Morsell comes up big in return, ‘Hoos stomp Fighting Irish for fourth consecutive win

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No. 18 Virginia 80, Notre Dame 68

The reason Casey Morsell could not play or practice for a 10-day stretch leading up to Wednesday’s game against Notre Dame at John Paul Jones Arena wasn’t good, but he sure did look refreshed.

Morsell made a career-high three 3-pointers on three attempts and scored 15 points off the bench in 24 minutes as No. 18 Virginia built a big lead and cruised past Notre Dame for its fourth consecutive win. UVa (8-2, 4-0 ACC) has beaten Notre Dame (3-8, 0-5) six straight times and in 11 of 12 ACC matchups.
It was the first time Morsell played in a game since the Cavaliers’ 66-57 road victory over the Fighting Irish on Dec. 30, due to being in COVID-19 contact-tracing quarantine.

“I just used the quarantine to my advantage,” said Morsell, who noted he didn’t even get winded. “I was fresh. My shoulder (which he tweaked at the end of the first Notre Dame meeting) felt good. I just came out there really relaxed and confident and ready to go.”

Morsell’s previous career high for 3s was two, twice, last season. He actually went 2 for 2 at North Carolina, and earlier that year, he went 2 for 6 versus Navy. Morsell’s career high for points is 19 against Arizona State on Nov. 24, 2019, but he wasn’t very efficient in that game, going 7 for 12 from the field overall and 1 for 5 beyond the arc.

On Wednesday, he went 6 for 7 from the field and added four rebounds despite only getting in two days of practice before the matchup.

“I said to him, ‘Practice? Practice is overrated.’ I said, ‘You get another 10-day break,'” coach Tony Bennett said.

Morsell (in picture trying to get around ND's Dane Goodwin) has obviously been criticized plenty for his offense by Virginia fans. If he is now starting to turn the corner on that end of the floor, that is a very good development for this team. He’s now shooting 46.8% from the floor overall and 35.3% beyond the arc. Last season, those numbers were 27.7% and 17.6%.

“I am using 2021 as a new start, a new beginning,” he said. “I am just learning from all my mistakes last year.”

“Good for him, because he has put the work in,” Bennett said. “There’s no question. You know he learned a lot. He had some good moments last year. He struggled at times. I think he really put that information and that wisdom to use.”
Morsell wasn’t the only Wahoo to post a career high in 3s. Jay Huff got the scoring started with a 3-pointer in the opening 15 seconds and went 4 for 8 (and 7 for 13 overall), with all of his makes coming in the first half, as he again tied his career high in points with 18, while adding five rebounds, two blocks, and an assist to the box score. Huff previously made three treys three times in his career, and he did go a perfect 3 for 3 two seasons ago at home versus Louisville.

“[Huff’s 3s] stretch the offense. … So, it opens the floor for other post-ups or drives,” Bennett said. “We’re a different team this year, so we’re trying to utilize different guy’s strengths. You know Sam can stretch it, and certainly Jay, but that was nice. There’s real nice ball movement and rhythm 3s. That obviously is something that he can do, so I think it sets up the rest of his game. We say to have balance in your game, and I think that’s what he’s learning to do.”

At one point late in the first half, Huff made back-to-back triples then drew a charge from Prentiss Hubb right next to the Virginia bench, where he was mobbed as the under-4 media timeout began. The only bad part of his night was again getting into some foul trouble, limiting him to 24 minutes.

The hot 3-point shooting spread throughout the team. Virginia went 12 for 24 from deep, the first time it shot better than 40% on 3s since the opener against Towson, when the ‘Hoos made 15 of 29 (51.7%). Trey Murphy (2 for 4), Kihei Clark (1 for 3), Reece Beekman (1 for 2), and Sam Hauser (1 for 4) got in on the action, too.

Hauser fell one rebound shy of a fourth consecutive double-double, tallying 15 points, nine boards, and an assist. He again struggled shooting 3s, but made 5 of 9 shots inside the arc.

Clark played another fantastic, under control game, posting 12 points on a 5-of-11 performance, six assists, and just one turnover. Virginia did a good job of playing clean basketball, recording eight turnovers, a slight increase over the five it committed in the first meeting with Notre Dame, but still acceptable. The Irish had seven in both games.

