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Virginia dominates Harvard

Dec 21, 2014 - 8:23 PM Charlottesville, VA (SportsNetwork.com) - Chalk up another impressive defensive effort for the unbeaten Virginia Cavaliers.

Mike Tobey had 15 points and 10 rebounds, as the No. 6 ranked team dominated Harvard, 76-27, at John Paul Jones Arena.

Malcolm Brogdon also scored 15 for Virginia (11-0), which is off to its best start since the 1992-93 season.

"Harvard is a lot better than they showed," Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. "Mike Tobey got us off to great start offensively, and defensively we were ready. We prepared well this week in practice and had great respect for Harvard, but you could see they were sluggish and had one of their poorer games."

The Cavaliers entered the day ranked second in the nation in scoring defense (47.9 ppg), behind only Kentucky (47.7 ppg). Virginia has held opponents under 70 points in a nation-leading 17 consecutive contests. It was also the second time this season the Cavaliers held an opponent under 30 points. They beat Rutgers, 45-26, on Nov. 29.

Corbin Miller scored eight for Harvard (7-2), which shot 16 percent (8-of-50) from the field in its first game since a 12-day layoff for final exams. The Crimson had a six-game winning streak snapped.

Harvard went 1-of-20 from the floor in the first half. That ties an NCAA record with Northern Illinois for fewest field goals in a half. The Huskies were 1-of-31 against Eastern Michigan on Jan. 26, 2013.

Wesley Saunders, who came into the game at an impressive 20.1 ppg to pace the Ivy League, was held to four on 0-for-7 shooting.

"We were hopeful that we could break through and come away from a few possessions without hanging our head," Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said. "Sometimes, it's hard to get that energy on the other end when you start to sulk and hang your head a little bit. That's normal human nature, especially when our best offensive player had a very tough afternoon."

The Cavaliers opened a 7-0 lead, and Tobey accounted for UVA's first nine points. The Crimson had a difficult time getting off clean looks at the basket, and had a stretch of nearly 20 minutes without a field goal.

Zena Edosomwan's layup with 16:31 remaining put Harvard on the board, but the Crimson didn't hit another shot the rest of the half and faced a 39-8 deficit at the break.

Tobey led the way by making all six of his field-goal attempts and compiled all of his points by the break. Virginia, which went 16-of-26 from the floor in the first 20 minutes, scored 14 in a row for a 30-4 cushion. Brogdon's jumper capped the burst.

Harvard's first-half performance was being compared to UCLA's 3-of-37 effort in the opening 20 minutes of an 83-44 loss to No. 1 Kentucky on Saturday. The Bruins were behind 41-7 at the break in that contest.

The eight points in a half ties the fewest by an opponent in the history of John Paul Jones Arena, which opened in time for the 2006-07 season.

Harvard's second field goal didn't come until 16:38 left in the game, when Steve Moundou-Missi converted a layup and was fouled by Justin Anderson. That ended a stretch of 20 straight misses. Moundou-Missi made the free throw for a 45-12 margin.

The Cavaliers widened the gap to 56-15 with 12:09 left following a Marial Shayok layup.

"Defensively, this has to be our standard now," Tobey said. "We did a great job executing our defensive game plan. Harvard is a great team, preseason top-25 and very talented, but I think we did a good job holding them."

Game Notes

Virginia next hosts Davidson Dec. 30. The Wildcats average nearly 88 points a game ... Harvard plays at Arizona State, Dec. 28 ... The Cavaliers own a 17- game home winning streak ... Virginia shot 59.6 percent from the field ... Harvard's field-goal percentage was the lowest allowed by the Cavaliers in the shot clock era, surpassing the 19 percent by Mississippi Valley State on Dec. 8, 2012.