely the loudest ovation in JPJ history — and will now look ahead to a trip to the Bahamas next week for the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament.
No player for the Eagles had more than six points, as they shot 17-52 (33 percent) for the game and 6 for 24 from 3-point land.
“That’s why they’re a top-five team in the country…,” said Coppin State second-year coach Juan Dixon of the Wahoos. “This is not the only team they will beat by 50 points.”
Jerome finished with 11 points, four rebounds, six assists and two steals. Diakite added three rebounds, an assist and a pair of blocks to his career high 18 points. Huff and Clark added nine apiece, while Guy and Key each had seven. Guy set a new career mark with his five assists, Hunter set career highs of his own with his four 3-pointers and three steals, Diakite’s three triples tied a career best, and Key matched a career high with his two blocks.
