Bennett wants Evans to keep shooting

Remember some of those moans and groans that you used to hear in John Paul Jones Arena when former Virginia guard Calvin Baker would take questionable shots?

Well, the same kind of grumblings have surfaced briefly in UVa’s last two games against Virginia Tech and Boston College whenever guard Jontel Evans has jacked up what fans have deemed to be too many shots.

However, there’s a key difference between Evans and Baker: Virginia coach Tony Bennett wants Evans to shoot the ball as much as the defense allows.

With opponents double-teaming leading scorer Mike Scott in the post and sagging way off of Evans — essentially daring him to beat them — Bennett believes Evans being aggressive on the offensive end is imperative. He’s of the mindset that if Evans doesn’t go on the attack, he’s just playing into opponents’ hands.

“He has to [shoot],” said Bennett, whose team travels to Raleigh tonight to take on N.C. State. “In my opinion, if people are going to back off of him that much, he has to reel in the slack and get to the paint.

“He’s worked hard in the offseason on his touch, his floaters, his drives...he has to take shots with good decisions behind it. But that has to loosen up the defense and he certainly has the freedom to do that. I’ll tell him if he shouldn’t.”

In the last three games, Evans has shot 12 of 29 from the field. The 29 attempts are more than any other player besides Scott (33).

Really, Bennett doesn’t have much choice in letting Evans do his thing. With sophomore Akil Mitchell still developing his offensive repertoire and Sammy Zeglinski struggling, somebody other than Scott and Joe Harris has had to try and step up, especially when you consider that Virginia’s three players off the bench are all freshmen.

Evans says he isn’t offended by how much opponents — knowing that he’s not a threat from 3-point range (he has just four 3s this season) — play off him.

“I don’t take it as disrespect at all,” he said. “I take it as a compliment because I’m a great penetrator and they’re trying to keep me out of the paint.

“And if I get to the paint, my team is dangerous.”

In the loss to Virginia Tech, Evans had trouble finishing shots right at the rim, particularly ones that came as he was driving full steam ahead on the fast break after he had made steals.

Against BC, Evans had a few ugly misses, but finished with 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting. He also had a game-high six assists, three steals and just two turnovers.

“When I get into the paint, I just take what the defense gives me,” Evans said. “If they give me that kiss of the glass, then I’ll take that. If I have to kick it out to the shooters, I’ll take that.”

As for tonight’s matchup against N.C. State (15-6, 4-2) — a team that is coming off a 19-point loss at North Carolina on Thursday and who Virginia (16-3, 3-2) has beaten three straight times?

“They got a lot of pros on that team if you ask me,” Evans said. “They got a lot of weapons, firepower — Lorenzo Brown, C.J. Leslie, DeShawn Painter. Those guys can play and I’m just looking forward to the challenge.”

Dunks

After the win over BC on Thursday, Sammy Zeglinski disputed the notion that he gave teammate and roommate Joe Harris the flu. “My mine was completely different than his,” said Zeglinski, laughing. “Everyone keeps saying that, but I had everything — diarrhea, throwing up. He had it easy. He just had a fever.”