‘Hoos ride hot shooting to victory despite ‘disappointing’ effort

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No. 14 Virginia 73, Pittsburgh 66

No. 14 Virginia defeated Pittsburgh on Saturday at John Paul Jones Arena to stay atop the ACC standings.

On Monday, the Cavaliers moved up to No. 9 in the Associated Press Top 25.

But it was not your typical Tony Bennett win. UVa’s coach made it known he thought the team was sloppy, and its defense subpar.

“We didn’t play very well defensively if I want to be real,” Bennett said. “That was a poor performance, good action by Pitt, but they were the aggressor. We looked unready at times, and not sharp. And again, our offense carried us, but that’s disappointing.”

Virginia (13-3, 9-1 ACC) allowed 14 offensive rebounds, and Pitt (9-6, 5-5) scored 12 second-chance points. The Panthers outrebounded the Cavaliers, 33-27.

Pitt shot below 30% from beyond the arc (4 for 14) but 47.8% on 2-pointers (22 for 46) as the Panthers were able to get into the paint with ease at times.

The Wahoos had 12 turnovers, about three more than their average, with more than half coming in the second 20 minutes. Pitt had nine turnovers.

Also, Virginia got off to a slow start, falling behind 7-0. Sam Hauser and Kihei Clark got to work before the hole got deeper. Hauser (in photo) knocked down a 3 off an assist by Clark, and then Clark hit one that was assisted by Hauser. Clark assisted Hauser on his next jumper, a 2-pointer.

Jay Huff made a 3-pointer to draw even closer, and Reece Beekman’s triple with 8:49 left in the first half gave UVa its first lead at 16-15. Pitt went on a 6-0 run to go up 21-18, but Virginia finished the half with a 12-6 stretch and went into the break up 30-27.

You may have noticed a theme early on that carried throughout the contest: Virginia won with long-range shooting. In contrast with Pitt’s below-average day from distance, the ‘Hoos went 12 for 24 from beyond the arc and shot 53.2% overall. It was the fourth time this year that UVa made at least 50% of its treys.

Hauser led the team with 23 points, his career high as a Cavalier, on 8-for-9 shooting, including 3 of 4 from beyond the arc. He added six rebounds and an assist. In the past six games, the senior transfer is averaging 18.6 points while shooting 61.5% on 2-pointers and 57.5% on 3s.

“He was really good, and he opened up the game for us just enough,” said Bennett of Hauser, who was named ACC player of the week Monday. “He actually guarded well, and offensively, when you look at his stat line … he was the difference-maker for us.”

Hauser drew the defensive assignment on Pitt star Justin Champagnie, who entered averaging about 19 points and 12 rebounds. Though the sophomore did record 18 points and 10 rebounds, he was an inefficient 8 of 18 from the field. He only earned two free throw attempts, so Hauser did a good job of not fouling, and Champagnie didn’t secure his double-double until only a few seconds remained. A number of times, he looked frustrated.

“At times, we’ll go and trap, and we did that in the first half on [Champagnie], and they hit a 3, and then we got a turnover, and … I can’t remember which coach made the suggestion, but it was to maybe hold, and let’s see how Sam guards him,” Bennett said. “I thought Sam was really good being, we call it, ‘a wall on wheels.’ That part I was really pleased with.”

Against N.C. State, Virginia got no production from its bench. Versus the Panthers, Casey Morsell (10 minutes) and Francisco Caffaro (7 minutes) again put up bagels in just about every statistical category. But Tomas Woldetensae saved the reserves from being another nothing-burger by scoring 14 points in 20 minutes, the first time he put the ball through the hoop since also recording 14 points against Clemson on Jan. 16. He had gone four consecutive games without scoring.

Woldetensae made 4 of his 5 3-pointers and both of his free throws. One of the treys was initially called a 2 and then changed upon review. The Italian sharpshooter also contributed two boards and a pair of assists.

“We needed [Tomas’] offense,” Bennett said. “I don’t think we won it with our defense today, or even our soundness with the ball with some of the turnovers, or our rebounding defensively. Those areas, we weren’t good enough. But Tomas hitting some shots, some good decision-making, Jay hitting some 3s, and then Sam just playing a heck of a game was the difference.”

Huff tallied 13 points on 5-for-6 shooting, and went 3 for 4 on 3-pointers. He added eight rebounds, two steals, and a block. He got into foul trouble again — some questionable calls, some not as questionable — and he did foul out right before the final buzzer when he should’ve just let the Pitt player blow by him.

