NEW YORK -- There was the slightest sliver of an opening, and Matthew Fisher-Davis drove the lane then leapt towards the rim.
"We have to make every possession defensively hard," coach Tony Bennett said after Virginia's 68-42 win over Vanderbilt in the first game of the 2017 Preseason NIT on Thursday in New York.
"I just want every shot to be contested and try to keep the ball out of the lane," Bennett said. "If they're going to make (shots) they're going to have to earn them."
"We don't have any selfish guys on this team," Jerome said. "We don't care who scores. It's about getting great shots."
"Great shots" were something in short supply for Vanderbilt (2-3), which has lost two straight.
"Defensively, they did a great job," Vanderbilt coach Bryce Drew said of Virginia.
"We missed some shots early," Drew said. "They made some shots. Virginia is not a team you want to get behind, especially early because they're really hard to come back on."
"It starts defensively," Jerome said. "That's how you break their will: You get a stop and work them on offense for a while and get a great shot and get another stop."
"It was a very, very good team effort defensively," Bennett said. "It was one of those things where everything was clicking."
Vanderbilt: The Commodores entered the game averaging 75.2 points per game and 73.0 points allowed. However, in their last two games -- both losses -- they have allowed No. 10 Southern California and Virginia to total 161 points, an average of 80.5.