Virginia 65, Georgia 55
Virginia and Georgia played a pretty even first half Monday, but the Cavaliers pulled away in the second half for a victory in the Roman Legends Classic in Newark, N.J.
Virginia (3-2), now on its first winning streak of the season, faces Providence (5-0) Tuesday night in the final. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on ESPN2. The Friars defeated Northwestern 77-72 on Monday after the Virginia-Georgia game.
Georgia (2-3) has not been that good in recent seasons, and it appears it will be another rebuilding year in Athens under Tom Crean, the former Indiana coach who is now in his fourth campaign with the Bulldogs. We can definitely point out some negatives from Virginia as my Hoos Place colleague Val did in his quick takes, but it was nice to see the team end up with a comfortable victory over a Power Five team for the first time this season.
The Wahoos played their best half of the season in the second 20 minutes against Georgia, outscoring the Bulldogs 34-21. The win may have been even more convincing had Francisco Caffaro not been called for a ticky-tack foul at the end of the first half on that long 3-pointer. Still, the big man needs to know that he can’t put himself in a position like that. It was like Olasunkonmi Agunloye on the Virginia football team jumping offsides on Pittsburgh’s fourth-quarter field goal attempt Saturday. Just don’t do it. Caffaro probably followed his instinct to play hard and defend to the whistle, but he just has to manage the situation better.
I liked how there were lots of contributions up and down the lineup, and certain players persevered through struggles. Armaan Franklin couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn from beyond the arc again but still ended up with a game-high 23 points, and he made all six of his free throws. Franklin also posted six rebounds, three steals, two assists, and a block. Franklin had a good look throughout the game. He seemed energized and was looking for his shot.
Kihei Clark made 2 of his 5 3-pointers and finished with 12 points, three assists, and a rebound. He had two turnovers, one of only four on the night for the ‘Hoos, who finally did an excellent job of taking care of their possessions.
Say it again for those in the back: UVa committed only four turnovers. In contrast, the Cavaliers committed 14 versus Navy, 10 versus Radford, 17 at Houston, and 11 against Coppin State.
Jayden Gardner had five turnovers against Navy and three against Houston but did not have any versus Georgia. Gardner recorded 11 points on 5-for-9 shooting and six rebounds.
Reece Beekman struggled even more than Franklin shooting but was again solid on the defensive end and finished with 7 points (he went 3 for 4 from the line), three assists, two steals, and two rebounds. Man, it is just disheartening to see how much defenses sag off Beekman, and it is a shame he can’t make them pay. If he could just hit at a 33% clip from 3, it would cure a lot of ills. But he’s now shooting an unimaginable 9.1% from deep after a mark of 24.3% last season.
Kadin Shedrick with one of his four blocks, this one coming on Georgia's Aaron Cook, a transfer from Gonzaga. (Frank Franklin II/Associated Press)
Kadin Shedrick had an active game and affected the outcome despite getting in foul trouble and scoring just 3 points. Shedrick went 3 for 4 from the line and tallied seven boards, four blocks, and a steal. You could also tell he was getting fired up at the end of game as he made strong defensive plays despite having four fouls. It is going to be fun to watch a hungry Shedrick continue to develop. New UVa graduate assistant Isaiah Wilkins may have shed a tear on the bench because Shedrick’s performance was Wilkins-esque (except for maybe that big dunk Shedrick gave up), and it also was reflective of Akil Mitchell and Darion Atkins, I thought, plus the shot-blocking of Jay Huff was present, too.
Shedrick is shooting 72.7% from the line in his career, thus far a better mark than the career averages of Mitchell (57.1%), Atkins (56.2%), Wilkins (67.1%), Huff (67.9%), and Anthony Gill (68%).
Igor Milicic Jr. got double-digit minutes again, hitting 1 of his 2 3-pointers after his 11-point breakout effort against Coppin State on Friday. The Croat looks like he belongs out there. He’s still getting acclimated to the game, but his movements are smooth, and his shooting stroke is pure. And right now, Tony Bennett is giving him minutes and seeing what he can do. Let’s see if he can keep contributing in small doses for a team that badly, badly needs shooting.
Speaking of that, I am with Val on this: Let’s give Carson McCorkle more minutes. The sophomore came in and quickly hit a fine-looking 3-pointer on a fast release. It came at a crucial time, too, midway through the second half when Virginia had just given the lead back to Georgia. But McCorkle only played five minutes. I’d like to see him get closer to the 17 minutes he recorded versus Radford. He needs to stretch his legs out and really get comfortable.
Caffaro got 19 minutes because of Shedrick’s foul trouble and had a couple of good moments. He collected an offensive rebound and made a shot while getting fouled, part of Virginia’s early second-half run. He had five rebounds and a block. But he knocked down just 1 of 3 free throws.
Kody Stattmann played 12 minutes and didn’t score, but he had one block and caused a held ball when he got knocked down but then didn’t quit on the play. Nice effort from the Aussie.
Virginia shot just 39.3% from the field and went 5 for 20 from beyond the arc. The Cavaliers did make a satisfactory-though-not-great 18 of 25 at the line. The ability to get to the line more frequently is good to see and much needed, since it appears scoring in other ways will be difficult. It is very early, but the Wahoos are tied for 82nd nationally with 91 free throws. I am pretty sure they usually never sniff the top 100.
As Bennett might say, it’s going to take everybody this year. This team has a lot of holes, but if everyone gives a little bit each night in a team effort, maybe the Wahoos can get somewhere.
Providence will be a step up from Georgia. The Friars have only dominated one opponent this year, Sacred Heart (92-64), but they have yet to lose, with victories over Fairfield (80-73), Wisconsin on the road (63-58), and New Hampshire (69-58) in addition to Northwestern. Ed Cooley is in his 11th season coaching the Friars. He has five NCAA tournament appearances but none since 2018. Last season, Providence went 13-13.
Comments
Post a Comment