A Mixed Start

I'm sure many of us would have liked to have seen the first game of the Tony Bennett era.  Alas, games against Longwood don't move the meter.  Thankfully, even with new paper budgets shrinking everywhere, a few brave souls were there too tell us a bit about the Hoos' opening night 85-72 win.

Virginia closed the first half on a 27-9 run to take a 49-27 lead into halftime, and the issue was never really in doubt.  But the second half was a bit disconcerting, with Longwood shooting 55% and getting as close as nine.  With every quote, Bennett appears to be tempering expectations - is it too late to revise my fearless prediction?

As Bennett promised, the offense did not hold the ball.  Virginia started four guards, and got a nice lift from Mustapha Farrakhan.  Freshman Jontel Evens played 20 minutes off the bench, impressing Bennett with his on-the-ball defense and ball-handling.  Could be nice complement to Smmy Zieglinski.  The other freshman - Tristan Spurlock - played only three minutes.

But playing small ball without C Assane Sene and F Jamil Tucker (who were both on the bench in street clothes), a pair of Longwood big men abused the Cavs' D on 14-18 shooting.  That will be even more of a problem against upcoming Big East foe S. Florida.

In other news, Bennett spoke highly of his incoming recruiting class (would have been nice to land top PG prospect and O'Connell product Kendall Marshall, but that was probably a pipe-dream).