UVa holds off VMI

CHARLOTTESVILLE — Virginia coach Dave Leitao kept a keen on eye on the happenings in Lexington, Ky., Friday night. By the middle of the second half, a group of Cavalier players had gathered in the team’s lounge to watch, too.

They saw VMI drill shot after shot and hold off a furious Kentucky charge at Rupp Arena.

“It was a little bit of a wake-up call,” Leitao said. “What we saw out there really raised our eyebrows.”

And it changed the Cavs’ gameplan for Sunday’s season opener at John Paul Jones Arena. Most of Virginia’s big men stayed on the bench. Tunji Soroye was expected to start, but he didn’t even play. Instead, Leitao put Sylven Landesberg in the lineup, and the freshman from Flushing, N.Y., responded with one of the greatest debuts in Virginia history. He scored 28 points, the most ever for a Virginia freshman making his first appearance, and added eight assists and eight rebounds to lead the Cavs to a 107-97 victory.

“I think I’m going to fire the schedule maker,” Leitao joked.

Preparing for the opener was certainly a challenge. VMI has led the nation in scoring the last two years, but Keydets coach Duggar Baucom added some new wrinkles to the mix this season. He recruited solid shooters in Keith Gabriel and Michael Sparks, giving the team more outside threats. He mixed his defenses, adding more full-court press and some additional half-court pressure.

As a result, Virginia looked like a confused basketball team at times. The Cavs (1-0) led by 17 points midway through the first half, but VMI (1-1) made some defensive adjustments and began forcing turnovers. UVa had 16 giveaways in the first half, allowing the Keydets to scrap their way back within six points by halftime.

“The defense was real confusing,” Landesberg said. “You didn’t know if they were pressuring you, or lying back waiting for the steal. You just had to be aggressive.”

Landesberg and Mike Scott did just that, taking advantage of favorable matchups. The 6-8 Scott bullied VMI’s smaller forwards, finishing with career highs in points (26) and rebounds (18) and tying a Virginia record with 10 offensive rebounds. The Keydets, who tried to defend Scott with 6-7 Willie Bell, 6-7 Quinn Brownfield and 6-4 Ron Burks, had no chance at slowing the athletic sophomore.

“He was a beast,” Baucom said. “We had no answer for him. If he can do that against ACC people, then they’ll be a lot better than everybody thought.”

Virginia’s lead fluctuated between four and six points for most of the early part of the second half, but VMI finally made a charge, tying the game at 81 on Gabriel’s basket with 8:28 left. Later, Gabriel pulled the Keydets within 86-84 with another basket when Jeff Jones hit two daggers that kept the Keydets at arm’s length.

Jones, who missed his first three 3-point attempts, drained consecutive 3s to push the Cavs’ lead to 92-84 with 4:31 left, and VMI got no closer than four points the rest of the way.

“We know Jeff is always in the gym shooting,” Scott said. “So him just spotting up and shooting his shot, I didn’t even have to box out. I already knew it was going in.”

Baucom admitted his team was fatigued at the end. His team traveled back to post after the win at Kentucky Friday and bussed to Charlottesville Sunday. Before the game, his assistant coaches told him they didn’t like the way the players were warming up, so Baucom wasn’t surprised with the Keydets’ sluggish start.

Still, “I never really thought we were out of it,” VMI’s Austin Kenon said. With the Holmes twins finding a flow — Chavis led all scorers with 31 and Travis added 20 — the Keydets were able to hang around.

Once Virginia got the turnover problems under control, the Keydets struggled to match Virginia’s offense. Freshman Sammy Zeglinski, who had 11 points and six assists, handled VMI’s pressure defense well in the second half, and the Cavs had just four turnovers after the break and none in the final 10 minutes.

“I thought sometimes in the first half, he’d break a double team, and then back up a little bit,” Leitao said. “I told him to take it as far as they’d let him go, take it to the foul-line area, look at your options, jump stop and make some plays. He got a lot better as the game went along.

“This is really his first experience in college. You’re not going to be perfect. We’ve got a lot of things to clean up with him, and everybody. But I was really happy with him in the second half.”

DRIBBLES: Virginia freshman center Assane Sene didn’t play Sunday and will be held out of games as the school explores some issues with his pre-college coursework that could have an affect on his eligibility status. Sene will continue to practice with the team but won’t play until the issue is resolved, UVa athletics director Craig Littlepage said in a statement. … Virginia tied a JPJA record with 24 assists. Calvin Baker tied a career-high with seven assists before leaving the game in the second half with an apparent right calf injury. … The previous best debut for a UVa freshman came in November 1978, when Jeff Lamp scored 24 points against James Madison.