The Virginia men’s basketball team is now 3-0 after a 60-42 win over Columbia at the John Paul Jones Arena. The 12 p.m. game and impressive turnout proved Wahoo fans don’t need college football to get excited about Virginia sports on a Saturday afternoon.

The Cavaliers comfortably cruised into half time with a 31-17 lead and never were threatened on the scoreboard. UVA coach Tony Bennett is notorious for his team’s defense, but this season he is taking consistency to a whole new level. The Cavaliers only allowed 34 points from their opponents in the first two games, and held Columbia to 17 in the first half Saturday. You don’t have to be a math genius to note that’s the exact midpoint for another 34-point game.

For the six halves of basketball the Hoos have played this season, they have held their opponent under 20 points in four of them. In the two home games, JMU had 23 at halftime and Columbia scored 25 in the second half Saturday. Virginia has held all its opponents to under 30% shooting thus far this season.

“They’re extremely physical and I don’t think until you play them you actually understand that,” Columbia coach Jim Engles said. “It’s very hard to get in the lane against them. We had some actual decent shots at the rim and then [Jay] Huff was able to take them away.”

Indeed, though he did not start, Jay Huff was a key element from the moment he got the chance to step on the court. He hit his first two shots with moves in the paint and caught a pair of alley-oop dunks in the first half as well.

Huff finished with 13 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 blocks. The blocked shots matched his career high and tied the JPJ record as well. He’s scored in double figures in all three games this season, marking the first time in his career that he’s posted three consecutive games with 10+ points.

“He’s continued to improve,” Bennett said. “He’s a year stronger from last year. He is showing some touch back to the basket, some hooks, and obviously he hit the three. So, skilled offensive player that is continuing to get the playing time and is a weapon for us offensively, which of course we need.”

Huff’s 5 blocks contributed to 9 in total by Virginia in the game. This is only the Hoos’ second game with 9 or more blocks since Nov. 16, 2014 (11 blocks). The other time was last year against Auburn (9 blocks) in the NCAA Tournament. Coach Bennett’s defense also forced 14 turnovers against Columbia.

While the blocked shots drew some roars, however, the alley-oops really fired up the fans.

Huff illustrated immense chemistry with guard Kihei Clark on those plays. Fans probably remember Clark’s connection with Mamadi Diakite during the Elite Eight and its final seconds last season, but this could be just as good as fan favorites. The entire arena roared when Huff dunked - backward no less - off of an alley-oop pass from Clark to give the Cavaliers a 10-point lead, with just over nine minutes left in the first half.

The two are aware of their connection and are utilizing it to their advantage. The duo executed a similar play again later in the half.

“I’ll be honest, we did that quite a bit during the offseason, like during the preseason practices” Huff said. “I have no idea how that really got started. Like Louisville last year, I know there was one. I don’t really know, and I think I get lucky some of the time, because I could completely miss the rim, but I guess I’m aware of it.”

Not only has Virginia proved to be strong in these early games, but flexible too. After facing two teams who played a lot of zone defense, the Cavaliers had to readjust to man-to-man against Columbia, yet still continued to dominate the court. After shooting 38.2% overall against JMU, the Wahoos increased their accuracy and shot 40.6% overall (24-59) in this win.

In addition to Huff’s big day, Virginia got good production from elsewhere too. Mamadi Diakite continued his strong start to the season with 13 points, 8 rebounds, and 1 steal, while Clark added 10 points, 5 assists, and 1 blocked shot of his own. Braxton Key chipped in 9 points and 9 rebounds too.

The Hoos also improved their outside shooting and went 33.3% (5-15) on 3-point shots, which is over double the percentage of the prior two games, when they shot 16% from 3-point range (4-25). However, they are still looking to get closer to the precision of last year.

“For these young guys and for our team, it takes courage to not get discouraged,” Bennett said. “So, if you’re not playing at what you’re used to, which happens a lot for young guys, old guys, everyone, for coaches, too. It takes courage to not get discouraged when it’s either not going your way and so I keep telling the guys, stay encouraged, keep working, this is gonna keep stepping up and opportunities will present themselves for sure.”

With 12:10 left in the game, Virginia broke past a 20-point lead over Columbia. The Cavaliers took their biggest lead in the second half with 7:44 left as they moved 26 points ahead of the visitors. That gave the coaches the chance to look at some of the new players together in the game.

With just under seven minutes left, Francisco Cafarro checked in for his debut. Cafarro made his first career points for the Hoos off of a free throw. He also closed out the scoring with a bucket. Caffaro closed the game with Kody Stattman, who started, as well as freshmen Casey Morsell and Justin McKoy. Caffaro and Stattman had 3 points each, while Morsell added 2 points. Walk-on Chase Coleman had 2 points too with some minutes in the second half.

Tomas Woldentensae also got some time with the lineup of new faces before Coleman checked back in. He started the game and played 33 minutes after missing the JMU contest with an injury. He finished with 5 points and 6 rebounds.

“Tomas, who’s played at least community college has a little more experience, but really, Casey for sure, Kody, this is new to them, and the intensity of the game, the pace of it when you get in the game,” Bennett said. “So that’s why these experiences are valuable and they can get some time and it’s not a possession game where it’s gonna crush you if they’re not quite ready or they’re finding their ways.”

Columbia closed the final margin down the stretch to get past 40 points. While the Cavaliers did not continue the miraculous number 34 streak in the defensive scoring column, fans should still be pleased with that end of the court so far this season. The Hoos look to test their impeccable defense again at home Tuesday night against Vermont at 7 p.m. The Catamounts are off to a 4-0 start after beating St. John’s, 70-68, on Saturday.

“Every opportunity for us is huge to just kind of forge our identity,” Bennett said. “I think the message was you know what your identity is, and now we gotta show it, and show it for the majority of the game. There’s a lot of opportunities out there, everyone stayed healthy and it was great to see Papi, Francisco, get his first basket.”

Final Stats