What a difference a couple of weeks makes. Virginia fans were writing off their team, probably for good reason, based on what we were seeing, after a string of bad road losses, but now, three wins in three tries, and the fans are, well, they’re still Virginia fans, which means, still fretting.
Now it’s not so much, our team sucks, the world’s coming to an end, as it’s, doom has to be just around the corner.
I thought the 2019 national title would have absolved us of all that, but, no.
The next doom lurking around the corner comes in the form of Louisville (6-13, 1-7 ACC), which hosts the Cavaliers on Saturday.
Virginia (14-5, 5-3 ACC) won the first matchup between the two back on Jan. 3, 77-53.
The Cardinals have lost five of their last six since, but they’re playing a lot better – the win was at Miami, and there’s a six-point home loss to NC State, an 86-70 loss at UNC that was a five-point game with 12:39 left, and an 83-69 loss to Duke that was a four-point game with 10 minutes to go.
I’m not saying there’s doom lurking around the corner here, though actually, yeah, there could be doom lurking around the corner here.
How this one plays out
Kenny Payne goes four guards around his 6’10” junior center Brandon Huntley-Hatfield (11.1 ppg, 8.5 rebounds/g, 57.4% FG), and when Huntley-Hatfield, who averages 30.2 minutes per game, has to go to the bench, Payne goes small, with 6’6” freshman Kaleb Glenn (1.8 ppg, 2.9 rebounds/g, 10.7 minutes/g) playing the five.
Huntley-Hatfield – has anyone suggested the nickname Double-H for him yet? – had nine points (3-of-6 FG) and five boards in 33 minutes in the loss at JPJ earlier this month.
The guy starting at the five for Virginia now, Jordan Minor (11.5 ppg, 5.3 rebounds/g, 56.7% FG over his past four games), got two garbage-time minutes in the first matchup.
Three of the four guards who start and get big minutes around Huntley-Hatfield average in double figures – 6’5” sophomore Michael James (14.0 ppg, 5.5 rebounds/g, 43.8% FG, 40.0% 3FG), 6’3” sophomore Skyy Clark (13.6 ppg, 3.1 assists/g, 38.7% FG, 33.3% 3FG), and 6’7” sophomore Tre White (12.3 ppg, 5.4 rebounds/g, 45.1% FG, 30.2% 3FG).
Payne has been going back and forth at the other guard spot between 6’0” freshman Ty-Laur Johnson (7.9 ppg, 3.3 assists/g, 35.0% FG, 17.9% 3FG) and 6’5” freshman Curtis Williams (6.3 ppg, 38.4% FG, 37.1% 3FG).
Williams had 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting, 4-of-10 from three, in the loss at Virginia.
James was the other double-digit scorer first time out, with 10 points (4-of-10 FG).
Virginia got big games that night out of Isaac McKneely (18 points, 7-of-11 FG, 4-of-7 3FG), Ryan Dunn (15 points, 7-of-8 FG, 10 rebounds), Taine Murray (12 points, 5-of-6 FG, 2-of-3 3FG) and Reece Beekman (11 points, 4-of-7 FG, 1-of-3 3FG, eight assists).
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Chris Graham
