Virginia hung around for a half, but was once again eventually and inevitably run off the floor in another lopsided loss to a ranked opponent, as the Cavaliers (5-3) suffered an 87-69 loss to No. 13 Florida (9-0) in the second-annual ACC/SEC Challenge on Wednesday night in Gainesville. Let’s break down our key takeaways from UVA’s blowout defeat at the hands of the Gators.
The truth hurts sometimes, but this needs to be said. UVA’s trip to The Bahamas exposed some significant flaws and showed that there is a huge gap between the Cavaliers and the best teams in college basketball right now. Wednesday night in Gainesville proved that Virginia’s couple of tune-up wins over Manhattan and Holy Cross last week did nothing to narrow that gap. The Hoos are still nowhere near the league of these ranked opponents and while there are things UVA can clean up (which we’ll touch on later), much of the disparity comes down to pure talent and raw athleticism and those disadvantages aren’t going anywhere. It’s a fall from grace from where this program used to be – going punch for punch with and defeating the elite teams in college basketball at the peak of the Tony Bennett era – but it’s the reality right now for Ron Sanchez and Co.
We’re going to touch on the positives of UVA’s offensive production as well as its hot start in the next takeaway, but we have to talk about this team’s disturbing trend with horrid ball security against good teams. Virginia turned the ball over 18 times against Tennessee and 16 times against St. John’s. The Hoos committed 15 turnovers against Florida and the Gators scored 20 points off of those takeaways, nearly identical to the final score margin.
Tony Bennett’s teams were known for taking care of the basketball. Ron Sanchez has talked about this still being Virginia basketball, but the turnover-prone nature of this team goes directly against one of the fundamental aspects of this program. If you’re going to play at this deliberate pace of play, turnovers are even more costly. UVA will not beat many good teams this season turning the ball over at this rate.
Read more: Virginia vs. Florida Live Updates | NCAA Men’s Basketball
Because of their turnover issues and their major problems on the defensive end which we’ll address shortly, the Cavaliers failed to capitalize on a great start in which they scored baskets on five of their first six possessions, made three three-pointers, and jumped out to a 13-4 lead. Unfortunately, that lead didn’t last as Virginia endured its usual scoring drought, a six-minute stretch without scoring a point and a near nine-minute stretch without a made basket. That allowed the Gators to put together an 18-2 run, including 15-straight points, to take the lead.
Even with the scoring drought and the turnovers and with giving up a staggering 87 points on the other end of the floor, Virginia got enough from its offense to stay in the building with Florida to the very end. The Gators controlled the second half, but it wasn’t nearly as ugly as it could have been thanks to a 19-point performance from Elijah Saunders (6/12, 3/5 from three) and 12 points from Isaac McKneely, who also chipped in five assists. If Virginia can clean up its defense, the level of scoring the Cavaliers sustained against the Gators could get the job done in ACC play, so that’s a step, albeit a small one, in the right direction.
We mentioned “cleaning up” the UVA defense, but the situation is much more dire than that. Sure, Florida got more than a few baskets that were instances of “good defense, better offense” like Walter Clayton Jr. getting just a tiny bit of space and hitting contested three-pointers and Alex Condon scoring off the glass with some really good post moves. But for every basket like that, there two or three more that were the result of poor defensive breakdowns by Virginia. Florida dissected UVA with backdoor cuts and back screens, leading to way too many easy shots at the rim. Florida scored 38 points in the paint and got 15 more points on free throws that came when the Cavaliers committed fouls following a defensive breakdown. The Pack Line, as a concept, is still viable, but this team is not executing it well enough to effectively defend against teams that have good talent and run good offense.
For the first time in maybe a decade, Virginia might be lacking a star individual defender. When Walter Clayton Jr. got hot and started scoring at will, many UVA fans were undoubtedly thinking longingly about Reece Beekman and his incredible ability to lock down an opposing team’s best guard. There might be a few “good” defenders on this team, but at least for right now, there is no lockdown individual defender on this roster who can neutralize or even contain a star player like Walter Clayton Jr., who finished with 27 points on 10/19 shooting with five threes. The ACC might be down this year, but there are still some very talented players in this league and Virginia is going to have trouble defending some of those stars in ACC play.
Up next, Virginia stays on the road to take on SMU in the ACC opener on Saturday at 2:15pm on The CW.
