Isaac McKneely put on an absolute show in Baltimore on Friday night.
The third year shooting guard led the Virginia Cavaliers to a 10-point win versus the Villanova Wildcats. He scored 23 points in the process while shooting a perfect 6-for-6 from deep and 8-for-9 from the field.
“We need iMac to be aggressive,” interim head coach Ron Sanchez said postgame. “We need him to want to shoot. We need him to be okay with missing shots. So, I think today he did a really good job of hunting his shot. He took some that were a little unconventional, but he made them. I think, iMac, as long as he has confidence in what he’s capable of doing, we’re happy with him shooting the ball.”
McKneely’s 64.7% success rate from beyond the arc is 12th in the country among players with 10 or more three-point attempts this season.
In the 2023-24 season, only seven of McKneely’s 81 three-pointers were unassisted. On Friday night, four of his six triples were unassisted.
That alone is evidence of how the former Poca Dot is doing more on offense this season. Virginia is asking him to initiate much more than in the past. All four of those unassisted threes against Villanova came off ball screens as he consistently punished the Wildcats for playing drop coverage with their fives.
Watch below how McKneely exposes the Wildcats’ center Enoch Boakye for not pressing out to him off of Blake Buchanan’s ball screen. His defender, Wooga Poplar, fought over the ball screen, but McKneely had plenty of space to fire away because Boakye played so far off.
Again, later in the second half, McKneely positions his man on his back to get a step with Buchanan’s ball screen. Boakye is in a deep drop coverage position, so iMac nails the triple fading to his left. This is the play of a savvy vet who is comfortable commanding the offense, moving his defender where he wants him, and attacking what a defense gives him.
When UVA screened for McKneely with one of its fours, Villanova was more willing to help to McKneely. Below, Eric Dixon steps over for a slight hedge to McKneely. Elijah Saunders slips the screen, and McKneely immediately hits him with a one-handed lefty swing. Saunders’ one-more pass to TJ Power on the wing put the cherry on top of a beautiful play and read from the two juniors.
McKneely’s assist rate is up to 16.3% this season from 11.1% last year, per KenPom. That has coincided with just a 1.5% increase in turnover rate.
McKneely has always been able to shoot the ball. But the impact he is having on the Wahoo offense through three games goes beyond what he’s done in the past. He is the primary party starter for the Cavaliers’ offense. His ability to both shoot the cover off the ball and to make plays when teams try to blitz him off the line will be one of the team’s greatest strengths on offense.
This is a significant development for a Virginia team in need of an alpha. McKneely is establishing himself as that guy early in the season, and that’s a great indicator for UVA’s potential.
For a comprehensive analysis of McKneely’s dominant performance against Villanova, check out the film breakdown below:
