Cavs get back to the usual

As much fun as Virginia fans had watching their team play small ball and post gaudy, video game-like stats in the season-opening win against VMI on Sunday, they’re probably in for a much different type of show tonight.

When UVa takes the floor against South Florida at John Paul Jones Arena, the tempo of the game figures to be more conventional.

Ditto for Virginia’s starting lineup.

Against VMI, UVa coach Dave Leitao inserted freshman guard Sylven Landesberg into his lineup and slid Mike Scott from forward to center in an attempt to counteract the Keydets’ breakneck style.

The strategy worked perfectly as Landesberg and Scott were able to take advantage of mismatches and Virginia scored a whopping 107 points.

“It was fun,” said Landesberg, who had 28 points, eight assists and eight rebounds in his debut en route to being named ACC rookie of the week. “The energy in the building was just ridiculous. I just went out there and played my game.”

Now, the question is: Who does Leitao start against USF?

Does he put a big man like Tunji Soroye or Jerome Meyinsse (neither of whom played against VMI) into the lineup? And, if he does, whom does he take out?

After the kind of game Landesberg had on Sunday, Leitao would seem hard-pressed to remove the freshman. That would likely mean a trip to the bench for either Calvin Baker or Mustapha Farrakhan.

Scott, for his part, doesn’t seem to care whether he’s at forward or center.

“I really have no problem with [playing center],” said Scott, who had a career-high 26 points and 18 rebounds against VMI. “As long as I’m getting boards, I don’t care what’s going on.

“[As long as] I’m getting rebounds, our team is running, we’re defending and we’re winning — that’s basically what it comes down to.”

South Florida had no problems in its season opener, cruising to a 14-point home victory over Southern Methodist. The Bulls allowed just 46 points and held the Mustangs to 27 percent shooting, the lowest figure since coach Stan Heath took over the reins of the program two years ago.

Last season was a roller coaster for Heath’s squad. USF started the 2007-08 campaign strong, posting a seven-game winning streak, including wins over Florida State, Richmond and UAB.

However, the Bulls proceeded to drop 15 of their last 17 games — including a 10-game losing streak — and wound up tied for last in the Big East with Rutgers.

USF returns four starters this season, most notably guards Dominique Jones and Jesus Verdejo, two of its top three scorers from a year ago. Last season, as a freshman, Jones led the Bulls in scoring, averaging over 17 points per game.

Since USF’s best players are guards, there’s a chance Leitao could stick with his small-ball lineup.

Whatever Leitao does, he has to feel pretty good after beating a VMI team that had won on the road at Kentucky two nights earlier. It was only one game, but Leitao said he learned a lot about his young players.

“We have some more things that we can hopefully count on than we did coming into the season,” he said.

Dunks

Tonight marks the first-ever meeting between Virginia and South Florida. UVa has won its last 18 games against first-time opponents. The Cavs’ last loss in a first meeting came against Gonzaga in the 2001 NCAA Tournament. … Dave Leitao has a 2-1 record against USF from his days as coach at DePaul when the schools were members of Conference USA. … There has still been no word on the status of freshman 7-footer Assane Sene’s eligibility. Sene was held out of the VMI game, pending a resolution. … Mike Scott’s 18 rebounds against VMI were the most by a Virginia player since Travis Watson had 20 in a win over Wofford in 2003.