Wahoos rudely welcome Tigers back from COVID pause with 35-point beatdown

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No. 18 Virginia 85, No. 12 Clemson 50

A guy that didn’t even play against Notre Dame on Wednesday and had not scored since Dec. 26 versus Gonzaga went 4 for 6 from beyond the arc and scored 14 points as No. 18 Virginia annihilated No. 12 Clemson on Saturday at Littlejohn Coliseum behind red-hot, long-distance shooting.

“[Tomas Woldetensae] came in and gave us a lift with his shooting, which was great to see,” coach Tony Bennett said. “He had been struggling some, but we needed him tonight. … I thought he defended well, I really did. He got his hands on some balls, and he made his shots, and Tomas is a streaky shooter, and he got it going, and we needed that.”

As noted by Bennett, Woldetensae wasn’t just a dead-eye shooter. He had a good all-around game with five rebounds, two steals, and an assist.

But Woldetensae’s huge night off the bench gives us a glimpse into just how much of a nightmare it must be for opposing coaches to prepare for the Wahoos’ offense this year. Notice I said offense. We all know getting ready for the Pack-Line defense is daunting in and of itself. But now in addition to that, it is becoming obvious that coaches must figure out how to slow down this multipronged Virginia attack.

Woldetensae (right) is a player who made seven 3-pointers on two occasions last year, six once, and four once. He roasted Louisville at the KFC Yum! Center for 27 points. As teams realized how dangerous he was, they started defending him more closely, and his performance suffered during the season’s final few games.

It’s possible that coaches may need to remember to game plan for him again. But if they do, it probably won’t matter much to Virginia’s offensive machine. The mental image that appears in my head for how it must feel trying to defend the Cavaliers this year is when you have too many leaks to plug in a pipe. When you patch up one spot, another area starts to burst. When you’ve fixed that crack, it starts gushing behind you. Pretty soon, you’re soaked.

Consider that Saturday, UVa (9-2, 5-0 ACC) had five double-figure scorers for the third time in a game this season.

Before this year, Virginia had five double-figure scorers just twice under Bennett. And knowing that all three instances this year have come against ACC teams shows that this offense is just starting to come together. Plus, we said the defense would improve, and it has. I mean, Virginia was up 18-2 more than halfway through the first half and 29-5 with under six minutes to go. Good luck to the conference’s coaches.

The other Wahoos in double figures: Sam Hauser (14), Trey Murphy III (13), Jay Huff (12), and Kihei Clark (12).

Hauser added eight rebounds, two assists, a steal, and a block.

Murphy had three rebounds and an assist and was flirting with Ty-land distance on his treys.

Huff tallied a career-high five assists, showing his increasing versatility. Inside and out, passing or taking it to the rim, he is playing like the best version of himself.

Clark missed his only two 3-point attempts, but continued to dominate and trick defenders inside the arc with his shiftiness, going 5 for 5 on 2s. He notched five assists and committed no turnovers. Virginia had only seven, the fifth straight game it has finished with fewer than 10, and there’s no doubt that has played a big part in the Cavaliers’ five-contest winning streak.

Taking care of the ball is important, but what got everyone talking Saturday was the shooting. It seemed as if the 3s were raining from all around, a bit like that Syracuse road game two seasons ago. At Clemson, Virginia went 15 for 27 (55.6%) and at one point, it had knocked down an incredible nine in a row to start the second half. It was the Wahoos’ best performance from beyond the arc this year, bettering the 15-for-29 effort versus Towson and 12-for-24 outing versus Notre Dame on Wednesday. And, no, I won’t make you look it up. In that 2019 game at the Carrier Dome, Virginia shot 18 for 25 from deep (72%).

Like Woldetensae, Hauser knocked down 4 treys on 5 attempts, his game high for triples in a UVa uniform.

“I’ve been in a little bit of a slump from behind the arc, but I trust my mechanics, trust my technique, I just keep working every day, and I know eventually they’re gonna start falling,” Hauser said. “Hopefully this is a trend now, that they start falling a little more.”

Murphy went 3 for 3, Huff 2 for 6, Casey Morsell 1 for 3, and Carson McCorkle hit his first triple as a ‘Hoo in the closing minutes. Nobody could miss. The team was simply feeling it. Morsell hit an awkward, long 2-point jumper while fading away off one leg. Hauser knocked down multiple 3s with the shot clock dwindling. Clemson, previously the nation’s most efficient defense, had no answers.

“It’s unbelievable. It’s fun, it’s engaging, everybody’s cheering up from the bench,” Woldetensae said of being a part of a team that is hitting on all cylinders. “Energy just flows out of your body. It’s just a happy moment, especially now with COVID. It’s enjoyable.”

