Freshman Kyle Guy's 17 Points Rallies #23 Virginia Over #5 North Carolina

College Hoops Player of the Day for Monday, February 27, 2017

After four straight losses - to Virginia Tech, Duke, North Carolina, and Miami - Virginia's season was on the ropes, the Cavaliers having dropped from #12 in the rankings to #23 in the most recent poll (2/26) at 18-9.

Then, along came freshman Kyle Guy, who came in off the bench to light up the NC State Wolfpack with 19 points in Saturday's 70-55 victory. So solid was the effort that head coach Tony Bennett named Guy a starter for the home game against North Carolina Monday night.

Guy's response was a huge boost for the Cavaliers, whose style is predicated on hard-nosed defense and opportunistic offense. Leading all scorers, Guy dropped in 17 points on 6-for-11 shooting, including going 5-for-7 from three-point range. He added four assists and six rebounds, helping the Cavaliers to a 53-43 win over the #5 Tar Heels.

Virginia's defense was exceptionally good in the victory, allowing North Carolina just 35% shooting while forcing 14 turnovers from the Tar Heels. It's the kind of gritty defense for which the Cavaliers have become renowned over the past seven years of Tony Bennett's coaching tenure.

A 6'3" guard from Indianapolis, Indiana, Guy has played sparingly throughout the season, but respectively logged 35 and 32 minutes in the wins over NC State and North Carolina and will likely be a fixture in Virginia's starting rotation through the ACC tournament and into the NCAA tourney later in March.

The win put the Cavaliers at 10 up and seven down in conference play, tied with Miami and Virginia Tech, but just three games behind ACC leader North Carolina in the nation's most-contested conference. A win over 4-11 Pitt on Saturday (3/4) and a win or two in the conference tournament would have Virginia at 11-7 and a near lock for an NCAA invite.

Virginia On Track In ACC As Isaiah Wilkins Leads Cavaliers to 71-55 Win Over Louisville

College Hoops Player of the Day for Monday, February 6, 2017

Isaiah Wilkins had a double-double, scoring 13 points to go with 11 rebounds as the Virginia Cavaliers upended Louisville, 71-55.

Ranked #4 in by the AP, the loss was just the fifth for Louisville (18-5), but #12 Virginia's win pushed the Cavaliers into a second place tie with Florida State in the ACC at 8-3. Both the Seminoles and Cavaliers trail North Carolina (9-2) by one game. Louisville dropped to 7-4 in the ultra-competitive ACC.

Wilkins and his teammates dominated the glass against Louisville, outrebounding the Cardinals, 38-19. A 6'7" junior from Lilburn, Georgia, Wilkins was 5-for-7 from the field and made all three of his free throws. High scorer for the Cavaliers was London Perrantes, who leads the team in scoring (12.2), with 18.

The effort by Wilkins was one of his best of the season and shows why Virginia is a threat to go deep into the NCAA tournament in March. Including Monday's game, he averages 7.7 points and 6.1 boards per game.

Virginia showed resilience at home after losing at Syracuse on Saturday, 66-62. The Cavaliers take to the court next on Sunday, at Virginia Tech.

Joe Harris Bombs Duke with 36 Points as Cavaliers Triumph, 73-68

College Hoops Player of the Day for Thursday, February 28, 2013

A golden opportunity staring them in the face, the #3 Duke Blue Devils could not contain Virginia's Joe Harris, the junior guard scoring a career-high 36 points en route to a 73-68 Cavalier upset in Charlottesville, VA.

Harris, who averages more than 17 points per game, outdid his previous career mark by 10 points. The Cavaliers took a five-point lead into the half and played the Blue Devils even up in a wide open second half, each team scoring 45 points.

Joe Harris poured in 12 of 20 shots from the field and added 10 more points (on 12 attempts) from the foul line, disrupting Duke's plans and practically handing the conference title to the 14-1 Hurricanes in the process. Harris also ripped down seven rebounds and had a pair of assists, two blocks and a steal before fouling out late in the contest, which Virginia led throughout.

Virginia out-rebounded Duke, 36-25, with Akil Mitchell snagging 12 boards to go with his 19 points, his ninth double-double of the season.

Duke entered the game with an 11-3 conference mark, trailing Miami, whom they host this Saturday, by two games, so the opportunity to narrow the gap in the ACC was present, though predicated on winning at Virginia.

With a three-game lead in the standings, the Hurricanes have only to win one of their remaining three games. Following this Saturday afternoon's tilt at Cameron Indoor, the Hurricanes close out the season at home against Georgia Tech and Clemson. Those teams have identical 5-10 ACC records.

20-8 Virginia is poised for a nice post-season run. They are tied with North Carolina four third place in the ACC with a 10-5 record.

Clemson Stunned in OT at Virginia, 85-81

The Clemson Tigers ran into a buzz-saw in Virginia as the Cavaliers took the game into overtime and eventually prevailed, 85-81, as the Tigers missed crucial shots in the extra session.

The Tigers and Cavaliers traded leads throughout the game, which finished at a 74-all tie at the end of regulation. Virginia's Sylven Landesberg was awesome throughout the game, but especially in overtime, hitting a key layup which gave the Cavaliers an insurmountable lead late in the period.

Landesberg led the scoring parade with 23 points. Mike Scott chipped in with a double-double: 18 points and 10 rebounds. Virginia shot 53% for the game; Clemson was limited to 42% on 28 of 66 shooting.

The #12 Tigers lost for just the 4th time this season, all in the ACC. The previous losses were to conference powerhouses North Carolina, Wake Forest and Florida State. They are now 20-4 overall and 6-4 in the conference.

8-13 Virginia won just their second conference game against 8 losses.

