Experience counts. Navy proved that in Tuesday night’s season opener against Virginia in the John Paul Jones Arena, handing the Cavaliers a 66-58 season-opening loss.
Virginia, with Kihei Clark and Reece Beekman as the only returning starters from last season, surrounded by a roster of mainly unproven reserves and newcomers, were out of sync from the opening tip, falling behind the Midshipmen 5-0 before many of the crowd had found their seats.
Virginia coach Tony Bennett had sort of laid the foundation for some early season struggles for his team earlier, expressing concern about this year’s early schedule, certainly against more experienced competition.
Navy was just that, A veteran squad coming off a strong 15-3 season, led by senior guard John Carter Jr., who scored a game-high 19 points, Navy connected on 11 0f 21 attempts from beyond the arc.
The Midshipmen didn’t seem uncomfortable playing in front of a near-capacity crowd, and for good reason. Navy played in Charlottesville two years ago and was within one point, 41-40, before the Cavaliers could get some breathing run with a 12-0 run, finally winning, 65-56.
The Mids are starting the season with three straight games against teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference, facing Virginia Tech and Louisville next.
“The newness of out team, I think it showed,” said Bennett.
After recovering from the early 5-0 deficit, Virginia led on briefly in the first half.
Trailing by seven at the break, 42-35, Virginia drew even at 55-all on a Kadin Shedrick tip-in with 8:45 remaining in the contest. The Cavaliers had numerous opportunities to take the lead, but did not. Instead, it was Navy that scored the next six points, including two consecutive putbacks. The Cavalier offense looked tentative down the stretch and during one stretch missed eight straight field goal attempts.
The bright spot for Virginia came from East Carolina transfer Jayden Gardner, who led the team with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Gardner was as advertised. Unfortunately, he received little support as ,only one other teammate, Clark reached double figures with 12 points.
Concerning perhaps for Bennett was his team’s defensive mistakes down the stretch and apparent unwillingness to take open shots.
“A couple of times, we just didn’t get to a shooter,” Bennett remarked about some defensive breakdowns that resulted in clean looks for Navy behind the arc. “Guys beat us quick outside, some miscommunication in transition,” added Bennett.
To the Cavaliers’ credit, they did make some second-half defensive adjustments, closing out on the three-point shots more aggressively. Navy connected on 8-of-12 first half threes, but was just 3 of 9 in the final 20 minutes of play.
Offensively late in the game Virginia elected to not take several clear looks from behind the arc, including two wide-open looks by Clark, who did not attempt a shot on either possession.
Despite the disappointing loss in front of a very receptive JPJ crowd, there’s no reason to start tossing deck chairs off the ship.
Last season, Virginia lost its second game of the season to San Francisco, 61-60. The Dons went on to finish the year 11-14. The Cavaliers recovered quite well, winning the ACC regular season title.
Story by Scott German
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