Gardner’s Double-Double Leads Virginia to Bounce Back Win over Coppin State 68-52
After a disappointing 1-2 start to the season, including an upset home loss to Navy in the home opener and 20-point blowout at No. 15 Houston on Tuesday, Virginia needed a good win in a bad way.
The Cavaliers hosted Coppin State on Friday night at John Paul Jones Arena and, while it was not the dominant performance the Hoos were looking for, Virginia took care of business with a comfortable 68-52 victory.
After a frustrating four-point performance at Houston, Jayden Gardner bounced back with a 14-point, 12-rebound double-double. Much of that production came in the second half, as Gardner had nine points and six boards after halftime.
Coppin State chose to live and die by the three in this game, attempting an astounding 34 three-pointers, but only converting nine of them for a 26.5% three-point percentage. Daniel Titus led the Eagles with 17 points, including four three-pointers, but he spent a large chunk of the second half on the bench, as he picked up his third and fourth fouls early in the second half.
Virginia was not a whole lot better in terms of long-range shooting, making just five threes on 18 attempts. Two of those threes were by true freshman Igor Milicic Jr., who became an instant fan-favorite on Friday night.
Milicic checked into the game midway through the first half and drained a three shortly after. On the next possession, he was left alone with the ball at the left elbow and calmly sank the pull-up mid-range jump shot. It was the first time that Milicic had played significant minutes early in a game this season and he made the most of the opportunity. Milicic finished with 11 points, two rebounds, and an assist on 3/6 shooting from the field.
Milicic was not the only player to get an unusually high amount of playing time in this game. Tony Bennett played nine players in the first half and 11 players total in the game. Malachi Poindexter, a Charlottesville native, was one of the players who logged significant minutes starting in the first half. Poindexter played 14 minutes and had two points and a rebound.
Virginia could not quite score enough to knock Coppin State completely out of the game and the Eagles made six threes in the second half to keep themselves in it. Coppin State drew as close as 10 points in the second half, but the Cavaliers responded with a classic UVA defensive stretch, holding the Eagles scoreless for over six minutes to take control of the game.
Virginia had four players score in double figures. Kihei Clark had 12 points and three assists. Jayden Gardner was not the only Cavalier to record a double-double, as Kadin Shedrick had one as well with 10 points and 10 rebounds. In perhaps the most impressive sequence of the night, Kadin Shedrick hustled to block a shot, then jumped into the second row of seats courtside to save the ball back in bounds to Jayden Gardner. Shedrick then collected an offensive rebound on the other end and dunked it home.
Virginia’s bigs had a field day inside, scoring 28 points in the paint and 15 second chance points off of offensive rebounds.
With the win, Virginia gets back to .500 with a 2-2 record on the season. The Cavaliers go back on the road for two games against major conference competition. UVA plays Georgia on Monday night in the Legends Classic in Newark, New Jersey. Virginia will then play either Northwestern or Providence on Tuesday.
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