Five takeaways from UVA basketball’s comeback win against NC State

The Virginia Cavaliers rallied in the second half to upset the NC State Wolfpack in Charlottesville on New Year’s Eve. The ‘Hoos earned their first ACC win of the season, 70-67 as Elijah Saunders (22 points), Isaac McKneely (14), and Andrew Rohde (11) led UVA to victory.

With the win ahead of the new year, here are five takeaways for the Cavaliers moving forward.

UVA flips the narrative of its second half collapses

Virginia has struggled to piece together 40 minute performances so far this season. Encouraging first halves have given way to second half capitulations that cost the Cavaliers in games against Tennessee, Florida, and SMU.

On Tuesday, Virginia trailed NC State by 10 points at the break, but proceeded to win the second half by 13. A 17-3 run from the Wahoos from the 18:29 mark in the second half until 13:04 remaining put them on top and brought the John Paul Jones Arena crowd to its feet.

The resilience to come back from down double digits is a meaningful development for UVA. The coaching staff made adjustments, the players didn’t panic, and the Wahoo fans got into the game more significantly than they have all season as a result. There were some not-so-pretty stretches of this win – especially in the last few minutes. Yet the result is a building block for this young group that simply needs to rack up Ws.

Playing through Elijah Saunders and Jacob Cofie opens up UVA’s offense

Virginia entered this game looking to create opportunities for forwards Elijah Saunders and Jacob Cofie on offense. That’s why the ‘Hoos rolled out their inside triangle offense and used it at the highest frequency so far this season.

Through the first 20 minutes, those two combined for 12 points on perfect 6-for-6 shooting. The second half, though, is when Saunders started rolling. He went on his own 7-0 run early in the second stanza to pull Virginia back in the game. His versatility to both hit open shots from three and attack the basket either from the perimeter or the mid-post makes him a uniquely valuable offensive tool for UVA to use.

Saunders’ scored a career-high 22 points, shot 7-for-9 from the field (1-for-2 from three) and 7-for-8 from the line, and grabbed five rebounds. He has been UVA’s best player of-late.

The San Diego State transfer’s gravity on the interior consequently helped Virginia’s guards heat up from the perimeter. Following a 2-for-7 performance from three in the first period, the ‘Hoos made 7-of-13 attempts from behind in the second. Isaac McKneely (4-for-9) led the way as the ‘Hoos scored an impressive 1.52 points per possession in the last 20 minutes.

This inside-out offensive approach is a welcome relief from UVA’s early season over reliance on three-point shooting. Saunders (and Cofie to a lesser extent) took pressure of the Virginia backcourt and allowed the Wahoo guards to focus on getting shots up from deep rather than being as responsible for touching the paint.

The ‘Hoos can beat pressure even without Dai Dai Ames

What’s arguably most impressive about that 1.52 points per possession mark is the fact that it came with Dai Dai Ames sidelined for the last 30:03 of game play. Ames has been the straw stirring the drink for Virginia’s offense. Without him, UVA has struggled to take care of the ball and create good shots.

Yet Andrew Rohde and Taine Murray stepped up in a major way in Ames’ absence. The veterans combined for 12 assists and just three turnovers versus the Wolfpack. Virginia only coughed the ball up once in the second half. Against NC State’s high-pressure defense that turns teams over at the 32nd highest clip in the country, Virginia registered a season-low 12% turnover rate.

Tuesday was one heck of a turnaround performance for Rohde in particular. Following a five turnover performance against Memphis and a 2-for-9 shooting outing against American, Rohde put up 10 points on 4-for-8 shooting to go with seven assists and just one turnover. This was his most complete game of the season, and it went hand-in-hand with UVA’s best offensive output of the year.

Defensive rebounding remains an issue as UVA’s frontcourt rotation develops

The final four minutes of UVA’s win were unfortunately reminiscent of the team’s ACC Tournament loss to the Wolfpack last season. The Cavaliers went up by 10 with 4:01 remaining, but did not score again until Saunders knocked down a pair of free throws with 15 seconds remaining.

Meanwhile, NC State crashed the offensive boards en route to nine second chance points in the last 4:13 of regulation. That allowed the Wolpack to pull within three with a minute left. Fortunately for the Cavaliers, a key defensive stop in the final minute stopped the bleeding.

Yet, while UVA’s issues taking care of the ball were amended on Tuesday, the team’s struggles on the glass persisted. NC State nabbed 13 offensive rebounds and scored 21 second chance points. Offensive rebounding kept the Pack in the game when UVA would’ve pulled away otherwise.

Cofie has replaced Blake Buchanan in the starting lineup and the ‘Hoos are relying on the Cofie-Saunders duo to play the majority of the frontcourt minutes. So far, that’s been a decision mostly motivated by Cofie’s offensive production rather than his presence defensively.

Frankly, with how Buchanan has been playing, Anthony Robinson likely deserves more of an opportunity off the bench. The redshirt freshman logged two minutes against NC State late in the first half when both Buchanan and Cofie were in foul trouble. Given his size, strength, and inspiring stretch of play against Memphis, Robinson could help alleviate the strain that Virginia’s defensive rebounding problems have caused even by playing just 10 to 15 minutes per game.

Virginia’s late game management is a head scratcher

Maybe this is a silly takeaway to bring up after a momentum-building win. Yet how the ‘Hoos handled the final minutes of Tuesday’s game on offense was concerning.

Despite that 3:46 scoreless stretch in the last four minutes, Ron Sanchez didn’t call a timeout despite having two left. That was most confounding when the Cavaliers had the ball up three with roughly a minute left. Virginia looked to get Saunders the ball for another dribble drive, but NC State pressing on the perimeter meant that Andrew Rohde was left dribbling out the clock before taking a last-second heave at the basket.

In those moments, the staff needs to own the responsibility to take a timeout and draw up a play that gets the ball in Saunders or McKneely’s hands. Merely winding down the clock and trying to get into an isolation look isn’t enough. Playing not to lose in the final minutes is a recipe to, well, lose.

Virginia’s clutch defense, a fluky play when Murray avoided a jump ball call because the NC State player’s leg was out of bounds, and a couple Saunders free throws glossed over the team’s late game offensive indecision. As UVA looks to win more close games against quality opponents, though, that late game offensive management is going to be worth keeping an eye on.