Home Virginia looks ahead to weekend matchup with ACC leader Miami
Sports

Virginia looks ahead to weekend matchup with ACC leader Miami

Contributors
kadin shedrick francisco caffaro
Virginia post players Kadin Shedrick and Francisco Caffaro. Photo by Dan Grogan.

Miami is in a weird spot: tied atop the ACC with Duke, with a win at Duke, but also in need of wins with a somehow weak NET profile.

The ‘Canes sit, at this writing, at 60 in the NET, despite a 16-5 record, an 8-2 mark in the ACC, the mentioned win at Duke, a 7-3 record in Q1 and Q2 games.

Virginia Tech is 11-10, 3-7 in the ACC, and is 53 in NET, despite a 5-8 record in Q1 and Q2 games, no win at Duke, and a weaker strength of schedule (77, vs. Miami’s 49).

Anyway.

Miami can’t afford a hiccup Saturday at Virginia, which would represent another Q2 win.

Flip side, Miami would be a Q2 win for a Virginia team that sits 13-9, 7-5 in the ACC, and is 98 in the NET, with a 4-7 record in Q1 and Q2 games, and a 120 strength of schedule.

“This is another test for us,” Virginia forward Jayden Gardner told reporters Tuesday, after the Cavaliers’ 67-55 win over Boston College. “It will test us a lot to play one of the top teams in the conference. It is going to be a challenge. They shoot the ball really well. We will have to trust our discipline to get to the shooters, knowing when to leave the pack, and try to box out. We will fight, that’s all we can do.”

It will be the first of two with Miami, which is looking to get its first NCAA Tournament bid since way back in 2018.

Coach Jim Larranaga’s teams haven’t even gotten over .500 since then, including a 10-17 finish in 2020-2021.

This year’s Miami team is, as Gardner alluded to, a great perimeter shooting team, connecting on 41.3 percent of its threes in ACC play, best in the conference, and averaging 9.3 makes per game.

Virginia, on its side, is allowing ACC opponents to shoot 38.6 percent from three, 13th in the 15-team ACC.

The ‘Hoos defended Boston College well from three in the win Tuesday night, limiting the Eagles to a 5-of-21 final effort (23.8 percent).

But the Eagles are 15th in conference games in three-point shooting (28.3 percent).

Which is to say, they’re not Miami, whose best perimeter shooter is 6’10” center Sam Waardenburg (46.9 percent), creating matchup problems for opponent bigs.

Point guard Charlie Moore is shooting 39.8 percent from three. Forwards Kameron McGusty (36.0 percent) and Jordan Miller (34.5 percent) are also adept from beyond the arc.

“Teams that have shot the three-ball and spread us and used ball screens have been hard for us,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. “It’s hard for any team, and I think especially with their four sixth-year year players, their experience, their talent, their defending is why they’re at the top of our league.

“You saw them when they went into Duke, and they’re doing it [shooting well from three]. That puts great pressure on your defense, on your individual on-ball defense, your ball screen defense, your ability to stop the ball, to get to shooters, and it’ll be a great opportunity and challenge to be ready. That’s what they do as well as anybody in our league.”

Story by Chris Graham

Contributors

Contributors

Have a guest column, letter to the editor, story idea or a news tip? Email editor Chris Graham at [email protected]. Subscribe to AFP podcasts on Apple PodcastsSpotifyPandora and YouTube.