Virginia freshman Joe Harris continues to impress, as he led the team with three from long range in last night's 62-56 win over Georgia Tech. The Cavaliers are back above .500 at 14-13, and are eighth in the conference at 5-8. Struggling Georgia Tech fell to 11-16, 3-10 ACC.
Senior guard Mustapha Farrakhan led the team with 17 points, and went 9-10 from the free throw line.
Last night's game was the first time since defeating LSU on January 2 that the Cavaliers shot better than 70% from the free throw line with at least 10 attempts.
Harris, who went 2-3 from the three to try to jump start the Cavaliers' offense, went cold for much of the night, missing his next five attempts from long distance. He made what would become the go ahead three with just 0:25 to go, giving Virginia a 59-53 lead. After the game, Tony Bennett talked about the shot and about having a short term memory as a shooter.
"As a shooter, you cannot [dwell on missed shots]," Bennett said. "If it is a rhythm shot and a good shot you have to take it unless we have someone else wide open underneath the hoop or the ball slips, but you have to take that. That was at the end of the shot clock and I was glad to see him really step up and knock it down..."
Georgia Tech, which leads the ACC by forcing an average of 17.0 turnovers per game, was only able to force 7 from Virginia. The Yellow Jackets were also fifth in the country in steals heading into the game, averaging 9.5 per game, but were only able to steal two last night. By comparison, Virginia had seven steals and caused 10 turnovers.
The Hoos are looking to continue their success this Saturday, hosting a 16-11, 6-7 ACC Boston College squad that's lost three of their last four. Earlier this season, Virginia lost to BC on the road by a narrow 70-67 margin.