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 Wofford Terriers  

Game #9-220: Wofford Terriers at Virginia Cavaliers December 30, 2012 1:00 pm John Paul Jones Arena BBState Stats/Recap

I hadn't planned on heading to Mr. Jefferson's university for a Sunday afternoon basketball matinee, but with my Redskins being flexed to primetime I figured the short trip would be a nice escape. Not to talk about football, but I knew if I stayed home I would've just sat on the couch and watched the NFC North games to see if the Redskins could lock up a playoff spot before their 8:20 PM kickoff. To avoid this, I decided to take the short trip to Charlottesville and I also made the conscious decision to leave my phone in my car (to avoid scoreboard watching temptation).

I had been to John Paul Jones several times in the past, mostly to see the Cavaliers take on Longwood in a mostly annual matchup. I was once again mildly disgruntled at the parking situation at JPJ where they make you park a mile away and take a shuttle bus. It doesn't sound that bad, but its frustrating given you go past massive, vacant stadium lots and parking decks that are reserved for donors.

I thought the Wofford-Virginia match up could be an interesting one because I had seen both teams play already this year. I saw the Terriers take on Richmond in November and since they had gone 4-2 losing only to Davidson, in a conference bout, and UNC Wilmington. I also saw the Wahoos lose to ODU last Saturday. I left the Richmond Coliseum not impressed with UVA, to say the least, so I thought I'd give them another chance. Wofford knocked off Xavier their last time out, so I thought they could give the Cavaliers a battle to say the least.

If you get a chance to take in a game at John Paul Jones Arena then do so. The atmosphere isn't great, because UVA is widely considered a "wine and cheese" crowd and the students seem to be flaky at best when attending games, but the arena itself is second to none. I went to many games at the prior arena, University Hall, and JPJ blows it away. When the Wahoos aren't playing, JPJ host huge bands and artists to the level of Bruce Springsteen.

The game on Sunday started like I thought, it was a pretty solid battle with neither team being able to separate. As I noted when the Terriers took on Richmond, the pace was a bit slow but the cheap ticket definitely beat sitting on the sofa. At the under eight timeout it was just a two point game, but then UVA destroyed all of my hopes and ambitions of a close game. UVA closed the second half on a 14-2 run to go up 31-17.

Sitting around at halftime, I noticed the crowd was larger than I thought it would be. The announced attendance was just over 9,000, but that was a bit of a stretch. I thought about how different the crowd might have been if the Redskins game was being held at 1 PM, as originally intended.

I hoped the Terriers would come out firing in the second half, and they looked like they were for a minute, but UVA totally dismantled Wofford with a 39-6 run when you combined the two halves. I remembered a week prior at the Coliseum and how unimpressed I was with UVA, but a moment in the second half grabbed my attention. With about twelve minutes left I noticed that UVA had five freshman on the floor, how often does that happen? One of those freshman was Mike Tobey who had 19 points and grabbed 6 rebounds, all while wearing a Rip Hamilton style plastic mask.

Wofford has certainly struggled to score this year, but reigning Southern Conference Freshman of the Year Karl Cochran had an especially rough day. Cochran went 1-11 on the afternoon and finished with only 5 points. A particularly dry spell for a player that put up 49 points combined in his two prior games.

The 6-7 Terriers will get a chance to get back to .500 before Southern Conference play begins and a potential red line upset when they take on Tulane on Saturday. UVA is done with mid-majors for the regular season as they gear up for ACC play and another Sunday match up, as they host North Carolina. UVA enters ACC play 10-3 with all three losses coming to CAA squads.

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