Cavaliers get right, crush Red Flash; Beekman, Woldetensae start for Clark, Morsell

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No. 15 Virginia 76, St. Francis (Pa.) 51 

Maybe they were laser-focused and a bit angry after getting upset by San Francisco. Maybe it was the change on offense and with the starting lineup. Maybe it was playing a game at the friendly confines of John Paul Jones Arena for the first time since early March, even if the fans were just made of cardboard.

Whatever the reason, the No. 15 Cavaliers looked much better, more determined, and businesslike Tuesday, downing St. Francis (Pa.) and bouncing back from the surprising loss to USF. SFU (1-2), which did beat Pittsburgh last week in its opener, did not fare nearly as well as the Dons did against UVa (2-1). By halftime, Virginia had reduced the Red Flash to a mere flash in the pan, as the Cavaliers were up and cruising 45-13. They led 62-20 before taking their foot off the gas and making the final score less embarrassing.

The biggest news to come out of this beatdown was the change to the starting five.

Tomas Woldetensae was inserted for Casey Morsell. Ha, gotcha there, didn’t I?

OK, that happened, too, but the one that had people talking was Reece Beekman getting the start over Kihei Clark.

Let’s just do a straight up stats comparison. Beekman played 22 minutes and scored 2 points on 1-of-3 shooting (0 for 1 on 3-pointers) to go along with four assists, three rebounds, two steals and … no turnovers. Clark played 15 minutes and did not score, going 0 for 2 overall and 0 for 1 on 3s. He had three assists … but also three turnovers.

Beekman has not tallied a turnover this season. Clark has seven.

Beekman did nothing to dissuade coach Tony Bennett from starting him again. Clark did nothing that screamed, “Put me back in!”

Time will tell if this is a permanent change or just something to get Clark’s mind right.

Kadin Shedrick looks to pass. The redshirt
freshman big man put up 12 points and grabbed
eight boards in 18 minutes. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

“That’s kind of a personal decision, and I went with the group that I wanted to go with,” Bennett said of the changes after the game, unsurprisingly not divulging any details.

For anyone up in arms about one of the heroes of the Purdue game getting demoted, let’s just take a step back and see where this goes.

We know Bennett is tinkering with lineups and rotations early in the season. Bennett and Clark are figuring out how Clark fits into this team. Clark is definitely not going to be asked to do all that he did last season. But there’s no doubt that Clark will be better this season. He will have a role on this team, and likely will play with Beekman at times.

But Beekman does kind of jump off the screen, doesn’t he? The Louisiana freshman’s points came on a breakaway at the end of the half when he took matters into his own hands, finishing at the rack with his left hand.

As for the other change, Woldetensae played 23 minutes and scored 8 points on 2-of-5 shooting (2 of 4 beyond the arc) while adding four assists and three rebounds. Morsell played 15 minutes and scored 7 points on 3-of-6 shooting (1 of 3 beyond the arc) to go along with two assists.

Right now, Woldetensae simply brings more to the table than Morsell because of his shooting. Morsell is probably the better defender, but Woldetensae is no slouch and has improved in that area. It is early, but Morsell is shooting better from distance. I would continue to tell Casey to attack the basket. Cut out some of the 3s and long 2s and just go to the rim. That is his strength on offense.

After using the new 5-out offense for most of the San Francisco and Towson games, Virginia switched to running more of the traditional blocker-mover system versus the Red Flash. The result was a better showing than Friday (although the Towson outcome was good). The Cavaliers hit 51.7% of their field goals but still struggled from 3-point range, knocking down just 5 of 22.

Jay Huff was much more involved, leading the team with 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting after taking just two shots against USF. He added five rebounds and three blocks to the box score in just 14 minutes.

The best surprise of the game was Kadin Shedrick. The redshirt freshman forward saw the floor for 18 minutes, tallying 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting and eight boards. He did commit three fouls, though, keeping in the tradition of young UVa big men being foul magnets.

Shedrick displayed nice touch around the rim but also showed he can bang a bit. I think he looks pretty thick, definitely bigger than Huff did at that age, and they are only 2 inches apart in height. Bennett indicated that Shedrick is gaining weight after an illness in the fall.

“Your eyes see his length, his dimensions. He’s long. He’s very active and continuous. He plays hard on the glass, and he’s working, and he’s still learning,” Bennett said. “He missed a lot of the spring, obviously, and summer, he had some knee issues, so he didn’t get to train the way he could’ve or should’ve with some issues with that. And this fall, he had a mono-type illness, so he lost a lot of weight, couldn’t train for months. So I think he is getting some of his weight back … and he’s getting some opportunities now, and I think he gives us a dimension that’s good. I was really pleased with his effort and output tonight.”

Sam Hauser had a better game after struggling with his shot versus USF. In 18 minutes, the Marquette transfer recorded 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting (1 for 3 on 3s) and six rebounds.

Trey Murphy III bounced back from his dismal game against the Dons, but did not reach the heights of his Towson performance. He landed right in the middle, finishing with 10 points on 3-of-7 shooting (1 for 4 from deep), four rebounds, and an assist in 17 minutes.

Justin McKoy started again and recorded 7 points, two rebounds, two steals, and an assist in 19 minutes. He made all three of his free throws as Virginia went 11 of 12 at the line, continuing to show strength there after struggling at times in 2019-20. So far, the Wahoos have hit 30 of 34 at the charity stripe (88.2%) after going 289 of 403 last season (71.7%).

Kody Stattmann had 4 points, including a nice baseline dunk, four rebounds, and two assists in 14 solid minutes, and Carson McCorkle scored his first collegiate points on a jumper just in front of the free throw line.

The Red Flash were without their best player, guard Ramiir Dixon-Conover, which Bennett mentioned after the game. The senior rolled his ankle in the second half of their loss Saturday to UMBC. In SFU’s upset of Pitt, Dixon-Conover posted 21 points, five assists, five rebounds, and four steals.

“We played really good basketball defensively and offensively in the first half,” Bennett said. “And we got on the glass, scored in the paint, [got] offensive rebounds, some post moves, so that was good to see, and just moved and tried to do what we could. So I think it was a step in the right direction in the first half. Second half, not so much.”

SFU outscored UVa 38-31 in the second 20 minutes. It isn’t something I’d worry about at this point, as the game was well in hand. But the second-half defense was something that Bennett pointed out must get better.

“We didn’t last. We weren’t persistent enough defensively,” Bennett said. “There were breakdowns, so they outplayed us in the second half. But at least you have to say, all right, this is what [good defense] looks like and how we do it. I thought we were pretty good defensively in the first half against San Francisco, pretty good against Towson. Both second halves, this team has to, again, continue to find the ability to battle, and we gotta keep getting better and better as the competition level goes up — in all due respect, I acknowledged that [St. Francis] was without their top guy.”

I wasn’t surprised he mentioned the defense, as Bennett is always looking for something close to perfection out of his Pack-Line. As a coach, you have to look a little harder for things to get on your players about when you win by 25, but Bennett is happy to do just that.

SFU did not have its best player, but it was a solid victory after the disappointing setback in Connecticut. UVa left no doubt about the outcome of this game right out of the gate. You can only draw so much from this matchup, but Virginia responded the way it needed to by picking up the easy win. That’s exactly what you want to see out of a team that has national title aspirations.

“If they thought we were invincible and were just going to show up, no way,” Bennett said he told his players after the USF defeat. “We’ve got work to do. That was the message.”

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