Monday Motivation: London goes out in style

Sorry I missed you guys last week! We’re back with a vengeance as a lot of teams saw action and picked up wins. Let’s get to it.

Rapid Fire

-Justin Anderson is already making a splash with his new team, the Philadelphia 76ers, as he provided the game winner over the New York Knicks this week. He also scored a career-high 19 points in the process! Way to go, Simba!

-Malcolm Brogdon shone again this week and may have a legitimate shot at NBA Rookie of the Year now that Joel Embiid is out the rest of the season with another injury.

-Women’s Tennis grabbed a close 4-3 victory over Virginia Tech. The Hoos picked up the doubles point, and got singles’ victories from Rosie Johanson, Chloe Gullickson, and Teodora Radosavljevic to secure the win.

-On the men’s side, three players from the top-ranked Cavaliers advanced in the Sherbrooke Futures as Henrik Wiersholm, JC Aragone, and Alexander Ritschard all won. All three will play in the qualifying final.

-Men’s Baseball picked up four wins this week, and have shot out to an impressive 11-1 start to the season. Adam Haseley leads the Hoos in RBIs with 14 through the first 12 games, and Robbie Coman boasts an impressive .435 batting average. On the mound, Haseley has a 2.65 ERA and Evan Sperling has struck out 19 batters in 19 innings of action.

-Virginia Football had a cool workout this week as they had members of the US Marine Corps come out and work with the players. Check it out:

-Tony Bennett was named to the inaugural Summit League Hall of Fame! Congrats, Coach!

Team of the Week

After a rough nine day stretch in february, the Men’s Basketball team has returned to the promise land of Monday Motivation. The Hoos kicked off the week with a huge upset of #5 UNC. Having been brutally manhandled by the same Tar Heels just nine days before the meeting last Monday, Virginia’s defense put forth their best performance of the year as they held Justin Jackson and Co. to just 43 points. Total. In the game.

Jackson, who scored 18 in the first half in Chapel Hill, was held to just seven points as London Perrantes hounded him all over the court. On the offensive side, Kyle Guy went 5-for-7 from beyond the arc and scored a game-high 17 points. Perrantes added 13 (including three big second half three-pointers to help the Hoos put the game away), and Devon Hall had 11 points and five assists.

To close out the regular season, Virginia hosted Pitt on Senior Day for Perrantes. This one was never in doubt, and it was awesome. First years Ty Jerome, Kyle Guy, and Mamadi Diakite combined for 25 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and three steals as the young guns showed us that the future is in good hands.

Also, Isaiah Wilkins was named to the All-ACC defensive team. Congrats, Zay!

The Hoos are now the six seed going into this week’s ACC tournament and will play at 9pm (woof) on Wednesday.

Wahoo of the Week

London, don’t leave. This choice was so easy this week. It was always going to be London, but him having the defensive performance of his career against the ACC Player of the Year and putting on a Senior Day performance for the ages...yeah, easy.

I already mentioned London’s 13 points against UNC, but he also went off for 22 points (4-for-6 from three) against Pitt. It got a little dusty in JPJ when he exited the game for the final time in Charlottesville, and it was so fitting that his final two buckets at JPJ were assisted by the first years that will be taking the torch.

Yesterday, London was named to the All-ACC Second Team for his performance this season.

You are the damn best, London. Go Hoos.