Singletary gets help and Virginia beat Boston College

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA - Virginia coach Dave Leitao said he did some self-scouting after his Cavaliers absorbed their third consecutive tough loss, and what he found was that a key element to his program was missing: having fun.<br /> <br /> For three days, he worked to change it, then saw the fruits of his efforts.<br /> <br /> Mamadi Diane scored 20 points, Sean Singletary scored 19 and had 10 assists and two other Cavaliers scored in double figures Saturday night as Virginia snapped its three-game losing streak with an 84-66 victory against Boston College.<br /> <br /> ``I can tend to be an ornery guy and it's been a long three weeks,'' Leitao said. ``As the days passed, I got more and more ornery and it changes the mood of a gym.''<br /> <br /> The focus to having fun changed it back, the players said.<br /> <br /> ``He said the key to today's game was to go out there, have fun and relax,'' said Calvin Baker, who scored 15 points as the Cavaliers finally gave Singletary some help.<br /> <br /> ``Today it was a new coach Leitao that I haven't seen before.''<br /> <br /> The Cavaliers (11-5, 1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), defending co-champions in the conference, got a much-needed victory after two blowout losses and then a heartbreaker at the buzzer against Virginia Tech left them reeling. The ornery Leitao even made them dress in the hallway for a few days, saying they didn't deserve the locker room.<br /> <br /> It helped that Singletary wasn't the only one shouldering the scoring burden. In their 70-69 overtime loss to the Hokies, he scored 34 points, everyone else had 35.<br /> <br /> This time, Adrian Joseph added 17 points, all in the second half, for Virginia.<br /> <br /> ``He needs help like everyone else, and he got it tonight,'' Eagles coach Al Skinner said. ``I thought we gave them too many open looks and let them get comfortable.''<br /> <br /> Boston College (12-5, 3-1) got 20 points from Tyrese Rice, a Richmond native and the ACC's second-leading scorer, but he didn't assert himself on offense until a big run put Virginia in control, and the Eagles never got closer than eight again.<br /> <br /> ``We let it get away from us,'' Rice said.<br /> <br /> Rice's 14 second-half points all came after Virginia took a 15-point lead. Shamari Spears added 13 points and 11 rebounds for Boston College.<br /> <br /> The Cavaliers led only 40-39 after a putback by Spears with 18:20 to play, and then Virginia took command, reeling off 11 consecutive points to start a 20-6 run.<br /> <br /> Unlike in the Cavaliers last game, when Singletary scored half their points and many of his passes to open shooters yielded nothing, Virginia converted this time.<br /> <br /> He fed Ryan Pettinella and Adrian Joseph for layups, Calvin Baker and Diane hit 3-pointers and Diane fed Joseph for an alley oop from the left on a 2-on-1 break.<br /> <br /> When Baker scored on a putback with 12 minutes left, Virginia led 60-45.<br /> <br /> With Rice finally starting to look for his shot, he scored nine points in a span of just over 3 minutes as the Eagles pulled to within 60-52, but Singletary scored on a drive and hit two free throws, then fed Joseph for a baseline dunk to make it 66-56.<br /> <br /> Diane had 14 points at halftime, and Singletary's layup tied it at the break.

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