Associated Press

Brown center Stefan Kaluz (50) grabs the rebound in front of Virginia guard Mustapha Farrakhan.

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Mamadi Diane's performance in the closing minutes Saturday against Xavier was a start.

Then, he returned to the starting lineup.

Diane, previously buried in the worst slump of his career, scored seven of Virginia's first 12 points Tuesday, as the Cavaliers tuned up for 15 straight ACC regular-season games with a 74-50 victory over Brown.

"It's been difficult," said Diane, only 10 days removed from a six-minute stint that was the shortest of his four-year career. "It's been a lot of downs, but I've just stuck with it and I've been working hard. I'm going to continue to work harder than I ever have."

Diane had the highest 3-point shooting percentage on UVa's 2007-08 team among players with more than 10 attempts, but he missed his first 21 shots from behind the arc this season.

"It is crazy," he said. "I feel, after those games when I've shot so poorly, I could go in the gym right at that moment and start knocking down shots."

Diane extended another, more modest streak when he connected on his first 3-point shot Tuesday, but the Cavaliers (7-5) really didn't need his production against overmatched Brown (5-8).

Sophomore forward Mike Scott had 15 points and 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season, but UVa's only other double-figure scorer was redshirt freshman point guard Sammy Zeglinski with 14.

UVa freshman Sylven Landesberg, who had been scoring an ACC-high 19.6 points per game, missed all six of his shots from the field and finished with four points.

"He's had a head cold and hasn't really been himself the last couple of days," UVa coach Dave Leitao said. "I tried to put him back in towards the end and he preferred not to because he doesn't have the same kind of energy right now."

Virginia has used a variety of starting lineups, but Tuesday was the first time Diane had taken the floor with Landesberg, Zeglinski, Scott and 7-foot freshman Assane Sene.

Diane, starting for the first time since Nov. 25, took junior Calvin Baker's place at shooting guard.

Baker was 0-for-6 from the field Saturday in an 84-70 loss to 22nd-ranked Xavier and missed all four of his shots Tuesday night.

Diane scored seven points in 10 minutes against the Musketeers and has 14 points in 29 minutes over the last two games.

He said he learned of his return to the starting lineup when the team was given a scouting report Monday.

What cheers there were Saturday were reserved for Diane, especially when his 3-point drought ended.

"It was just everything that day," Diane said of his lifted spirits. "Also, the layups I got and the deflections and pressuring the ball. In practice, too, I just feel more comfortable in everything that I'm doing."

Leitao hasn't gotten much consistency out of any of the four players he has used at shooting guard -- Diane, Baker, sophomore Mustapha Farrakhan or Farrakhan's classmate, Jeff Jones.

The frequent lineup changes have been a response to practice performance and "just getting things right on defense," Leitao said.

"Moe stepped off the court the other night with a little bit of energy, so we tried to ride that a little bit. I think every coach would prefer -- and I think every player needs to know -- if they're going to play this amount of time or come off the bench. We're not, right now, constructed like that."

Virginia opponents have shot 42.4 percent from the field, easily ranking the Cavaliers last in the ACC in field-goal percentage defense, and it looked like more of the same when Brown shot 52.4 percent in the first half Tuesday night.

For most of the season, that figure has gone up in the second half, but the Bruins shot 23.3 percent in the second half and 35.3 for the game. Virginia wasn't exactly deadly, hitting 46.8 percent from the field, but UVa outrebounded Brown 41-29 and committed a season-low seven turnovers.

"It's always good to get back to winning," said Leitao.

"You have to be happy about that, understanding that you have to win a certain way. I think we had some of that [but] not all of that today."

Brown MP FG FT R A F PT

Friske 32 1-6 0-0 6 5 3 2

Skrelja 37 0-0 1-2 5 3 1 1

Sullivan 37 5-14 1-1 6 1 2 14

Mullery 24 4-8 0-0 1 1 5 8

Williams 33 3-10 5-5 2 1 0 13

Gruber 3 1-1 0-0 0 0 1 3

Kane 11 1-1 0-0 4 1 0 3

Kelly 4 0-1 0-0 0 0 1 0

Harris 2 1-1 0-1 0 0 0 2

Kaluz 15 2-8 0-0 1 0 1 4

Hollingsworth 2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0

Totals 200 18-51 7-9 29 12 14 50

Virginia MP FG FT R A F PT

Diane 19 3-8 0-0 1 1 1 7

Scott 27 5-10 5-6 10 0 3 15

Sene 16 3-3 0-4 3 1 3 6

Zeglinski 29 7-12 0-0 2 2 3 14

Landesberg 24 0-6 4-4 5 0 0 4

Farrakhan 15 4-7 1-1 1 1 1 9

Baker 18 0-4 0-0 2 3 0 0

Tucker 23 3-5 1-2 5 2 2 8

Sherrill 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Jones 9 1-1 0-0 3 0 1 3

Brandenburg 4 1-2 0-0 1 0 0 2

Tat 6 1-1 0-0 1 1 0 2

Meyinsse 8 1-3 2-4 3 1 1 4

Totals 200 29-62 13-21 41 12 15 74

Rebounds include team rebounds.

Score by periods:

Brown 29 21 -- 50

Virginia 39 35 -- 74

3-point goals: Brown 7-17 (Sullivan 3-8, Williams 2-6, Gruber 1-1, Kane 1-1, Kelly 0-1), Virginia 3-13 (Jones 1-1, Diane 1-3, Tucker 1-3, Zeglinski 0-1, Landesberg 0-2, Baker 0-3).

Turnovers: Brown 17 (Friske, Sullivan 6), Virginia 7 (Diane, Zeglinski 2).

Blocked shots: Brown 4 (Mullery 3), Virginia 6 (Sene 3).

Steals: Brown 5 (Friske 2), Virginia 9 (Zeglinski, Baker, Tucker 2).

Officials: Maxwell, Natili, Nichols.

Attendance: 8,357.