CHARLOTTESVILLE, Nov. 21 -- Throughout the last month, the Virginia Cavaliers told anyone who would listen that their goals this basketball season far exceed the low expectations outsiders hold for them. Sunday they put those words into action, earning a shockingly decisive 78-60 win against 10th-ranked Arizona that suggested their preseason optimism might be founded on something more than fond hopes.
Seldom in Pete Gillen's six previous seasons as head coach have the Cavaliers (2-0) played better than they did Sunday evening. Point guard Sean Singletary, a highly touted freshman who is living up to the hype, helped lead the way.
Virginia's Devin Smith, center, celebrates with the rest of the Cavaliers after upsetting 10th-ranked Arizona. Smith led the team with 17 points.
(Andrew Shurtleff -- Daily Progress Via AP)
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"We showed everybody a little taste of what we can do," said guard-forward Gary Forbes, one of several players who took turns carrying the Cavaliers.
Virginia, which last defeated a top 10 team in an 86-78 win at eighth-ranked Maryland in February 2003, took the lead for good with 11 minutes remaining in the first half and had the margin in double digits most of the way. Twice in the final minutes, the Wildcats (2-1) threatened to make a run, but both times the Cavaliers answered with Singletary, who finished with 15 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists and 6 steals and outplayed Mustafa Shakur and Salim Stoudamire, Arizona's star guards.
Credit for the blowout -- Arizona's worst loss since a 21-point defeat in the 2002 NCAA tournament -- was spread around the Virginia locker room. Devin Smith (17 points), Elton Brown (15) and Forbes (13) led the scoring effort. Power forward Jason Clark did what he does best, providing toughness and hustle and leading the Cavs to a 37-32 rebounding advantage despite playing with his left eye swollen nearly all the way shut after getting hit in Friday's season opener.
Perhaps most important, the Cavaliers played terrific defense, forcing Arizona to shoot less than 40 percent and inspiring hope that this team could defend opponents with vigor this season.
"It doesn't take a lot of looking to see what happened here," said Lute Olson, Arizona's coach. "Virginia outplayed us in every area you want to talk about."
At the center of it all was Singletary, last year's Philadelphia high school player of the year. He took control with 5½ minutes remaining after Arizona pulled to 63-52 and gave the Cavaliers their first points in more than three minutes, driving against Stoudamire for a hanging bank shot. The margin was at 67-58 with three minutes left when he burst around a pick from Brown and into the lane for a layup.
Singletary rebounded a Stoudamire miss on the next play, drew a foul and hit two free throws. He absorbed a charge from Shakur, who combined with Stoudamire for 6-of-19 shooting and 11 turnovers, before Smith drained a jumper to beat the shot clock and get the lead to 73-58 with 1:46 left.
"We were aggressive," Gillen said. "We played to win instead of to not lose."
In all, Virginia scored on seven of nine possessions down the stretch before running out the clock. Singletary dribbled the seconds away as Brown raised his right arm high, index finger pointed to the roof of University Hall. A portion of the 7,792 fans in attendance rushed onto the court, and the celebration began in earnest.
"We want that to happen a lot," Singletary said.
Virginia hadn't hosted a nonconference opponent ranked in the top 10 since Louisville visited in 1982-83 and had played only 15 such teams in 33 years. From the start, the teams and the crowd were electric, energized by a series of early highlights that seemed to indicate this wasn't just another November game.
"Everybody doubted us," said Brown, who became the 38th Virginia player to reach 1,000 career points and led his team with seven rebounds. "Nobody thought we even had a chance of beating them. If you would have said Friday night Virginia would win by 18, [everyone] would have said, 'What, are you crazy?' I mean, we're just showing people that we can play."
• NAVY 89, LOYOLA, MD. 86: Senior Taj Mathews made the front end of a one-and-one with nine seconds left to give Navy a three-point lead, and Loyola's Charlie Bell missed a three-pointer at the buzzer as the Midshipmen won in Baltimore.
Corey Johnson scored a team-high 21 points and David Hooper finished with 18. Matt Fannin scored 14, tying his career high, and also pulled down a game-best nine rebounds.
Bell finished with a game-high 26 points on 9-of-12 shooting.
