Saturday, December 2
Charlottesville, Va.
12 p.m.
Lehigh University
at
Virginia
Lehigh heads to No. 15/18 Virginia for Saturday matinee
11/30/2017 5:58:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Game Notes | Watch Live (ACC Network Extra/ESPN3) | Listen Live | Live Stats
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Coming off an impressive victory at defending Ivy League Champion Princeton, the Lehigh men's basketball team wraps up its four-game road trip at No. 15/18 Virginia on Saturday. Opening tipoff is set for 12 p.m. on ACC Network Extra (WatchESPN). The Mountain Hawks jumped out to a 22-point halftime lead on Wednesday then held off a furious Princeton second-half charge to win their second straight game over the Tigers for the first time in school history.
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Lehigh played perhaps its best half of the season to jump out to a 47-25 halftime advantage. The Mountain Hawks shot 58 percent from the field, including 55 percent from three-point range while holding Princeton to 30 percent shooting and 0-of-10 from long distance. The Tigers came out strong in the second half, but Lehigh weathered the storm. Princeton pulled within eight with 10:36 still remaining, but the Mountain Hawks reopened a double-digit lead heading into the final five minutes. The Tigers had one last run in them, pulling as close as two in the final two minutes, but sophomore Jordan Cohen hit a tough shot with just over 30 seconds remaining to give the Mountain Hawks a four-point advantage then Lehigh was a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line to wrap up the 85-76 win.
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Junior Lance Tejada led the Mountain Hawks in scoring with 18 points while junior Kyle Leufroy had 17 points and senior Kahron Ross tallied 14 points. In total, the backcourt group of Cohen, Tejada, Leufroy and Ross combined for 60 points on 20-of-39 shooting. Leufroy was 6-of-9 from the field with six rebounds. Meanwhile, Ross added five assists to move to 569 in his career, passing Marquis Hall '10 for second in school and third in Patriot League history. He's currently just nine assists shy of tying Mackey McKnight's school record of 578. With Ross' 14 points, he also moved from 32nd to 30th in school history for career points (currently 1,064), passing Ed Cahn '55 and Charles Blue '82. Wednesday was Ross' 100th career game.
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A pair of freshmen also impressed as James Karnik had seven points and a career-high 12 rebounds while also causing multiple loose ball fouls to help the Mountain Hawks maintain possession. Caleb Bennett scored eight points as well on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting. On Wednesday, Lehigh had more turnovers than its opponent for the first time all season, but had just 11 and still has had no more than 13 in a game all season.
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Virginia enters Saturday with a perfect 7-0 record to jump all the way to No. 15 in the Coaches Poll and No. 18 in the AP Top 25. The Cavaliers won the NIT Season Tip-Off, capped off by a 70-55 win over Rhode Island. UVA followed with a 49-37 win over Wisconsin on Monday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge as the Cavaliers held the Badgers to just 31 percent shooting and 15 percent from three-point range. UVA is enjoying success even after losing its top two scorers from last season in London Perrantes and Marial Shayok. So far this year, Kyle Guy is averaging a team-leading 16.0 points per game while Devon Hall is averaging 11.9. Isaiah Wilkins, step-son of NBA Hall of Famer Dominque Wilkins, is averaging 7.9 points and a team-leading 6.9 points per contest. UVA is well known for its defense, allowing just 50.1 points per game as opponents have connected on just 35 percent of its field goal attempts, including only 25 percent from three-point range.
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Saturday will mark the third all-time meeting between Lehigh and Virginia, with the Cavaliers winning each of the previous two contests. Virginia won during the 1973-74 season and again in November of 2015, a game which saw Lehigh take a 21-19 first-half lead before the Cavaliers surged back for the 80-54 victory.
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Following Saturday's game, the Mountain Hawks will return home for two games before final exams, hosting Yale next Wednesday (Dec. 6) and Mount St. Mary's on Saturday (Dec. 9). Opening tipoffs are 7 and 2 p.m., respectively.
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Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Coming off an impressive victory at defending Ivy League Champion Princeton, the Lehigh men's basketball team wraps up its four-game road trip at No. 15/18 Virginia on Saturday. Opening tipoff is set for 12 p.m. on ACC Network Extra (WatchESPN). The Mountain Hawks jumped out to a 22-point halftime lead on Wednesday then held off a furious Princeton second-half charge to win their second straight game over the Tigers for the first time in school history.
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Lehigh played perhaps its best half of the season to jump out to a 47-25 halftime advantage. The Mountain Hawks shot 58 percent from the field, including 55 percent from three-point range while holding Princeton to 30 percent shooting and 0-of-10 from long distance. The Tigers came out strong in the second half, but Lehigh weathered the storm. Princeton pulled within eight with 10:36 still remaining, but the Mountain Hawks reopened a double-digit lead heading into the final five minutes. The Tigers had one last run in them, pulling as close as two in the final two minutes, but sophomore Jordan Cohen hit a tough shot with just over 30 seconds remaining to give the Mountain Hawks a four-point advantage then Lehigh was a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line to wrap up the 85-76 win.
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Junior Lance Tejada led the Mountain Hawks in scoring with 18 points while junior Kyle Leufroy had 17 points and senior Kahron Ross tallied 14 points. In total, the backcourt group of Cohen, Tejada, Leufroy and Ross combined for 60 points on 20-of-39 shooting. Leufroy was 6-of-9 from the field with six rebounds. Meanwhile, Ross added five assists to move to 569 in his career, passing Marquis Hall '10 for second in school and third in Patriot League history. He's currently just nine assists shy of tying Mackey McKnight's school record of 578. With Ross' 14 points, he also moved from 32nd to 30th in school history for career points (currently 1,064), passing Ed Cahn '55 and Charles Blue '82. Wednesday was Ross' 100th career game.
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A pair of freshmen also impressed as James Karnik had seven points and a career-high 12 rebounds while also causing multiple loose ball fouls to help the Mountain Hawks maintain possession. Caleb Bennett scored eight points as well on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting. On Wednesday, Lehigh had more turnovers than its opponent for the first time all season, but had just 11 and still has had no more than 13 in a game all season.
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Virginia enters Saturday with a perfect 7-0 record to jump all the way to No. 15 in the Coaches Poll and No. 18 in the AP Top 25. The Cavaliers won the NIT Season Tip-Off, capped off by a 70-55 win over Rhode Island. UVA followed with a 49-37 win over Wisconsin on Monday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge as the Cavaliers held the Badgers to just 31 percent shooting and 15 percent from three-point range. UVA is enjoying success even after losing its top two scorers from last season in London Perrantes and Marial Shayok. So far this year, Kyle Guy is averaging a team-leading 16.0 points per game while Devon Hall is averaging 11.9. Isaiah Wilkins, step-son of NBA Hall of Famer Dominque Wilkins, is averaging 7.9 points and a team-leading 6.9 points per contest. UVA is well known for its defense, allowing just 50.1 points per game as opponents have connected on just 35 percent of its field goal attempts, including only 25 percent from three-point range.
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Saturday will mark the third all-time meeting between Lehigh and Virginia, with the Cavaliers winning each of the previous two contests. Virginia won during the 1973-74 season and again in November of 2015, a game which saw Lehigh take a 21-19 first-half lead before the Cavaliers surged back for the 80-54 victory.
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Following Saturday's game, the Mountain Hawks will return home for two games before final exams, hosting Yale next Wednesday (Dec. 6) and Mount St. Mary's on Saturday (Dec. 9). Opening tipoffs are 7 and 2 p.m., respectively.
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Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
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Players Mentioned
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