NCAA Basketball ACC BasketballVirginia Cavaliers

Mike Tobey’s Dominance vs. Tennessee State Big News For Virginia Cavaliers

Fresh Videos

By @writered21

Tobey

Getty Images

The one piece of the puzzle that the Virginia Cavaliers haven’t had in their resurgence to the top of the ACC is a stereotypical big man. The Cavaliers led the country in scoring defense a season ago despite not having a hulking shot blocker in the middle of the lane the likes of Patrick Ewing from Georgetown‘s classic early 1980s teams.

Mike Tobey, a 6-foot-11, 250-pound junior, is far from evolving into another version of Ewing or any other of history’s top centers, but performances like the one he gave in Virginia’s 79-36 demolition of Tennessee State on Tuesday night are exactly what the Cavaliers need if they are again going to contend for the ACC title and make more noise on the national stage.

Against the Tigers, Tobey put up almost impossible numbers, scoring 13 points and grabbing 16 rebounds in just 18 minutes. Tobey, who didn’t even start the game, went 5-for-9 from the field and 3-for-3 from the line, while 12 of his 16 boards came at the defensive end.

Tobey nearly had as many rebounds as Tennessee State (22) did as a team. Had he played 25 or 30 minutes, he may well have had 20 points and 25 rebounds the way he was going, numbers you’d see from guys like Bill Russell back in the day.

Of course, Russell wasn’t always feasting on the likes of Tennessee State (2-3), so you have to throw that into the equation. But Tobey’s effort should be one the junior can build on. Already known for complementing the Virginia (5-0) offense with a short to mid-range jumper that can draw other bigs out of the lane and open things up for penetrating guards like London Perrantes and Malcolm Brogdon, Tobey is much more of a handful for opponents if he is active on the glass as well.

He is the only truely experienced post player on the Virginia roster, and while head coach Tony Bennett‘s systems on both offense and defense don’t necessarily rely on size, it never hurts to have it. Even before Tuesday’s 16 rebounds, Tobey was already averaging 5.8 boards per game, significantly above his freshman and sophomore averages of 2.9 and 3.8 respectively. His 39 rebounds in just 86 minutes of playing time work out to an impressive 18.14 rebounds per 40 minutes.

Most experts think the Cavaliers have the pieces in place to go deep into March this season, even if a tougher ACC might prevent UVA from repeating as champions. However, if Tobey is truly hitting his prime and his numbers significantly increase such that he can have games like he did on Tuesday, Virginia might be even better than many people thought.

Ed Morgans is an ACC Basketball Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @writered21 and add him to your network on Google.

Share Tweet
Trending Now on