The Virginia Cavaliers got run out of the gym by the Tennessee Volunteers in The Bahamas on Thursday night (and late into Friday morning), 64-42. After pulling within one point at halftime, the ‘Hoos collapsed in the second half to fall by 22 points.
The ‘Hoos are now 3-1 this season and will tip off against St. John’s Friday night at 7:00 PM ET. With the loss, we have five takeaways for Virginia moving forward.
UVA needs more answers on offense
Isaac McKneely can only do so much to create offense for the ‘Hoos. Following his 23-point performance against Villanova last Friday, he only registered four on 1-for-6 shooting against Tennessee.
The Volunteers dialed in on McKneely, hardly giving him any space off screens. They forced the rest of the Cavaliers to beat them and the strategy paid off. McKneely had a few nice assists despite the tight coverage. But, without consistent open looks for the junior shooting guard, the Wahoo offense sputtered.
Elijah Saunders was a non-factor in the post as Tennessee overwhelmed him with height and physicality. Wahoo point guards Andrew Rohde (eight points) and Dai Dai Ames (12) led the team in scoring. They also combined for eight turnovers. Another starter, TJ Power, continues have no tangible effect on the Wahoo offense.
Right now it’s hard to find answers for this Virginia offense. The scheme has been updated, it’s more a result of the personnel lacking players who can create offense.
After the Cavaliers lit up Villanova from deep, they shot 6-for-20 (30%) from three versus Tennessee. They struggled to threaten the Vols inside the arc, and the shooting from long range reflected that with far too many contested shots.
Tennessee boasts one of the best defenses in the country, so that’s worth keeping in mind. Still, after how last season went on offense, this was a discouraging performance.
Virginia has a defensive rebounding problem
Tennessee finished the game with a whopping 18 offensive rebounds and 19 second chance points. Following a commendable first half defensive performance, the ‘Hoos unfolded in the second as the Vols crashed the boards and exploited Virginia’s lack of strength and experience in the paint.
Some of the issues were a matter of technique and focus. Repeatedly, UVA failed to blockout with Tennessee punishing the Wahoo guards for ball-watching. Other times, the Vols overwhelmed them physically en route to back-breaking second opportunities.
Virginia plays one true center in its rotation in Blake Buchanan. Buchanan had a stellar first half before Tennessee put him in a blender at times in the second. Alongside him, forwards Saunders and Jacob Cofie couldn’t contain what Rick Barnes and company threw at them.
How much of that is Tennessee being an above average team athletically and how much is a sign of struggles to come is uncertain. Yet this result surely wasn’t pretty.
The ‘Hoos shrink their rotation to seven
Versus Villanova, Ron Sanchez cut his rotation down from nine players to eight with Taine Murray on the outside looking in. Against Tennessee, those eight were cut to just seven players who logged double digit minutes.
Murray did play nine minutes in the second half. Yet, for the majority of the game while it was competitive, Sanchez stuck with Ames, McKneely, Power, Saunders, Buchanan, Rohde, and Cofie.
Virginia traditionally shrinks its rotation against better teams. Yet seeing that happen in this game when the ‘Hoos had so few guys making plays and so many struggle to get anything going underscored that there aren’t a ton of switches for Sanchez to flip.
Power, Murray, and Ishan Sharma need to make an impact as shooters when they’re on the floor. Otherwise, they’re all at risk of losing out on minutes. Right now, they’re around the seventh, eighth, and ninth spots in the rotation, so it’s unlikely that all three won’t get any minutes. They simply can’t continue to be non-factors. In the frontcourt, should the rebounding issues persist, Anthony Robinson could be an option to provide additional size in the paint. He’s only played in garbage time so far.
Bottom line, the ‘Hoos need more out of their personnel than they got in this game. Unfortunately for them, it’s hard to imagine how exactly that will happen as of this moment.
Virginia’s settled defense provides reason for optimism
There’s rarely much positive to take away from a 22-point defeat.
UVA’s settled defense – especially in the first half – was one, though. The rebounding issues masked how the Cavaliers did force Tennessee to take tough shots. The Vols shot 37.9% from the floor and 36% from three. Star point guard Zakai Zeigler finished 1-for-9 for two points – although he did add six assists to two turnovers.
Tennessee, whose offense is rated the 19th most efficient in the country per KenPom, only scored 1.05 points per possession against the ‘Hoos. The Cavaliers rotated well for most of the game and blocked five shots. The second chance points (19) and points off turnovers (30) were simply too much to overcome.
The St. John’s game is a crucial opportunity for a turnaround
Maybe it’s silly to put much weight on the fifth game of the season which comes against the at top-25 team in the country. But, for the morale of this young team and its cohesion looking ahead, flushing this result and putting in a more competitive performance will be critical.
Expecting this young Cavaliers group to upset a team like Tennessee that is chock-full of veterans and is one of the more complete squads in the country would’ve been unreasonable. Virginia has to play the long game this season and hope to have more guys clicking and contributing in February and March. Yet seeing them go the distance and avoid the second half knockout they put on tape on Thursday would have been encouraging.
Alas, now Virginia gets another chance to test itself against a top-25 opponent with legit talent. Bouncing back and giving Rick Pitino’s team a run for its money would be evidence of legitimate mental resilience after a late-night blowout. Yet another result like this one would surely be a tough pill for this team – that has already dealt with so much this fall – to swallow so early in the season.