Reece Beekman contributed 8 points, six assists, five rebounds, two steals, and had just one turnover. On his takes to the rim, he showed really good, smart body control for a true freshman. Morsell had 5 points and a board. Minus Kadin Shedrick again, Francisco Caffaro got in for 13 minutes and posted 2 points and two rebounds. Jabri Abdur-Rahim hit a long 2-pointer. Justin McKoy, noted player-coach Chase Coleman, and Austin Katstra saw time as well, with all healthy players getting on the court in this blowout.

With the win and Louisville’s loss at Miami, UVa grabbed sole possession of first place in the ACC.

This was the 13th consecutive conference win for the ‘Hoos dating to last season, but their first true blowout since last year’s 65-39 home victory versus Virginia Tech, and the first time they had mercilessly beaten a team on the road since that aforementioned 79-53 demolition of Syracuse on March 4, 2019.

Funny enough, it was the second-largest margin of victory for any team against a ranked foe on the road. The top 25 team that suffered the worst loss at home? Virginia in 1993.

There was a lot of talk about how the Tigers (9-2, 3-2) — with no players in double figures and only 14 points from their starters — had not played since Jan. 5 against N.C. State, and how they had not practiced much leading up to the matchup with the Wahoos due to a COVID pause. Did it make a difference? Probably. But I don’t think that can account for everything that happened in the game. Virginia was simply awesome — almost flawless. Given what we’ve seen in recent years, something close to this has happened plenty of times when squads do have ample time to prepare for UVa. Even with some practice, the Tigers were going to be crushed. Perhaps they lose by 25 instead of 35.

“They smashed us,” said Clemson coach Brad Brownell, whose team has now lost 11 straight against the Wahoos. “We just didn’t have it tonight, and Virginia definitely had something to do with it. They were outstanding and always two steps faster than us. Our guys seemed to lose confidence right away. We just couldn’t make any shots early on. Virginia made plenty of 3s, some open and some guarded. We lost our edge and confidence tonight. We just need to get back to practice and get back in a routine.”

The Tigers shot 40.4% from the floor and 5 of 23 from beyond the arc (21.7%). Virginia owned the glass, 33-20. It was a clean game, with neither team fouling much. Clemson went 3 for 4 at the free throw line; UVa was 2 for 2.

“Now, they were off for, I don’t know if it’s four days, five days, and they looked rusty. You could see that when they did get some open shots, but for the most part, we kept them in front of us and used our length,” Bennett said. “When you combine the defense, with that kind of shooting -- it came together nicely. We didn’t take our foot off the gas, and we were, for the most part, sound and made Clemson earn their baskets.”

For Virginia fans, it was validation of the strides the Wahoos have made since getting crushed by No. 1 Gonzaga. We suspected the team was improving, but had been unable to see it against a quality opponent due to the schedule. This time, the Cavaliers were ready for the challenge.

“Obviously, taking a hard punch to the face from Gonzaga, it’s hard to get up from that, but you learn, you live, you move on, and I think we’ve taken some great strides," Hauser said. “We were preparing for a really good team, and Coach challenged us in practice the last couple of days, because Clemson is a very good basketball team. We took that challenge very seriously, and we came out on top tonight.”

Woldetensae indicated the Cavaliers' attitude was better going into the Clemson contest.

“We went into the Gonzaga game with not the same hunger we had today. We weren’t hungry to beat them and to prove that we’re good as we are,” he said. “And so I believe that sometimes, you’ve got to lose to understand who you are and to win other games.”

As for his offense and playing time, Woldetensae said he hopes his hot shooting is a sign of things to come, but he acknowledged the fierce competition in practice to see time in games is making everyone better, and anyone has the ability to step up in any matchup.

Last year, stopping Woldetensae, Huff, or Clark meant opponents probably had a chance to defeat Virginia. Now, with these Wahoos just now starting to jell, that’s far from a given.

“We’re learning about our team, we’re growing, we’re becoming steadier," Bennett said. "I know we have guys that are older in age, but we’ve got three guys that [had] not played in a Virginia basketball uniform for a game [prior to this year], so there’s a newness there that I think — an identity has to be formed — how hard we have to defend, how we have to play to beat good teams, and that’s just gotten better from after the Gonzaga game.

“I said [to the players], 'Tap into this. You don’t make too much of it, but you touched real quality. Now pursue it with all you’ve got.'"

Postponement

Late Sunday afternoon, Virginia announced its home game scheduled for this Wednesday versus N.C. State has been postponed due to a positive test and contact-tracing within the Wolfpack’s program. That sucks for the momentum the Wahoos have created, but they do have a Saturday-Monday turnaround next weekend with home games against Syracuse and Georgia Tech, so it could allow the team to be nice and rested for that stretch. Let’s hope this ends up being a short layoff for UVa.


Photo credit: Screen shot off Virginia Sports TV's YouTube Channel 

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