Indoor fireworks, lighted torches, green lasers, a mascot rappelling from the ceiling, players making a smoky entrance, Michael Buffer proclaiming, “Let’s get ready to rumble”: UVA certainly made a spectacle in opening the $130 million John Paul Jones Arena for its first men’s basketball game November 12 against No. 10 ranked Arizona. Bright orange t-shirts lined every seat and the opening video broadcast on the high-res jumboscreens had a digitized Cav Man vanquish a villainous Wildcat, with cameos from Head Coach Dave Leitao and namesake John Paul Jones.
But for the first half of the game, the welcoming fanfare far outperformed the unranked basketball team. Though the sold-out crowd was raucous during the opening minutes, Arizona deflated the onlookers’ energy by climbing to a 19-point lead. Leitao did some yelling, both at his players and the refs, and All-ACC point guard Sean Singletary was able to trim that deficit with back-to-back three pointers. Still, the Cavaliers retreated to the locker room down 49-36.
They returned rejuvenated, more patient on both offense and defense, and thanks to lights-out shooting from Mamadi Diane (he hit 5 of 6 three-point attempts) and workhorse regularity from Singletary (who played all but three minutes of the game, despite cramps), UVA tied Arizona with 11 minutes to play. They finally took the lead on a Diane three at the 5:42 mark and kept it down the stretch, winning 93-90 after the Wildcats missed an open three at the buzzer.
he crowd played its part in the comeback. One of the touted design features is a surprising intimacy for a building that seats 15,219, brought largely by steep inclines that get the upper deck closer to the action. The proximity perhaps helped: The crowd erupted after each big play, cried “Buuull-shiiit” after a bad foul call and were pin-drop silent when the home team attempted free throws. Even the oldtimers were on their feet for the final minutes of play.
“Tremendous, tremendous,” said Leitao of the atmosphere. “Not being able to even hear yourself think.”
“It’s a great building here,” said Lute Olsen, the wizened Arizona coach, already a member of the Naismith Hall of Fame. “There’s no doubt [the crowd] helped Virginia get back into it.”
In an earlier game, the women’s basketball team won as well, beating Old Dominion 92-72.