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Mark Berman back here in Charlottesville, where the Virginia men's basketball team beat Hartford 78-70 on Sunday. UVa led the entire second half but its coach said the Cavs didn't play at a high level.

"We weren't real sharp," UVa coach Dave Leitao said. "The biggest issue right now is just inconsistency.We can have good to terrific days of practice and we can have some real downers. That affects every aspect.

"If we're not consistent or don't become consistent, somebody else is going to take control of that for us and that's not good news."

"He has very high standards for us," Sean Singletary said. "We've just go to play up to those expectations if we want to be a great team. He's been around great teams and he knows what it takes and he knows we've got the talent to do it. When we don't, he gets on us. .... He's yelling at us, but hey, you've got to let it go in one ear and out the other and take the message for what it's worth. ... We did a few thing well but we did more things not the right way."

UVa is 10-2 now. Hartford fell to 5-9.

"We wasn't sharp," Tunji Soroye said after making his season debut. "It has to do with our mind-set. ... If it was a bigger team, the mind-set would be different."

Singletary was sick and was just 3-of-14 from the field. He had 12 points, four assists and five turnovers.

"Sometimes you miss some shots and sometimes you don't," he said. "I've just got to bounce back."

"When he's not at his best, we get dramatically affected," Leitao said. "When he plays at a high level, it tends to make everybody else play at a high level, and he wasn't healthy today."

Hartford's coach was still impressed with Singletary.

"Sean Singletary at times was just too much," Hawks coach Dan Leibovitz said. "The difference in the game was transition and Sean. When we were able to set up our zone, I think for the most part we were pretty sound defensively. But where we broke down was in transition. A lot of the first-half threes and a lot of the breakdowns came from them pushing the ball."

Mamadi Diane had 20 points and nine rebounds and was 4-of-5 from long range. Adrian Joseph had 15 points and 12 rebounds.

"They were playing zone so ... you get a lot of open looks," Diane said.

UVa was 10-of-23 from 3-point range against Hartford's zone defense. UVa shot 34.8 percent from the field in the second half.

"In our preparation, what I saw is that as good as they shoot the ball, they don't necessarily love shooting the ball against the zone," Leibovtz said.

"We don't really play well against zone defense," Soroye said.

Soroye played three minutes in his season debut after missing the first 11 games with a knee injury.

"Hopefully I can get more rhythm in practice this coming week," he said.

UVa swingman Solomon Tat played five minutes in his season debut after missing the first 11 games with a sports hernia.

"The doctor told me that I have to play with it to get the scar tissue loose," Tat said. "I'm pretty much about 90 percent."

Ryan Pettinella, who had missed the past three games due to injury, played two minutes. Jamil Tucker missed the game with back spasms.

"One of the things that we're struggling with is that we don't yet have a true rotation," Leitao said. "But that's not an excuse."

A large contingent of the Zeglinski family sat behind the Hartford bench and saw Joe Zeglinski score 15 points for the Hawks. But UVa freshman guard Sammy Zeglinski missed his third straight game with an ankle injury. Their father expects he will sit out the rest of the season as a medical redshirt; a decision will come within the next week.