Murphy put up 10 points on a 4-for-6 effort with four assists and a block.

Beekman tallied 7 points while making 2 of his 5 shot attempts, four rebounds, three assists, three steals, and two turnovers. He had another slick pass to Huff underneath the basket for a jam.
With Kadin Shedrick sidelined for a second straight contest with a non-COVID-related illness, Francisco Caffaro got some run again, playing 12 minutes and scoring 3 points on an old-fashioned 3-point play. It was the first time he scored since the William & Mary game Dec. 22. He also had one rebound and one assist.

Justin McKoy and Tomas Woldetensae did not see the court.

UVa shot 54.4% from the field and 6 of 7 at the line. The Fighting Irish went just 5 of 22 from beyond the arc (22.7%) and 43.1% from the field, but did go 19 of 20 at the free throw line. The Cavaliers edged the Irish on the boards, 29-27.

Nate Laszewski was kept in check much better in this one than when he went off for 28 points Dec. 30. He scored 12 points on 4-for-8 shooting and made one triple. Cormac Ryan led the Irish with 16 points, but 7 came from a perfect 7-for-7 effort at the line. Juwan Durham had another nice game with 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting, but also was not as hot as when he recorded 19 on Dec. 30. Santa Clara transfer Trey Wertz, who got hurt in the first meeting, had a solid outing with 13 points and made 3 of 5 from deep.

Although UVa nearly led Notre Dame wire-to-wire Dec. 30, it had fewer problems with the Irish this time around. After Huff made it 30-18 with his consecutive treys in the first half, the lead never dipped below 10. Virginia built the margin to as much as 24 points with 12:22 remaining.

Notre Dame did fight back, cutting the lead to 10 at 68-58 with five minutes to go, but any real threat was extinguished with a dazzling sequence in which Morsell made a contested 3 after a Beekman steal, Clark made a layup, and then Beekman stole the inbounds pass for a dunk. The scoreboard flashed from 68-58 to 75-58 quickly.
Until the Irish’s mini-rally, this looked like the typical Virginia beatdown of an ACC squad to which fans have grown accustomed throughout most of Bennett’s tenure. But the end of the second half did take a little shine off the victory. Notre Dame and UVa both scored 43 points in the second half after a 37-25 first 20 minutes.

I liked seeing Bennett keep the starters in until the end of the game, kind of a statement to make sure you finish what you started.

“I thought we drifted into some old habits defensively that aren’t gonna cut it [in the second half], and that was disappointing,” Bennett said. “But yes, there was some good defense in the first half [and] good ball movement.”

It was really good to see five players in double figures again, something Virginia also did versus Wake Forest. It goes without saying that when the Wahoos do that, they go from hard to beat to very difficult to defeat.

As I noted in my recap of the Boston College game, to that point, UVa had won three ACC matchups fairly easily while shooting under 31% from deep in each victory. The ‘Hoos finally found their stroke again Wednesday, and it was a sight to behold. If they can be closer to a 50% percent 3-point shooting team than a 31% 3-point shooting team, watch out. Then if they just turn the defense up a tad, they should be the favorites in the conference. They don’t need to have the defense of last season if they can consistently score 70 or more points most of the time. Virginia is sitting at 69.25 points per game in ACC play.

Of course, there’s still the issue of the schedule. Virginia has not played a strong-looking conference team yet. I am anxious to see how the Cavaliers fare versus a better opponent. They will hopefully get their first chance Saturday at No. 12 Clemson, which is 9-1 and has not played since defeating N.C. State, 74-70, on Jan. 5, due to a COVID-induced layoff.
Per Ken Pom, the Tigers own the most efficient defense in the nation. It will be a solid test to see what strides Virginia has made since the Gonzaga debacle. Clemson will be, really, only the second NCAA tournament-caliber foe UVa has faced. The ‘Hoos did score 75 versus the Zags, but I’m really interested to see the offense against the Tigers in what I hope and expect will be a close game. Clemson has often had a sound defense under coach Brad Brownell. Virginia has won 10 straight against the Tigers, but six of those matchups were decided by 7 or fewer points.

“And so now you go against a Clemson team that’ll be fresh and ready,” Bennett said. “I think they practiced today. They’re athletic and strong and a good team, and we’ll have to just be ready.”

Photo credit: UVa Athletics

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