Sophomore affects outcome of games in many other ways heading into Final Four showdown with Auburn.
Virginia's De'Andre Hunter gets past Purdue's Grady Eifert during last weekend's Elite Eight win over the Boilermakers."I feel like I haven’t been playing that well,” Hunter said,"but it’s fine. I’ll be ready this week.
"I feel like I haven’t been playing that well,” Hunter said, “but it’s fine. I’ll be ready this week, and I’m for sure going to play a lot better.”Hunter’s teammates and Coach Tony Bennett, however, disagree about his self-professed downturn. And they’re not worried one iota about the state of the Hunter’s offensive game entering Saturday night’s national semifinal against No. 5 seed Auburn at U.S. Bank Stadium.
"He made some difficult plays at difficult times,” Bennett said. “He’s guarded hard when his shot wasn’t going in, so part of this is him growing and learning. But we’re going to need everybody at our best to move on in this tournament. Hunter did not play in the NCAA tournament last season because of a broken wrist, and the sting of that loss in part compelled Hunter to delay his NBA career for a shot at redemption.
Even though Hunter has logged just one game of at least 20 points over his past seven after four in as many previous games, his hidden impact on the court is among what teammates said they appreciate the most. Then there’s the benefit for frontcourt players such as Mamadi Diakite, Jack Salt and Jay Huff, all of whom can carve out additional interior space with post defenders favoring Hunter.
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