2nd half doomed UVA against Penn State

CHARLOTTESVILLE — At UVa, the quest for a complete game continues.

Coach Tony Bennett encouraged his team all week not to give up the defensive lapses that have been so costly, but there was another Monday night as Virginia fell 69-66 to Penn State in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge.

Take away the start of the second half, and this was an easy victory for the ’Hoos.

“The first four minutes we came out not mentally focused on the defensive end, and that collapse got us in the hole,” guard Mustapha Farrakhan said.

Instead the Nittany Lions took their first lead of the game, let Talor Battle take over, and held off a late comeback that nearly sent the game to overtime.

With the Cavs trailing by 10 and two minutes remaining, guard Sylven Landesberg hit a 3-pointer, the Nittany Lions missed two field goals, and guard Sammy Zeglinski hit a three to make it a game.

Prior to that point, Zeglinski had struggled from the field, missing his first six — many of those ill-advised shots.

“It’s a long game, and I’m not going to get discouraged,” he said. “I have confidence in my shot, and I knew my team needed me to score to stay in the game.”

On the other end, freshman Jontel Evans, who saw only one minute of playing time, was brought in to contain Battle, who scored 28 of his 32 points in the second half. Evans nearly forced a key turnover, but instead was whistled on a foul with minimal contact. Coach Tony Bennett got animated from the bench, saying after the game that “when you’re desperate, you beg.”

Still, with 5.3 seconds left, Zeglinski drove the length of the court to attempt a game-tying 3-pointer. He had to lean into his shot, instead of getting a clean look, and missed at the buzzer. He buried his head in his jersey, having finished one shot away from a remarkable comeback that would have forced overtime.

“It was a gut-wrenching loss, but they fought, they scrapped, they didn’t quit,” Bennett said. “You’ve got to keep building, and you’ve got to say, hey, that’s a step forward in that area.”

The Nittany Lions, who managed just 21 points in the first half, matched that output nine minutes into the second half.

As for Will Sherrill, the walk-on’s magic didn’t make it through customs on the trip back from Cancun. After a career-high 18 points against Cleveland State, he was 0-for-2 in 20 minutes of playing time Monday night, though he did get a large ovation from the crowd when he first checked into the game.

Early in the game the Cavs returned to their 2008 form, standing around offensively and waiting for Landesberg to make a play. He delivered, though, and carried the team to an early lead.

It seemed to spark the ’Hoos out of their inaction when Landesberg headed to the bench for a breather with 11 minutes remaining in the first half — they went on a 7-0 run to claim an early lead, not relinquishing it until Penn State’s rally coming out of the halftime break.

Those few minutes proved to be the difference in an otherwise competitive showing by the Cavs.

“We have a small margin for error, you guys all see that,” Bennett said. “We’ve got to work on eliminating those breakdowns to give us a chance.”