Miami sends UVa to 6th straight loss

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — During his tenure, former Virginia coach Dave Leitao was often criticized for his unpredictable substitution patterns. Leitao always defended them by saying that there wasn’t a lot of “separation” among players on his roster.

First-year UVa coach Tony Bennett is finding out the same thing this season — the hard way.

On Tuesday night against Miami, Bennett seemed to be trying everything short of bringing in former Wahoo (and current assistant coach) Jason Williford to break a five-game losing streak.

Bennett reinserted seniors Calvin Baker and Jerome Meyinsse into his starting lineup, benched forward Mike Scott for a good portion of the second half and even dusted off seldom-used senior Solomon Tat, who hadn’t played in six games.

None of Bennett’s moves did much good.

Virginia was non-competitive yet again, running its losing streak to six against Miami, 74-62, in front of an extremely sparse crowd of 3,909.

“It’s a role reversal with us and Miami,” said Bennett, alluding to his team’s 75-57 trouncing of the Hurricanes at home on Jan. 16. “We’re certainly struggling.

“It’s hard for us to play well when one or two of our key guys are off — it’s hard for us to overcome that.”

Virginia sophomore Sylven Landesberg certainly brought his ‘A’ game, scoring a game-high 27 points. Landesberg nailed a career-high six 3-pointers.

However, he had to play the second half with a thigh injury that he said affected his performance. To make matters worse, none of Landesberg’s teammates could do much of anything. Nearly seven minutes into the second half, Landesberg had accounted for 21 points, more than half of the team’s total of 40.

After the game, a dejected Landesberg sat on a chair with a giant ice pack on his leg.

“It’s really swelling,” he said. “I can’t bend it or move it too well. I was trying the best I [could], but I couldn’t really move too well ... that’s why I had to rely a little more on the jumpshot than going to the basket.

“I think if [the injury] didn’t happen, I could have done a lot more.”

In the first half, the lead changed 12 times. Landesberg single-handedly kept Virginia (14-12, 5-8 ACC) in the game. The sophomore scored 16 of his points, which included four 3-pointers, in the opening stanza. Miami (18-9, 4-9) led 33-32 at the break.

The game was tied at 40 with 13:40 remaining following a Landesberg floater. But Miami exploded on an 8-0 run. A 3-pointer from Miami’s Adrian Thomas a couple of possessions later, which was followed by a hustling offensive put-back basket by Dwayne Collins (team-high 18 points) pushed the lead to 13.

All game long, Virginia was dominated inside by Collins and Julian Gamble (13 points, 12 rebounds).

Scott, who was 0-7 from the field with just two rebounds in 22 minutes, finished scoreless for just the second time in his career.

“Mike was not in sync at all tonight,” Bennett said.

With games against Duke, Boston College and Maryland looming, the question now becomes — can Virginia win another game this season?

UVa has lost its last four by an average of 18 points.

“I’m just looking at the next game,” Meyinsse said. “I’m not trying to look at the end yet. Now we just need to rest and try our best to get ready for Duke on Sunday.

“I think we need to take a couple of days to recover ... both physically and mentally.”

Added Landesberg: “We just have to stay confident. The season’s coming close to an end, but we still have some games left, and the ACC tournament is still there.

“We just have to keep our heads up and keep believing.”

That task seems to be getting harder by the game.

Dunks

Virginia lost its 12th consecutive game in the state of Florida. ... Senior center Jerome Meyinsse set ACC career highs with 13 points and seven rebounds. ... Junior guard Mustapha Farrakhan was a DNP-coach’s decision for the first time this season. ... Former Miami football stars Warren Sapp and Rohan Marley were in attendance.