The statistics read like a roller coaster.
Ten points and seven rebounds one night. Four points, one board and five personal fouls the next. Nearly a season-high 22 points on 4-for-4 shooting from 3-point range one game. Two points and an 0-for-3 performance behind the arc the next.
Virginia sophomore Mamadi Diane is searching for consistency and his wild swings have nearly mirrored the Cavaliers’ uneven season.
“Some nights I’ve focused on the wrong thing, just thinking too much about what I need to be doing, and just not focusing and playing the game,” said the Potomac, Md., native and DeMatha High alum.
Diane opened the season — and the Cavaliers’ new home in Charlottesville, John Paul Jones Arena — with a career-high 25 points in a win over Arizona, and he’s the team’s second leading scorer at 10.9 points per game. He also hasn’t scored in double-figures in consecutive games since November but continues to start every contest for second-year coach Dave Leitao.
“It’s reassurance that I must be doing something right to be in the position that I am,” said Diane, the team’s best 3-point shooter (41.4 percent).
Virginia (9-6, 1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) is currently mired in its second multiple-game losing streak of the season entering tonight’s border showdown against visiting Maryland (15-3, 1-2).
“We’ve lost three games in a row and we’ve got a difficult opponent tomorrow. It doesn’t give anyone, particularly myself, any reason to look at things optimistically,” said Leitao, whose team surrendered leads in road losses to North Carolina and Boston College.
Led by the standout backcourt tandem of Sean Singletary (18.1 ppg) and J.R. Reynolds (16.1 ppg), the Cavaliers can be explosive. They pummeled Gonzaga with a school-record 18 three-pointers, something that wasn’t missed by Maryland head coach Gary Williams.
“That’s the thing: You can be playing well — especially in league play in a very good league. You don’t get the wins but that doesn’t mean you’ve played poorly,” said Williams. “You might’ve done a couple things wrong at the wrong time, and that’s the way it goes in close games, but it’s there for Virginia.”
Maryland at Virginia
» When: Tonight, 8
» Where: John Paul Jones Arena, Charlottesville
» TV: WDCA-20
