November 24, 2009

The Virginia men's basketball team won its first two Cancun Challenge games by an average of 27 points, but ran into much stiffer competition on Tuesday night. The Cavaliers tipped off with Stanford in hopes of grabbing their third straight win, but ran out of gas in the end in a 57-52 loss.

Jeff Jones led the way for the Wahoos, scoring 17 points. He hit two big three pointers at the end of the first half to give Virginia a 31-30 lead at halftime. Stanford, however, charged back, leading by as many as eight, and the Cardinal went on for the five point win. Landry Fields led the way for Stanford, scoring 25 points and pulling down 13 rebounds. Sylven Landesberg chipped in 16 for Virginia as well.

The Cavaliers record drops to 3-2 after Tuesday's loss and they'll look to bounce back Wednesday night against Cleveland State. The Vikings had a rough time with Kentucky in Tuesday's opening game as the Wildcats cruised to the 73-49 victory. Kentucky opened up the second half on a 16-4 run to blow a game that was just an eight point deficit at the half wide open.

Virginia and Cleveland State will tip off in the consolation game on Wednesday at 7:00 pm, with Stanford and Kentucky following at 9:30 pm. Click on the above video link to see full highlights of Tuesday's game and hear reaction from head coach Tony Bennett.