National Basketball Association
Virginia 90, Grambling State 34
When: 7:00 PM ET, Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Where: John Paul Jones Arena, Charlottesville, Virginia
Officials:
# Sean Hull, # Brian Dorsey, # Shawn Nestor
Attendance:
13235
By The Sports Xchange
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Virginia's current roster boasts 15 players, 13 of which are available to play with two redshirting this season. On Tuesday night, all 13 scored a point.
No. 7 Virginia continued its home dominance with a 90-34 thrashing of Grambling State in the second round of the Emerald Coast Classic at John Paul Jones Arena.
The Tigers became the third consecutive opponent to be held to fewer than 40 points by the Cavaliers.
Virginia's schedule gets a bit tougher going forward starting with Iowa on Friday night in the third round of the Emerald Coast Classic in Florida.
"I feel pretty good with where my team is at right now," Virginia head coach Tony Bennett said. "We will be as ready as we can be and tonight obviously was a game that was easy for us. We play Iowa next, and it won't be enough to just play. We can't play just a 20-minute game. We will have to play on every possession and we understand that."
Freshman guard Kyle Guy scored a career-high 20 points in just 13 minutes to pace Virginia (4-0). Marial Shayok and Darius Thompson added 12 points apiece. The Cavaliers shot 55 percent for the game and knocked down 14 3-pointers (on 34 attempts).
"With how we were shooting and Kyle on like he was, the game got away from them (Grambling State) a little bit," Bennett said. "I've been on the other side of that so I know how that feels."
Guy was 5 of 6 from 3-point range.
A constant so far this season has been the productivity of the Virginia bench. With that trend continuing, the Cavaliers got 61 points from reserves, which included 11 points from walk-ons.
"It was really good to see the walk ons come in and have success," Bennett said. "Those guys work so hard in practice to prepare our guys. I was really thankful for that."
Grambling State (1-3) turned the ball over 21 times, leading to 31 Virginia points. The Tigers struggled to a 23 percent shooting performance. No Tiger scored in double figures, with Marcel Thompson finishing with a team-high eight points.
"I've been watching Virginia play on TV for a couple of years and we knew what was going to happen tonight," Grambling head coach Shawn Walker said. "We talked about not watching the score. We talked about competing on every pass. We are rebuilding and I think we are better than what we played tonight."
Guy outscored Grambling State by himself in the first half as he put in 14 points while the Tigers were held to nine. Virginia led 49-9 at the break.
The Cavaliers used a 26-0 run over the final eight minutes and shot 72 percent in the half. Virginia recorded 13 assists on 18 made field goals and converted seven of its 12 3-point attempts.
Grambling State turned the ball over 13 times and shot just 21 percent before intermission.
NOTES: Grambling State's nine first-half points were the fewest in a first half in college basketball this season. ... Virginia owns the nation's sixth-longest home-winning streak at 22 games. ... The teams met for the first time since 2001. ... The Cavaliers rank first in the nation in scoring defense (40.3 points per game). ... Grambling State has just nine wins over the past two seasons.
Top Game Performances
Grambling State |
|
Virginia |
Marcel Thompson 8 |
Scoring |
Kyle Guy 20 |
Marcel Thompson 1 |
Assists |
Ty Jerome 5 |
Averyl Ugba 5 |
Rebounds |
Jarred Reuter 8 |
Drake Wilks 3 |
Free Throws Made |
Kyle Guy 3 |
Drake Wilks 2 |
Steals |
Isaiah Wilkins 3 |
Xairius Larry 1 |
Blocks |
Mamadi Diakite 3 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Grambling State
|
34 |
23.1 |
4-17 |
6-12 |
3 |
28 |
1 |
7 |
21 |
Virginia
|
90 |
55.0 |
14-34 |
10-14 |
23 |
40 |
6 |
11 |
11 |