The Cougars came out focused and ready for Virginia and made every possession a struggle for the Cavaliers. On 31 first-half possessions, UVA made just seven field goals (22.5%) while committing 12 turnovers (38.7%). However, UH left some shots out there and led by 13 points at the break.
The Cavs were never able to get back into the game in the second half. The lead slipped to 11 after an early bucket, but the Coogs fought. The lead grew to 20 on six occasions in the half and settled there for the final score.
“We had a good plan,” Kelvin Sampson said in the postgame interview room. “Our kids really executed it. Fabian on defense and rebounding and Marcus on offense. I thought our kids did well with their escape dribbles and got it reversed, and then we attacked on the weakside.”
Click a photo for a high resolution version. and you can scroll through each of them in the lightbox. All images © Mario Puente 2021.
