Landesberg emerges as go-to shooter for UVa men

CHARLOTTESVILLE — One of the pressing questions heading into this season of uncertainty for Virginia’s men’s basketball team was this: Who would be the one to take the shot with the game on the line?

For the first three years of Dave Leitao’s tenure at the school, the answer was simple. It started with a Sean and ended with a Singletary. Of course, he’s gone. But UVa found itself down a point to South Florida in the final 30 seconds at John Paul Jones Arena on Wednesday night, so the Cavaliers would have to deal with the question early.

Wednesday, the answer was Sylven Landesberg. The freshman took a pass from Calvin Baker and hit a layup from the left block with 13.9 seconds left to put UVa up for good. USF missed two shots at the end, and Virginia escaped with a 77-75 victory.

Leitao was quick to point out, though, that Landesberg isn’t necessarily the long-term late-game answer for UVa.

“I think what we’re trying to establish is that if we really believe in each other, we’ll execute and the best man from what we’re trying to do will get the shot, without having to define somebody right now,” Leitao said. “We’ve got to continue to emphasize that.”

In fact, coming out of a timeout with 34.3 seconds left, Landesberg wasn’t the original option on the play. Virginia (2-0) tried to find a way to get the ball into Mamadi Diane’s hands, but the play quickly broke down, leaving Baker to improvise. Landesberg was playing power forward on the play, so he kept running back and forth along the baseline, trying to get open.

Baker penetrated, drawing a second USF defender and opening a passing lane. He fired a pass to Landesberg, who scored to put Virginia up 76-75.

“I live for those moments, being able to make the big shot,” said Landesberg, who followed his 28-point debut Sunday against VMI with a 21-point showing against the Bulls.

South Florida (1-1) wasn’t done, though. Dominique Jones, who scored a game-high 23 points, was USF’s option on the iso play and tried to take Diane off the dribble. He drove and pulled up from about eight feet out for a runner. The ball hit the back of the rim and Landesberg grabbed the rebound. After a quick USF foul, Landesberg hit his first free throw and missed the second, giving the Bulls one last gasp with 7.6 seconds left. Jones missed a long jumper, and the Cavs survived.

“The first one, that’s a shot he makes at a pretty good rate,” USF coach Stan Heath said. “The other one, I thought he might have been able to kick it to a teammate and get something a little bit better. But I’m not going to discourage him from taking a big shot. He’s going to have to be the guy to make those plays.”

Virginia, which was picked to finish last in the 12-team ACC, struggled at times to find an offensive rhythm against a Bulls team that was picked to finish last in the 16-team Big East. Befittingly, the game was played in front of 8,810 fans, the smallest crowd for a regular-season game in the arena’s short history. (The previous low was set Sunday, when 9,955 watched UVa beat VMI.)

Virginia never led by more than three and trailed by six with 9:05 to play. Jamil Tucker, who scored a career-high 15 points and added seven rebounds, brought Virginia back, hitting a reverse layup and a 3-pointer during a 7-2 UVa spurt that cut the USF lead to two. After that, neither team led by more than three points.

“If any player really stood out, and did a little bit more than we expected, it was him,” Heath said of Tucker. “He was able to make the 3s and make some shots. He was quite different than the impression I got early in the game.”

Tucker, a 6-foot-9 junior forward, scored 14 points Sunday, tying his previous career high. For only the second time in his career, he scored in double digits in consecutive games. He scored 10 against Richmond and 11 against Old Dominion in the first two rounds of last year’s postseason College Basketball Invitational.

“I’m just playing hard and finding out what I do best and what I need to work on,” Tucker said. “I’m trying to get in there and rebound. Once you get your defense going, it’s easier to play well on offense, because you have something to fall back on.”

DRIBBLES: Virginia improved to 2-0 for the 10th straight season and broke a five-game losing streak against Big East teams. … UVa C Jerome Meyinsse made his first career start but played only six minutes. He failed to score or grab a rebound. … Diane (13 points) scored in double figures for the ninth consecutive game. … The Cavs close this four-game homestand with two more games against Big South opponents, Radford on Friday and Liberty next Tuesday.