His two free throws with 29 seconds left propelled Virginia to a 68-66 win in front of 10,311 at John Paul Jones Arena.

For much of Wednesday night’s game against South Florida, very little of what Calvin Baker did on the court was very pretty or seemed to come easy.

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

The Virginia player whom VMI coach Duggar Baucom was talking about first in the wake of his team’s 107-97 loss on Sunday was Sammy Zeglinski.

Virginia, behind a school freshman record 28 points from Sylven Landesberg and a career-high 26 points and 18 rebounds from sophomore Mike Scott, held off pesky VMI in front of 9,955 fans to win its 11th straight season opener.

For three years, Leitao and an army of UVa fans have been waiting for Diane to step up, take charge and not be afraid to fail.

Since coming to Charlottesville three years ago, Virginia coach Dave Leitao has been able to recruit a stable of three- and four-star prospects to his program.

When Virginia’s basketball schedule first came out, the season-opening game versus VMI probably wasn’t a very big topic of discussion around the water cooler.

Yes, for the last three years — ever since coach Dave Leitao came aboard — Virginia has been blessed with one of the best players in the conference.

In the waning moments of last Sunday’s exhibition game at John Paul Jones Arena, Sylven Landesberg soared majestically toward the basket.

For three years, Virginia — for various reasons — hasn’t subscribed to it. Instead of working inside-out, UVa has attempted to go outside-in.

And, to that end, Virginia coach Dave Leitao has zeroed in on Mychal Parker — a silky-smooth wing player who just so happens to be playing at the nearby Miller School this year.

On Monday, a source told The Daily Progress that Virginia has a legitimate shot of reeling in one of the jewels of the 2009 class — Renardo Sidney, a 6-foot-10, 250-pounder out of Los Angeles’ Fairfax Senior High.

Well, maybe this year’s strain of injury virus won’t be as vicious as some Virginia basketball fans feared.

At ACC Media Day on Sunday, Virginia — to nobody’s surprise — was picked to finish dead last (12th) in the conference.