Huff also had a really bone-headed turnover with about six minutes remaining in the game when he grabbed a defensive rebound away from Xavier Johnson, but then inexplicably turned his back to him. A second later, Johnson came from behind and stole the ball, then went in for an easy layup to make it 62-51.

That was part of an annoying stretch when Virginia was just not able to put the nail in Pitt’s coffin.

After the Panthers tied it at 36 early in the second half, the Cavaliers went on a 16-0 Cavalanche over four minutes that featured a pair of 3s each from Hauser and Huff. Pitt cut the margin to 9 with 10:43 left, but Woldetensae made two triples, Hauser sunk a jumper, and Trey Murphy III got a layup to make it 62-45.

But Pitt battled back again as Virginia struggled with fouls and turnovers, and the ‘Hoos also had a bizarre technical foul called on them when Murphy was too far on the court, causing the referees to penalize Virginia for having six players on the floor. The Panthers never got within 5 points, but still, the end of the game dragged on as the Wahoos failed to secure a truly comfortable win after staking a 17-point lead with 7:25 remaining.

Kihei Clark was the Wahoos’ final double-digit scorer with 11 points, but he struggled shooting, making just 4 of 12 attempts from the field, including 1 for 6 beyond the arc. He had eight assists, but also four turnovers, his most since coughing up six versus Gonzaga the day after Christmas.

“Kihei … made some plays, a little uncharacteristic some of the things he did, but he’ll grow from it, and we needed his eight assists and some of those drives, too,” Bennett said.

Clark did a nice job guarding Johnson, who went off for 32 points in the Panthers’ victory over Virginia Tech, when he made 11 of 17 shots from the field and 4 of 7 from deep. At UVa, Johnson mustered only 10 points on a 3-for-12 performance, and he missed all three of his 3-point attempts. He went 4 for 6 at the line.

“[Clark’s defense on Johnson was] pretty good for the most part. I liked how in the second half, Kihei got after it. He picked up the ball. I don’t know where that was in the first half, but the ability against a guy that good — you got to meet the ball,” Bennett said. “I thought Kihei challenged him in the second half. [Johnson is] one of the quickest guys in this league and explosive. Some teams decide to play him differently, some will go under screens, over screens. … We just tried to make it hard on him — and you could see him in flashes — how quickly he gets to the lane and puts pressure on you.”

Murphy had 8 points on 3-for-8 shooting, and he missed his two 3s. It was the first time he didn’t scratch from deep since the San Francisco loss. Murphy added four boards and two steals.

Beekman posted 4 points, two assists, and two steals. He went 1 for 4 from the field, his only make being that 3 that gave Virginia its first lead.

UVa made 11 of its 14 free throws, and Pitt tallied a 10-for-15 effort.

Like the N.C. State win, it just didn’t feel like a vintage Bennett-era victory. It felt like a C- effort with one A+ stretch that lasted four minutes. That’s now three straight games that the Cavaliers have just not played very well. But the wins keep coming, so it is difficult to complain too much.

“We [say] … fail better the next time,” Bennett said. “I thought we battled hard against N.C. State, but defensively, we did not have the right mindset nor the right execution [today], and it showed defensively and offensively. There’s that saying, ‘Don’t accept in victory what you wouldn’t in defeat.’ You’re grateful for the victory, but you go to work on those areas.”

And though it is nice to be 9-1 in the conference, many challenges remain.

The ‘Hoos have tough games coming up. They go to Georgia Tech on Wednesday, and the Yellow Jackets pretty much controlled the meeting at JPJ on Jan. 23 despite UVa pulling out the 64-62 win.

Then come showdowns with North Carolina and Florida State, which are sitting second and fifth in the conference, respectively. No one has been tougher for UVa to beat in the ACC than FSU in recent years.

A trip to Cameron Indoor follows, and the Blue Devils are certainly down, but as Pete Gillen once quipped, “Duke is Duke.” I think we need to be prepared for a rockfight in Durham.

N.C. State, Miami, and Louisville wrap up the schedule as it sits right now. The Wolfpack gave the Cavaliers a lot of problems already. The Hurricanes don’t boast a good record, but they have wins over Louisville and Duke, plus close losses against the Cardinals and also Virginia Tech (twice), Clemson, and North Carolina. Louisville at the KFC Yum! Center is probably going to be a tight contest.

We can expect Virginia to pick up at least two to three more losses if the efforts continue to be subpar.

“Again, thankful for the win, but a disappointing effort in many areas of the game, and … it’s got to be better in my opinion,” Bennett said.

But we also know we can expect Bennett to keep pushing the guys to their limits, and eventually, he will likely squeeze every ounce of potential out of them that they possess.

Photo credit: ACC

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