Fashion choices, dangerous foes for Bennett

After wearing an orange necktie during Virginia’s season-opening victory over Longwood last week, Cavaliers coach Tony Bennett didn’t wear one in the team’s loss at South Florida on Monday night.

But look for the return of one this evening when Bennett and Virginia play host to Rider at John Paul Jones Arena.

“At home, I will definitely wear a tie, and then on the road, probably not,” said Bennett, who was known for going tieless in his three years at Washington State. “That will be a good compromise.”

Bennett conceded to not having given his wardrobe a whole lot of thought, though. That’s probably a good idea when you consider Virginia (1-1) didn’t look very good on offense or defense for the majority of its loss to USF, and tonight’s opponent, Rider, could provide a tougher challenge than anyone imagined when the schedule came out late in the summer.

Rider, which went 19-13 last year out of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, is coming off one of the biggest victories in its program’s history — an 88-74 win on the road at No. 18 Mississippi State on Friday.

“They went into Mississippi State and beat them pretty handily,” Bennett said. “They’re an experienced team and shoot the ball extremely well. That’s certainly a challenge. That’s a team that’s very dangerous.”

Rider (2-0) followed with an easy home victory over Lehigh on Monday.

“They have good guards and are crafty,” Bennett added. “I was very impressed watching them on tape and what they could do offensively. They made it look easy against their first two opponents, and Mississippi State has some talent and athleticism certainly.”

Coincidentally, Rider’s last loss of the season in 2009 was to Liberty, which was coached by Virginia associate head coach Ritchie McKay.

“[McKay] said, ‘That’s a dangerous team,’” Bennett said. “He said, ‘I remember when they came on the schedule that this is a team that knows how to play.’ I think they showed that with what they did at Mississippi State.”

Against Rider, Virginia (1-1) will clearly have to amp up its defense.

UVa allowed USF to shoot 53 percent on Monday, but Bennett wasn’t totally dishearterned with his team’s defensive play. In fact, he believes there was actually some progress.

“In the second half, I didn’t feel there were as many defensive lapses as in the second half of the Longwood game,” he said. “I thought they still worked at it and battled, but just weren’t as sharp as the first half.

“And I think when you’re struggling to score, it wears on your defense.”

Virginia shot just 33 percent (including just 2 of 12 from 3-point range) against the Bulls.

“We just couldn’t make shots really,” said Virginia guard Sammy Zeglinski. “You go on the road and you can’t make shots, it’s going to be hard to win.”

Dunks

Tonight and Saturday’s game against Oral Roberts are part of the Cancun Challenge. Virginia plays Stanford on Tuesday in Cancun, then takes on the Kentucky/Cleveland State winner on Wednesday. ... Bennett gave updates on suspended center Assane Sene and on forward Jamil Tucker (on personal leave). He said Sene rolled his ankle recently and has only been able to practice twice since his suspension. The 7-footer is expected to return for the Oral Roberts game. Tucker, meanwhile, remains more of a mystery. “He’s not practicing or competing,” Bennett said. “When he has some of the personal issues dealt with, then we’ll re-evaluate where things are at.”