The Sports Xchange
Nov 19, 2017
Freshman De'Andre Hunter scored a career-high 23 points as Virginia cruised past Monmouth 73-53 Sunday afternoon at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Va.
Hunter led three Cavaliers in double figures as Virginia (4-0) shot 52 percent for the game en route to the 20-point win. Sophomore Kyle Guy added 13 points while Mamadi Diakite chipped in with 10 points off of the bench.
Virginia led by as many as 26 points in the second half before Monmouth (2-2) cut the lead to 16 late in the second half. The Hawks managed to shoot just 33 percent for the game as guard Louie Pillari put in a team-high 14 points. Deion Hammond added 12 points for Monmouth as they turned the ball over 14 times and were outrebounded by Virginia 33-28.
The Cavaliers made just four of their 14 3-pointers on the day but made a living inside the arc as they tallied 30 points in the paint. Virginia also got 44 points from their bench as 10 players scored for coach Tony Bennett.
After Monmouth took an early 15-8 lead, Virginia ended the final 12 minutes of the first half on a 31-6 run to take a 39-21 lead into the halftime break.
The Cavaliers shot 54 percent in the first half and forced 11 Monmouth turnovers which they turned into 16 points.
Monmouth started hot from the field but ended the half shooting just 33 percent on 7-of-21 shooting.