Cavaliers streaking through ACC; Bruins back on top of Pac-10 heap

Virginia 68 Duke 66 - The Virginia Cavaliers won their 5th straight ACC game - and the second consecutive over a ranked opponent - beating #8 Duke in overtime. After winning at #25 Clemson on Sunday, the Cavaliers returned home for the Blue Devils, rallying from 7 points down at the half to tie the game at 61 and then win it on Sean Singletary's shot with one second left. Singletary, who scored 17, also hit the game-tying shot in regulation.

The Cavaliers were led by the man with the best name on Tobacco Road, J. R. Reynolds, who had 25 points, including 10 of 11 free throws. Neither team could find the range from beyond the arc. Duke hit 5-18 (28%), while Virginia managed only 4-13 (31%). The win moved Virginia past Duke in the ACC standings and into a tie for second place (6-2) with Boston College and Virginia Tech. Duke fell to 5-3 in conference play.

Washington St. 72 Arizona 66 - #20 Arizona lost for the 6th time in 8 games and their 2nd straight at home as Washington State completed a sweep of the Wildcats for the first time in 24 years. The Cougars improved to 18-4 and into a tie with Oregon and USC at 7-3 for 2nd place in the Pac-10. UCLA leads the conference at 8-2.

The #18 Cougars shot 51% from the field, including 7-14 3-pointers and 9-9 free throws. Senior forward Ivory Clark scored 18, hitting 7 of his 9 shots.

The loss dropped Arizona to 14-7 and 5-5 in the conference.

UCLA 69 Oregon 57 - The Bruins are very tough at Pauley Pavilion. Ranked #5 in the nation, UCLA has not lost at home this season, making the #9 Oregon Ducks their 11th straight victim on Pauley's legendary hardwood last night.

The Bruins avenged a 68-66 loss at Oregon on January 6, took sole possession of 1st place in the conference and cemented their claim as one of the best defensive teams in the country. The Ducks were limited to 39% shooting while the Bruins hit 57% (28-49, 8-14 3s).

UCLA's backcourt did most of the offensive damage. Darren Collison scored 12 points and dished 4 assists. Arron Afflalo led the Bruins with 17, while forward Luc Mbah a Moute added 15 points and 12 rebounds.

USC 73 Oregon State 56 - The unranked Trojans had five players in double figures and improved to 7-3 in the Pac-10 and 17-6 overall but have a tough week ahead. On Saturday, they host #9 Oregon and then travel to #5 UCLA on Wednesday. If they can win at least one of those games, the Trojans have a legitimate chance of breaking back into the Top 25.

Road Wins, Close Games Reveal Quality

UCLA, LSU latest victims in Top 25

The Top 25 took a beating this weekend and it will be interesting to see which teams get dumped wholesale. My list of teams that should not be represented in the Top 25 includes Indiana, LSU, Clemson, Arizona, Air Force and Alabama.

Replacing them in random spots would be Georgetown, Virginia, Georgia, Vanderbilt, Texas, and Stanford. I figure any team capable of beating the #3 team (UCLA), as Stanford did last night, deserves some props. And that's where today's coverage begins...

Stanford 75 UCLA 68 - The #3 UCLA Bruins blew a 12-point halftime lead, giving up 50 2nd half points to the Cardinal, as Stanford notched its third win over a ranked team in the last four tries.

Stanford's outstanding sophomore forward, Lawrence Hill, scored 22 points and classmate Anthony Goods rained down 20 more, hitting 4 of 7 from beyond the 3-point line. It was somewhat of an off-shooting night for UCLA, though much of that could be attributed to Stanford's defense. The Bruins shot just 43% and hit only 5 of 16 (31%) threes.

Stanford beat then #22 Washington State, 71-68, on January 13, and this week took care of both sides of Los Angeles, beating USC, 61-50 on Thursday and finishing the task with their win over the Bruins. The Cardinal improved to 14-5. All three of the recent wins over ranked teams were on the Cardinal home court. Sandwiched in between was a 66-59 loss at Oregon, who now is tied with UCLA at 7-2 atop the Pac-10.

Georgia 57 LSU 54 - LSU was the other Top 25 team to lose on the road Sunday. The #21 Tigers fell victim to a last-second three-pointer by Levi Stukes, who led the Bulldogs with 16. The loss was the third straight for the Tigers. They previously were defeated by Arkansas and the streaking Vanderbilt Commodores.

Meanwhile, Georgia has won four of its last five, and is tied with Kentucky and Vandy for 2nd place in the SEC East at 5-2, all chasing Florida and their 6-0 conference record.

Wisconsin 57 Iowa 46 - Alando Tucker scored nearly half his team's points - 27 - leading the Badgers to their 21st win and an impressive 7-0 in Big 10 play. Tucker was phenomenal, hitting 11-14 shots from the field, including 2 of 5 3-pointers. The rest of the team was only 9-29 as the Hawkeyes harassed shooters all day but could not stop the determined Tucker. Wisconsin has won 17 straight and next plays at Indiana on Jan. 31.

Virginia 64 Clemson 63 - J. R. Reynolds led all scorers with 18 points and the Cavaliers stunned #19 Clemson at home. Virginia scored the final 15 points of the game, overcoming a seemingly insurmountable 16-point lead when Jason Cain scored his only basket of the game on a tip-in with 15.5 seconds remaining. The Tigers, who less than 4 weeks ago were 17-0, have dropped 4 of their last 5 since then.

Other Top 25 winners included #10 Duke, who held serve at home over Boston College, 75-61. The win was Duke's fifth straight.

Road winners were #15 Marquette at South Florida, 70-68, and #24 Virginia Tech, which delivered a 73-65 win at Georgia Tech.