61 - 59 If you’ve been a Virginia fan for any significant length of time, you’ve felt this before in one sport or another. This is why I never take off my game face until CTB deems it appropriate for the walk-ons to come in.
Our guys did a lot of things right in this game and I’d be celebrating them first if it weren’t for a brutal four minute stretch midway through the second half with London Perrantes on the bench. Without LP, things started getting to shake a little bit too loose, and three turnovers (Shayok, Wilkins, Thompson) from bad passes in four minutes fueled a 13–0 Villanova run that saw Josh Hart and Kris Jenkins both get off of the collective schneid. ‘Nova had 10 fast break points (a lot for a defense that sometimes allows less than that in a given month) and 13 points off of Virginia turnovers, numbers that don’t usually accompany wins.
In a game with this formidable of an opponent and this significant of a disparity in whistles (Villanova outshot us 24–3 from the line and wasn’t called for a foul over the last 14:51), we couldn’t hope to turn in a stretch like that and coast home. Even with it, there were chances to win: London and Ty Jerome both had great looks at threes in the final minute or so that simply rimmed out. You can’t really fault that. This was a great college basketball game.
This was a tough one for London Perrantes. He started cold and never got going, finishing 2–11, struggling with non-calls in the lane that could be tried as assault in some states. Foul trouble didn’t help him get comfortable, as he missed long stretches of both halves after picking up his second and third fouls. I don’t know if it’s our team’s reputation for not drawing fouls, London’s ID as a jump shooter, or referees just looking at counting stats when deciding who to legislate like a star, but he gets absolutely abused in the lane every game and never gets beneficial calls.
They played together plenty, but London’s foul trouble set the stage for Ty Jerome. The kid has been showing signs that maybe those hips are feeling better of late (he’s scored in six straight games and went for a career high eight vs. Notre Dame) and he blew past eight in the first half and scored 15 for the game. He was our go-to source of offense late; hitting a step-back and then a driving floater for our last four points. The primary thing people forget about with Jerome is that he’s huge for his position, and with a little more confidence in his core, he’s abusing opposing guards once he puts the ball on the floor. His surge (and Kyle Guy’s struggles) have set him up for a big February and March. Now, as you can see in the highlights of the game winning putback, he just needs to remember to box out.
Marial (14 points) and Isaiah (12 points, eight boards, yeoman’s work defending the rim) both had great games and Devon Hall, while he didn’t crack double figures again, did have seven and a couple of fantastic assists for Wilkins dunks.
This team’s really good, and I think today proved it for any casual viewers. Tech’s up next.
