The Virginia Cavaliers took care of business against the Manhattan Jaspers 74-65 on Tuesday night. Five Wahoos including Isaac McKneely (18 points), Andrew Rohde (14), Blake Buchanan (11), Jacob Cofie (10), and Dai Dai Ames (10) scored in double figures as UVA’s 74 points scored marked a season-high.
With the win, we have five takeaways for the Wahoos as they continue to build towards conference play.
UVA should have blown Manhattan out
The Jaspers lost to Fairleigh Dickinson (No. 349 on KenPom) by three points on the road. On Tuesday night, they lost to Virginia by just nine in Charlottesville.
Manhattan shot well from deep, making 11 triples at a 42.3% clip. The ‘Hoos looked slow in their defensive rotations. Without the elite athleticism that Virginia had as recently as last season with Ryan Dunn and Reece Beekman, UVA’s packline defense is even more susceptible to hot shooting.
The Jaspers also scored 11 second chance points on 10 offensive rebounds. Against a team whose tallest player is 6-foot-8, Virginia should be able to lock down the defensive boards more effectively. Playing smaller to match Manhattan’s speed accounted for some of that. But, no matter what, a 33.3% allowed offensive rebound rate is too high against such an opponent.
A win is a win, at the end of the day. Nobody will remember this game in a few weeks’ time, and that’s what matters most. Sure, the losses to Tennessee and St. John’s weren’t pretty. But if UVA loses one of its non-conference buy games, then that would be a sign that the ‘Hoos are really unraveling.
Friday night’s game against Holy Cross provides an opportunity for Virginia to secure a more convincing win and clean up some of the sloppiness we saw against Manhattan.
Virginia goes away from jumbo lineups
This was the first game that Virginia changed its starting lineup beyond the point guard position. Andrew Rohde replaced TJ Power at the three which projected the Wahoos’ noticeable move away from its big lineups with three of Power, Elijah Saunders, Jacob Cofie, and Blake Buchanan on the floor at a time.
By almost always playing three guards, UVA made offense easier to come by with more players who can create off the dribble. Defensively, it gave the ‘Hoos more mobility and quickness especially against a smaller, quicker team like Manhattan.
Late in the game, the Cavaliers even went to a super-small four guard lineup with Saunders at the five alongside Ames, McKneely, Rohde, and Taine Murray. I doubt we see that much this year, and it didn’t go all too well for the ‘Hoos. Still, it’s nice to see interim head coach Ron Sanchez continue to play with the lineups.
TJ Power falls almost entirely out of the rotation
Power was the odd man out on Tuesday as a result, only playing six minutes and finishing with three points on 1-for-2 shooting. His only other registered stat was a steal.
This is the first game that Power played fewer than 15 minutes. Some of that is surely related to Manhattan being a smaller opponent who would’ve tested his lateral quickness. But, Power has also been ineffective when he’s been out there. His 50% shooting night on Tuesday upped his season shooting averages to 27.8% from the three-point line and 27.2% from the field.
It’s still very early in Power’s time at Virginia. Yet, as of right now, he’s less involved than Wahoo fans would’ve hoped given his recruiting pedigree. He simply has not been good playing at the three – where he started the first five games of the season – and that’s correlated with a drop in playing time given how Buchanan, Saunders, and Cofie have dominated the minutes in the frontcourt.
Murray has also, interestingly, surpassed Ishan Sharma in Virginia’s guard rotation. He’s a higher floor, lower ceiling alternative to the Canadian freshman. Their battle will be one to watch as non-conference play progresses.
Andrew Rohde is a completely different player this season
Fortunately for Virginia, Rohde has stepped up in a major way and accounted for some of what the ‘Hoos would’ve hoped Power could provide. On Tuesday, he and McKneely carried the Wahoo offense in the second half with 23 combined points.
The junior is playing at a whole new level so far this season. He’s averaging 11.8 points per game, shooting 46.7% from three, 62.5% from two-point range, and has registered an impressive 23.9% assist rate.
The St. Thomas transfer has turned the ball over too often. But he ended Tuesday’s win with two assists to one lone turnover. Rohde also nabbed four steals versus Manhattan with his length disrupting the Jaspers in the passing lane while his lateral quickness made a difference while competing in Power’s place.
The way Rohde has been able to create offense for himself off the dribble and via ball screens has been impressive. He’s locked in from behind the arc and with a soft floater that is awfully reminiscent of Ty Jerome. After he struggled so much in his first season as a Cavalier, seeing Rohde playing so well to open the 2024-25 campaign is encouraging.
Virginia limits turnovers for the first time this season
Tuesday night’s win was the first time this season that the Wahoos coughed the ball up fewer than 12 times, finishing with just eight against Manhattan. Virginia’s point guards Rohde and Ames combined for just three, far less than their season average of 5.2.
If this UVA offense is going to be more efficient and score consistently against ACC-caliber teams, the Cavaliers will absolutely need to limit turnovers. The talent and raw scoring ability simply isn’t there for them to overcome consistently giving the ball away.
Manhattan is, obviously, far inferior to the quality of team Virginia will face in the ACC. But this is, at the very least, development following UVA’s 34 give aways across two games in the Bahamas.
