Virginia keeps winning on the road. Remember when that wasn’t a thing?
Seems like not that long ago, that the ‘Hoos had a penchant for getting waxed in hostile environments.
Notre Dame, which has three wins in the ACC, beat UVA by 22 in South Bend. NC State beat Virginia by 16; Wake Forest won in Winston-Salem by 19.
Since, the Cavaliers have ripped off four straight on the road.
I remember doing the math in one of these columns toward the beginning of what is now this eight-game winning streak, and thinking out loud, you know, hold serve at home, somehow sneak out four wins on the road, you go 14-6 in the ACC, that’s 23-8 overall, you’re good.
Tonight’s win down at FSU was the fourth road win in ACC play.
Three more to go – down at Virginia Tech on Feb. 19, at Boston College on Feb. 28, at Duke on March 2.
Win one of those now, hold serve at home, Virginia finishes 15-5 in the ACC this year.
Win two, and …
Andrew Rohde: Kid did his job
Andrew Rohde, who gets a lot of digital ink here, none of it good, deserves tonight to get some good ink, for once.
The sophomore had eight points and four assists, against one turnover, in 32 minutes, in the 80-76 win over Florida State.
Defensively, he gave up eight points, per Synergy Sports data – a couple of threes, a couple of free throws.
Thirty-two minutes, a +2 plus/minus.
Taine Murray, the guy with whom Rohde has been splitting time at the second off-guard spot, got nine minutes off the bench, hit his only shot, a three, had a blocked shot, and a plus/minus of -1.
Tony won this one the old-fashioned way
Jake Groves was the starter at the five spot at the beginning of the season. Jordan Minor’s emergence as the starting center was what turned the season around.
Tonight’s win was a throwback to how Virginia won games before Minor was a factor.
Minor, because of early foul trouble, only got 12 minutes, contributing two points, a rebound and three fouls.
His backup, Blake Buchanan, got 24 minutes, had four points and five boards, but his -9 plus/minus will tell you, not the best night for him.
It was Groves, who had 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting, 2-of-2 from three, nary a rebound, in 24 minutes, with a +9 plus/minus, who had the biggest impact.
Tony Bennett adjusted the offense early, from his mover-blocker to a five-high that left the middle open, and created driving and backdoor lanes.
Reece Beekman had 21 points and five assists, Rohde the aforementioned eight points and four assists, Dante Harris two points and four assists in 11 minutes off the bench.
Virginia had 18 assists on its 26 made field goals in the makeshift offense.
Credit to Bennett and the kids for the adjustment.
A lotta points, not a lotta possessions
Jamie Luckie and the other clowns with whistles gave us a high-scoring game.
You see a Virginia game finish at 80-76, and you assume, somehow, FSU got Virginia to play a faster pace.
No.
Per StatBroadcast, each team had 59 possessions in this one, which is somehow below Virginia’s season average of 60.3 possessions per game, which is the slowest pace in the nation, among the 362 teams in D1.
Just a lot of damn free throws.
Florida State was 26-of-33 at the line, 16-of-22 in the second half.
Virginia was whistled for 23 fouls, 14 in the second half.
Coming into the game, UVA had been averaging 13.4 fouls per game, ranking sixth-lowest in the nation.
Sure, just an off-night, in a win.
Lottery pick
Ryan Dunn, projected 2024 NBA lottery pick, had this statline tonight:
- 1 point, 0-of-0 FG, 1-of-2 FT, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 fouls, 20 minutes, +2 plus/minus
In his last four, Dunn is averaging 3.5 points and 6.3 rebounds in 25.5 minutes per game.
Didn’t get a shot tonight.
Not even a tip.
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Chris Graham
