Jesperson delivers in big moment

Just put Virginia freshman Paul Jesperson in front of a raucous road crowd and a national television audience and he’ll find a way to impress you. The 6-foot-6 guard hasn’t had too many standout moments this season, but the ones he has enjoyed have occurred under the bright lights.

In Virginia’s loss at Duke in January, Jesperson scored his first Cameron Indoor Stadium points on a driving two-handed dunk.

On Tuesday night in Blacksburg against UVa’s biggest rival, “The Court Jesper” scored a career-high seven points, including a basket with 43 seconds left that wound up being the difference in the No. 25 Cavaliers’ 61-59 victory over Virginia Tech.

“I just try and feed off of the crowd — whether it’s our crowd or their crowd — and do everything we do in practice every day,” said Jesperson, who was 3 of 5 from the field and had three assists and just one turnover in a season-high 28 minutes. “That’s defend, get after each other and just be solid on offense — and that carried over into the game.”

In the first half, Jesperson knocked down a 3-pointer that gave Virginia a 15-13 lead. Later, he hit a long jumper that pulled UVa to within two points of Tech.

But the Wisconsin native’s biggest bucket — and the biggest of his career to date — came with less than a minute to play. After Mike Scott missed a shot, Jesperson crashed the boards for the rebound and scored on a put-back basket in the lane to give Virginia a 61-55 lead.

“I just attacked the glass — I got a fortunate bounce — and then I just laid it in,” said Jesperson, when asked about his decisive deuce, Virginia’s only points in the final three minutes.

With starting guards Jontel Evans and Sammy Zeglinski having fouled out of the game and Joe Harris and Malcolm Brogdon battling injuries, Jesperson’s contributions couldn’t have come at a better time.

Virginia coach Tony Bennett was certainly thankful for what he was able to get out of his freshman.

“He’s got feel,” Bennett said. “He’s good. He needs to get better defensively, but he made a couple of tough shots. He’s usually in the right place at the right time and he took care of the ball. I was real happy for him...

“With Malcolm being hurt and our depth being limited, that’s where you need something you don’t expect to come away victorious.”

Jesperson, who elected to burn his redshirt in December after the unexpected transfers of James Johnson and KT Harrell, had come into the game just 7 of 26 from the field, including 4 of 21 from 3-point range.

“P.J. really stepped up,” said Virginia sophomore Akil Mitchell. “He hadn’t played that much all season. To come in and shoot the way he [did] and defend, it was really big and I’m really proud of him.”