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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) -- Undaunted by an early miss, Chris
Williams kept launching shots -- to Virginia's benefit.
Williams scored 22 points, Roger Mason had 21 and Virginia (No. 10 ESPN/USA Today, No. 11 AP) hit its long-range shots to beat Howard 115-66 Wednesday night in the first round of the John Thompson Classic.
Williams' first shot was an airball. He did not miss again,
going 8-for-9 to lead the Cavaliers (3-0).
"I knew when I made the first shot, I had to take the second,"
he said.
The Cavaliers made 11-of-15 3-pointers in the first half. They finished with 14, one short of the school record.
"I can't remember a team of mine going 11-of-15 on
3-pointers," Virginia coach Pete Gillen said.
Virginia went on an 18-0 run five minutes into the game, taking
a 30-7 lead on Mason's 3.
Williams and Mason each made five 3-pointers.
Howard (1-1) fell victim to the Cavaliers' pressing defense,
making 14 turnovers in the first half and missing 20-of-33 shots.
"We just did a good job against a team that wasn't as big or
strong as us," said Gillen.
After taking a 60-27 lead into halftime, Virginia broke 100 on a layup by freshman forward Jason Clark with 6:08 remaining in the game.
Ron Williamson led Howard with 18 points and Kyle Williams had
14. Mario Grove scored 11 points and had 10 rebounds.
"Virginia is very good," Howard coach Frank Allen said. "Obviously, we couldn't match up. They did a lot of great things out there."
The Cavaliers made 14-of-24 3s overall and closed in on the
school record set Feb. 14, 1990, against North Carolina.
Gillen removed his best shooters for most of the second half.
The Cavaliers went 3-for-9 on 3s in the second.
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