Photo courtesy of Geoff Burke/USA TODAY Sports
Jayden Gardner Leads Virginia over Fairleigh Dickinson 82-49
After an 11-day break, Virginia got a much-needed comfortable victory over Fairleigh Dickinson, defeating the Knights 82-49 on Saturday afternoon at John Paul Jones Arena.
The Cavaliers knew they would have a size advantage on the inside against FDU and they exploited it from start to finish. UVA outscored FDU 42-20 in the paint, with much of that inside production coming from Jayden Gardner, who recorded a season-high 29 points. 18 of those points came in the first half on 9/12 shooting. Gardner shot 14/18 from the field in the game and also collected six rebounds.
The Knights, who came into this game still searching for their first win of the season, struggled to shoot from anywhere on the floor against the solid Virginia defense. FDU shot 17/59 (29%) from the field and 6/23 (26%) from three-point range. The Knights scored just 19 points in the first half and trailed UVA 34-19 at halftime.
Virginia, on the other hand, shot 62% from the field and 53% from three and made nine three-pointers as a team. Igor Milicic Jr. and Carson McCorkle each hit three three-pointers off the bench.
UVA had just two scorers in double figures: Jayden Gardner with 29 points and Armaan Franklin with 12 points. However, ten different Cavaliers scored in the game, including Malachi Poindexter, who recorded seven points on a perfect 3/3 from the floor.
Devon Dunn (16 points) and Brandon Rush (14 points) scored 15 of FDU’s 19 first-half points and combined for 30 of the team’s 49 points in the game. No other Knight had more than five points.
Virginia led wire-to-wire in the game and led by as many as 35 points as the Cavaliers took down the Knights 82-49.
With the win, UVA improves to 7-4 on the season. Up next, the Cavaliers host Clemson on Wednesday night to begin the full ACC schedule.
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