Cavs win so easy, they play 'Sheezy'

CHARLOTTESVILLE — Will Sherrill always makes a lot of noise — it’s in his nature, he says — but as a walk-on he’s usually doing it from the bench.

Not so Thursday night, as Virginia coach Tony Bennett opted for a two-forward lineup despite only having three of them at his disposal.

It worked out just fine in a 79-46 victory against Rider, as Mike Scott was distributing the ball from inside and Sherrill was enjoying 16 minutes of playing time, more than three times his previous career high.

“That’s probably more than my whole career,” he joked.

It was plenty of time to be vocal on the court.

“Sheezy — that’s what we call him — that’s how he is,” Scott said. “We have a great connection when he’s in the game.”

The easy chemistry came as the result of a strong passing performance from Scott. After getting triple-teamed on a play early in the game, Scott realized he was going to be a focus of the Broncs defense, and started distributing the ball.

“He’s got a knack for that,” Bennett said. “If he can do that, he’s a great threat — especially with his footwork and his ability to make some plays down there.”

Scott finished the first half 6-for-6, seemingly able to do no wrong but briefly drawing the ire of his coach after converting an alley-oop from Sammy Zeglinski. Bennett ran out to Scott during the media timeout, telling him to get back on defense instead of playing to the crowd — advice that will come in handy when conference play rolls around.

“I teased him afterward, I was like, get back!” Bennett said.

“I’ve seen teams that you score on them, and they get on your back quick. It was a learning opportunity.”

That defense was what brought a sparse crowd back to life after a two-minute stretch where Virginia turned the ball over four times and missed three shots.

Scott made a layup, then on the other end the defense held Rider down to 15 seconds on the shot clock.

The fans rose to their feet, the Cavs completed the stop, and on the other end Mustapha Farrakhan made a nifty roll pass to Scott for an easy basket in the paint.

After notching an upset of Mississippi State, Rider found itself unable to create open shots against Virginia’s defense. The Broncos finished having shot 33 percent from the floor, in addition to going 5-for-12 at the free-throw line.

“We just really wanted to focus on getting to the shooters and making them work,” Zeglinski said.

Rider coach Tommy Dempsey said he found himself caught off-guard by how much of an inside team Virginia was Thursday, expecting the four-guard look that Virginia had played with all season.

Perhaps most encouraging for the Cavs was that they did it without a huge night from star Sylven Landesberg, who mostly faded into the background, but still found a way to reach double-digit scoring — notching 10 and helping the team build a game-high 33-point lead.

The night ended with three Virginia walk-ons getting their first playing time of the season. Senior Tom Jonke was in first, followed by freshmen Thomas Kody and Doug Browman playing for the first time as Cavaliers. Browman is a Midlothian native who attended Montrose Christian.

For a change, they were coming on in replacement of a walk-on, as Sherrill took a bow after 16 strong minutes of keeping Rider on its toes and giving Virginia another option on a team desperate for big men.

“I wanted to go with more of a traditional lineup tonight and have the two bigs for some ruggedness,” Bennett said.

“I think you’re going to have to be able to compete somewhat down there.”

w Phillips is a staff writer for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

RIDER (2-1)

Ringgold 4-12 0-2 8, Gadson 1-4 0-0 3, Jackson 1-1 0-0 2, R.Thompson 3-7 2-6 9, Robinson 2-6 0-0 5, Youngblood 2-6 0-0 5, Johnson 0-0 1-2 1, J.Thompson 0-3 0-0 0, Mansell 1-3 0-0 3, Nd-Ezuma 0-2 0-0 0, Penn 3-7 2-2 10, Myers 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-51 5-12 46.

VIRGINIA (2-1)

Scott 8-9 1-2 17, Meyinsse 1-3 2-3 4, Farrakhan 2-6 2-2 8, Zeglinski 4-5 2-4 12, Landesberg 4-8 2-2 10, Browman 0-0 0-0 0, Evans 0-0 0-0 0, Baker 2-5 4-4 8, Jonke 0-0 0-0 0, Kody 0-2 0-0 0, Sherrill 1-4 0-0 2, Jones 4-7 1-1 11, Spurlock 1-4 0-0 3, Tat 2-3 0-1 4. Totals 29-56 14-19 79.

Halftime—Virginia 36-22. 3-Point Goals—Rider 7-23 (Penn 2-5, Gadson 1-2, Mansell 1-3, Youngblood 1-3, R.Thompson 1-4, Robinson 1-4, J.Thompson 0-2), Virginia 7-16 (Zeglinski 2-2, Farrakhan 2-5, Jones 2-5, Spurlock 1-3, Baker 0-1). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Rider 27 (Penn 7), Virginia 42 (Scott 9). Assists—Rider 10 (J.Thompson 3), Virginia 15 (Scott 3). Total Fouls—Rider 16, Virginia 14. A—8,061.