Monday Motivation: Hoos in the Sweet 16!

Happy Monday, my Wahoo friends! Virginia had a big week of winning, so let’s get straight to it.

Rapid Fire

-It’s Monday, so here’s a sweet Simba play from this past week:

-The NCAA Graduation Success Rates were released this week, and Virginia scored an impressive 87 with SEVEN teams posting a perfect 100% graduation rate:

-Women’s basketball is off to a HOT start this season. With wins over Richmond (63-56) and Rutgers (62-54) this week, Virginia is now 4-0 on the season.

At Richmond, Virginia relinquished a 15 point halftime lead, but regained the lead after a jumper by Lauren Moses. Moses led all scorers with 27 points in 31 minutes of play.

Against Rutgers, Mason led the Hoos with 18 points, Aliyah Huland El added 16, and Moses 13. Virginia held a slim 28-27 halftime lead that they would not relinquish in the second half.

Next up, Virginia heads to Las Vegas on Friday to play St. Johns in the South Point Shootout.

-Virginia Wrestling picked up wins over Lock Haven (24-16) and Maryland (22-13) in their tri-meet this weekend. Four Cavaliers (Jack Mueller, Andrew Atkinson, George DiCamillo, and Ray Bethea) picked up two wins on the day at Virginia’s Memorial Gym. Next up, the Hoos will hit the road for the Mat Town Open in Lock Haven, PA.

Hoos on the Spot: Kyle Guy

Wahoo of the Week

When you score the game-winner in double overtime in the NCAA tournament, you are for sure the StLMMWotW. Congrats, Pablo Aguilar, for being a boss.

With the goal, the Virginia Men’s Soccer team defeated Vermont 2-1 to move on to the Sweet 16. Vermont took a 1-0 lead in the second half, but a free kick by Paddy Foss set up the overtime dramatics. Check out the full highlights:

Next up, the Hoos will play Stanford (last season’s champs) on Sunday at 8pm.

Team of the Week

Hard not to choose the No. 8 Men’s Basketball team again after holding back to back teams under 40 points. Virginia welcomed St. Francis on Tuesday for the 2016-17 home opener, using a balanced attack to smother the Terriers 72-32.

The now-dismissed Austin Nichols led the Hoos in scoring with 11 points, and Virginia got points from 12 of the 14 players that saw the court. Green Machine reserve player Justice Bartley scored his first career points for UVA in the closing minutes of the game.

Sunday, the Hoos returned to action at JPJ as they welcomed the Ivy League’s Yale to town. Yale, a tournament team from last season, was without their leading scorer Makai Mason, but came into the game averaging 94 points per game. They did not quiiiiite reach that mark against the Hoos. Virginia’s stifling Pack Line defense - complete with the high-powered block machine Mamadi Diakite - thwarted the Bulldogs at every turn. After a slow start, Virginia pulled away for a comfortable 62-38 win.

Marial Shayok led Virginia in scoring for the second time in three games with 15 points, Kyle Guy added 12 points, and Darius Thompson had 11. Diakite finished with four blocks, Isaiah Wilkins had a career-high nine rebounds, and London Perrantes dished out seven assists with no turnovers in the win.

Diakite making the shot clock violation sign while smiling is maybe my favorite thing of the season so far.

Next, Virginia looks to go 4-0 to start the season as they host Grambling State Tuesday at 7pm. The game will be televised on Regional Sports Networks.

Go Hoos!