Patriots leave Charlottesville after bitter loss

Coach Paul Hewitt stares in disbelief as the UVA Cavaliers drain another shot late in the game. (John Powell)

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – After competing against the conference basement-dweller, Towson, on Wednesday, the men’s basketball team (6-3, 1-0) fell to the UVA Cavaliers (8-1, 0-0) on Tuesday night by a 20-point margin, 68-48, for their first loss of the season in regulation.

The game was eerily reminiscent to their NCAA tournament game against Ohio State last March. They played under big lights, this time at John Paul Jones Arena, and let the major-conference team get a hold of them early. There was even a coaching mismatch; Mason Coach Paul Hewitt has gone winless against Tony Bennett, losing three games the last two seasons.

Turnovers became the glaring problem in the first half, as the Cavaliers were a step quicker on every part of the court. Senior forward Mike Morrison and freshman point guard Corey Edwards, working off the bench, each gave away three of the team’s turnovers in the first 20 minutes.

“Obviously we just can’t turn the ball over as much as we did tonight,” Hewitt said. “In the first half, I thought we held on to the ball a little too long.”

Morrison at least completed his job against Mike Scott and Assane Sene. Morrison only allowed five points and five rebounds to Sene, the senior center who averaged around those numbers, but Scott, who had averaged 15.9 points and 10.0 rebounds per contest, was shut down. The senior forward managed 11 points, but was shut down on the boards, only grabbing two rebounds.

“I just wanted to get Mike Scott out of there,” Morrison said, with an agreeing coach next to him. “He’s a strong player, so I wanted to keep him and I off the boards. Then we both go even.”

Edwards could not say the same for his play. As one of the team’s point guards, he finished with only four assists. But those numbers were better than those of sophomore point guard Bryon Allen, who only dished out one assist. Both went scoreless on the night.

Without a scoring threat from the perimeter, the Cavaliers took charge out of the gate. They took the lead just over three minutes into the game with a 3-pointer and never gave it away. Bennett’s team worked a 14-3 steak into their first double-digit lead of the night less than nine minutes into the contest.

The entire night’s scoring was thanks to the Cavaliers, on both sides of the ball. They shot 59.1 percent in the first half and improved to a 61.9 percent mark in the second. Mason could not handle the size and aggressive play and watched their shooting numbers stay under 50 percent for the entire game.

“We certainly work at our shooting and we try to get rhythm shots,” Bennett said. “When you get good rhythm looks you take them, and you cannot take them if you aren’t shooting well.”

Three-point shooting made matters worse. While Vertrail Vaughns improved his outside shooting Tuesday night, going 2-of-2 from the arc, the rest of the team went a combined 0-of-6, taking shots with embarrassingly bad looks.

“Our scouting report was right on,” Hewitt said. “They’re very sound defensively. They’re not going to give you a lot of attempts around the rim and when you do get then you have to cash in.”

Even senior Ryan Pearson floundered under the basket, not pulling the foul calls he is used to in CAA action. He finished going 4-of-10 for nine total points and two rebounds, killing his ranking as one of the nation’s premier scorers.

The deficit grew, but was still manageable until sophomore forward Jon Arledge missed a dunk with 4:48 to go. A deflated Patriots team went through the motions, but accepted the loss.

“We would have liked to have come out better, playing our style of basketball,” Morrison said. “We’re not going to hang our heads low. We’ve got to get ready for the next game. We’ve got to get back in there.”

The Patriots return to action late Saturday afternoon, when they head to Radford for a 4 p.m. tip-off.