Monday Motivation: Basketball is BACK!!

Fret not, my Wahoo friends. Tony Bennett is back in our lives! Basketball kicked off this past week, soccer played in the NCAAs, women’s volleyball had themselves a week, and a Cavalier set an ACC record. Let’s get to it!

Rapid Fire

-I love when the UVA guys do this:

-Women’s Basketball got off to a hot 2-0 start with wins over Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) and Coppin State this week.

Against MTSU, Dominique Toussaint led the way with 16 points while two fellow starters - Jocelyn Willoughby (13 points) and Breyana Mason (12 points) - also finished the game in double figures. Virginia outscored MTSU in the second quarter 22-7, giving the Hoos control of the game. The Hoos would go on to win 61-53.

In their second game, Virginia shot the lights out, defeating Coppin State 103-40 (woof.). Five players scored double digits, and two players had double-doubles in the game. Felicia Aiyeotan led with 23 points and 12 rebounds, and Willoughby chipped in 21 points. Lauren Moses had 15 points and 10 rebounds in the win.

Next up, the Hoos play at Richmond on Wednesday.

-Women’s Soccer, now ranked No. 15, opened the NCAA tournament with a 4-1 win over Monmouth. Alexis Shaffer had two goals in the victory, with Alexis Shaffer and Kristen McNabb also notching scores. Next up, the Hoos will face Penn State on Friday (Nov. 18).

-Speaking of women’s soccer...Virginia alumna Morgan Brian scored a penalty kick for the US Women’s National Team in a game against Romania. Her goal pushed the score to 4-0, and man was it a nice PK.

-Men’s Soccer was selected as a No. 12 seed for the NCAA tournament, meaning they will host either Rider or Vermont on Sunday (Nov. 20).

-Malcolm Brogdon just continues to impress - and confuse - his teammates on the Bucks.

He also did this:

-Malcolm’s former teammate, Justin Anderson, also had a couple eye-opening plays:

-Women’s Volleyball picked up a 3-0 win over Louisville and a 3-2 come-from-behind win over Notre Dame this week. Nice job, ladies!

Team of the Week

You knew it was coming.

Virginia Men’s Basketball is this week’s StLMMTotW (and it’s probably the first of many times) for their season-opening 76-51 win over UNC-Greensboro. The Hoos led from tip to tail, with Isaiah Wilkins hitting a three-pointer (!?) to open scoring for Virginia. Marial Shayok was the leading scorer for the Cavaliers with 15 points, one rebound, and three steals off the bench. Darius Thompson, who started, got 12 points and went 3-for-4 from three and 4-for-6 from the field. Wilkins and London Perrantes each chipped in 10 points.

Virginia, who was without Austin Nichols and Mamadi Diakite for various suspension reasons, got a nice game out of Jack Salt down low. Salt shot 50% from the floor, 75% from the line, and added seven points, three assists, and a block with only TWO fouls. Jarred Reuter had eight points of his own, but was bogged down with some questionable passes that led to five turnovers.

First year Kyle Guy played 19 minutes (had some foul trouble with three fouls) and scored seven points on 3-for-5 shooting (1-for-1 from three). He had two steals and caused a third, getting his arms active in the passing lanes and disrupting the Spartans’ ball movement.

In all, No. 8 Virginia cruised to the win, including a 22-0 Cavalanche that spanned the first and second halves. The defense is still pretty unknown, but it sure is nice seeing an 11+ minute drought for a mid-major opponent in the first game. Offensively, the Hoos went 52% from the field and 50% from three.

Check out the full highlights:

The Hoos host St. Francis (NY) tomorrow night (Tuesday) for their home-opener. Tip is at 7pm and the game will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.

Wahoo of the Week

Although the football team fell short this past weekend against Miami, my StLMMWotW is none other than running back Taquan “Smoke” Mizzell. This past Saturday, Smoke - a fourth year - became the first ever ACC player to record 1,500 yards receiving and 1,500 yards rushing in a career. The Virginia Beach native has been a work horse his last two seasons in Charlottesville, amassing 1,367 of his 1,831 yards rushing and 1,082 of his 1,517 receiving yards in that time span.

He isn’t done yet, either. With Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech remaining, Smoke has a chance to close out his Virginia career on a high note. Keep crushing, Smoke, and as always, GO HOOS!