Wahoo Wire

A Twitter handle devoted to promoting Mike Scott’s Wooden Award candidacy recently tweeted, “Mike Scott got a perfect score on the SAT…for signing his name.”  Apparently that’s not all he’s perfect at.

The fifth-year senior forward connected on all nine of his field goal attempts in the Wahoos’ 68-44 victory over Wake Forest on Wednesday, finishing with a game high 19 points.  Tying a school record for the best perfect game shooting from the field, Scott’s performance was made even more impressive by the fact that he spent the last 14 minutes of the game on the bench.

That’s because Virginia (19-4, 6-3 ACC) didn’t need him, cruising to victory in what was arguably the team’s most polished performance of the season.  So much so that head coach Tony Bennett did not even elect to use a time out.

“I thought tonight was one of those games when the offense and the defense came together,” Bennett remarked after the game. “After the first few minutes, I felt we had breakdowns defensively but then out defense tightened up and then we guarded well.  Obviously guys were in the zone shooting the ball: Mike, looking at the stat sheet I did not realized he did not miss a shot; Joe got us off to a great start.”

The great start that Bennett alluded to was the 85.7% field goal percentage that the ‘Hoos amassed during the first 5:58 of the game.  During that period, sophomore G Joe Harris knocked down three consecutive threes, leading Virginia to a 40-19 lead at half.  Harris, who finished 3-4 from behind the three-point arc, poured in 11 points and pulled down three rebounds in 22 minutes of play.

Wake Forest (11-12, 2-8 ACC), who seemed frustrated by the patented Virginia Pack Line Defense all night, shot an anemic 34.1% from the field.  Led by Richmond-native Travis McKie who had 16 points and 6 rebounds, the Deacs fifth decision in as many games.

“We let a lot of people down and got embarrassed,” junior Wake Forest G C.J. Harris said after the game. “We disappointed ourselves. That’s about it.”

The Demon Deacons head home to face Clemson on Saturday, while the ‘Hoos travel to Chapel Hill to take on a UNC team coming off a heartbreaking last-second loss to bitter rival, Duke.

An extremely athletic team with much more length and athleticism than Virginia, the Tarheels will undoubtedly come out looking to take out some frustration.  If the Cavaliers are going to come away with the big ACC road win that they covet they will have to get back on defense and force North Carolina to beat them from downtown.  As junior PG Jontel Evans said in a recent interview, “If we don’t get back and set our defense . . . they’re going to end up winning by 30 points.”