Cavs win with authority

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Dunks aren’t kept as an official statistic. Maybe they should be.

Dunks can tell you so much about a game.

They can be a measure of execution. They can be a measure of aggression. They can be a measure of dominance.

On Wednesday night at John Paul Jones Arena, Virginia registered very high in all three departments against Virginia Tech.

UVa — behind 19 points, nine rebounds and six assists from freshman Sylven Landesberg, some unexpected intangibles from Tunji Soroye off the bench and defense that held the visitors to 37-percent shooting — dunked the Hokies, 75-61, in front of a fired-up crowd of 11,174.

“I haven’t seen a lot of our big guys dunk the ball like I did today,” said Leitao, with a chuckle. “It’s about sharing the basketball and finding the open man.”

Virginia (9-13, 3-8 ACC) snapped a three-game losing streak against Virginia Tech and won two straight games for the first time since late December.

“I thought our guys were really ready — physically and mentally,” said Leitao, whose team travels to N.C. State on Saturday.

The Hokies appeared to miss the services of third-leading scorer Jeff Allen, who had been suspended for the game by Virginia Tech Athletic Director Jim Weaver for making an obscene gesture during the team’s loss to Maryland on Saturday.

Sophomore J.T. Thompson started in Allen’s place. He finished with 10 points, but scored just four after intermission.

Virginia set the tone — as it had in the previous two games — in the first half.

Landesberg flew to the hoop for a one-handed jam. Assane Sene had two dunks of his own.

“Everybody joined the dunk party today,” said UVa guard Jeff Jones. “It was a dunk party out there today that, I think, just uplifted the fans. When we get the fans into the game, we’re a heck of a team.”

Leitao was pleased that the sluggish, emotional starts to games that had plagued the team during its eight-game losing streak appear to be a thing of the past.

“They’ve done a terrific job of realizing that,” Leitao said, “and being ready to go.”

Tech’s baskets didn’t come nearly as easy because of some stingy Virginia defense. The Hokies (16-9, 6-5) stayed in the game thanks to the shooting of senior A.D. Vassallo (game-high 21 points).

The lead changed seven times until Virginia went up, 19-18, after Sene’s second throw-down.

Then it was “Tunji Time.” With the game tied at 29, the fifth-year senior had, arguably, the five most productive minutes of his career.

Soroye had five points, two rebounds and a block in leading Virginia on a 10-0 run to close the half.

Soroye’s spurt included a dunk off a pretty feed from Jamil Tucker and a layup as the buzzer sounded off an equally sweet dish by Landesberg.

As Virginia headed to the locker room, the soft-spoken Soroye was slapped on his back by almost every one of his teammates.

The Cavaliers picked right up where they left off when the second half started.

Jeff Jones drilled a 3-pointer, then converted on a strong drive to the basket. Mike Scott punctuated an 11-6 run with a flying one-handed dunk on the fastbreak.

Virginia led by as many as 19 with 7 minutes and 15 seconds remaining after a Jones’ 3-pointer. Tech could never get closer than eight the rest of the way.