Virginia’s 77-53 bounceback win over Louisville Wednesday evening in John Paul Jones Arena went as expected.
The only positive takeaway that Cavaliers fans could have grasped after Saturday’s debacle at Notre Dame was knowing that a bad Louisville team was up next.
How bad?
To start with, it was the Cardinals’ first game in 13 days.
Louisville came into the ACC contest 5-7 and 0-1 in ACC play.
But the record alone didn’t mean much, as Notre Dame faced Virginia on Saturday with a similar mark.
The glaring fact was that Louisville came to Charlottesville with a 21-game road losing streak. The Cardinals’ last win in a true road environment was over two years ago, when they won on Jan. 2, 2022, at Georgia Tech.
So, the script for Wednesday’s game with Virginia was one that the Cardinals have seen play out time after time.
Wednesday was simply the latest evidence of Virginia’s domination in the series.
UVA’s win was its eight straight in the series. Since joining the conference in 2014, the Cardinals are a dismal 2-17 against the Cavaliers, including 0-9 in JPJ Arena.
To make matters worse, Louisville found themselves incredibly shorthanded due to a rash of injuries. Of the 12 scholarship players, the Cardinals had just eight that were available.
Not that it mattered.
With a full complement of players, Louisville has had some head-scratching losses at home this season.
Cardinals assistant coach Danny Manning told me after the game he was worried he may be asked to suit up.
Hum.
Well, this is Louisville.
Speculation around the Louisville camp is that second-year head coach Kenny Paine won’t survive this season.
Hard to argue that point.
I’ve watched plenty of basketball in my lifetime and never seen a losing team dribble out the clock with over 25 seconds remaining.
Heck, when the final buzzer sounded, a few Louisville players in the game at the time were well on their way to the locker room.
Now, having bashed the Cardinals more than enough, it’s time to give Virginia due credit.
From the start, UVA made it difficult for the Cardinals to execute their drive-to-the-basket offense.
Over the first 12 minutes of the game, Louisville had 12 shot attempts, with 10 coming from behind the arc. The main problem with that is the Cardinals entered the game shooting less than 30 percent from three-point land.
UVA held Louisville scoreless on droughts of 5:10 and 4:09 of the opening half.
The only thing that kept the Cardinals hanging around was that the Cavaliers had some of their own early offensive struggles, as they hit just six of their first 16 attempts.
UVA led 37-22 at intermission and was never threatened in the second half.
The biggest takeaway from Wednesday’s win was that while indeed Louisville is a bad team, Virginia got taken to the woodshed by a bad Notre Dame squad Saturday. So, winning big was a respite for the Cavaliers.
Like it or not, this is a young team, and a team that is still looking for the right chemistry.
Tougher tests are on the horizon, starting Saturday in Raleigh against NC State. The Wolfpack overcame an eight-point deficit at the half to edge Notre Dame, 56-54, in South Bend Wednesday evening.
Wednesday, the Cavaliers got Isaac McKneely back on track, as the sophomore led the team in scoring with 18 points, 7-of-11 from the floor.
And most important, moving forward, Virginia got a solid performance from Taine Murray, who has done everything, except sell popcorn, that the coaching staff has asked of him.
Murray, who I have written off more than once in his career, provided the Cavaliers with a huge performance off the bench.
Murray was 5-of-6 from the field, including 2-of-3 from deep, for 12 points.
For a team that has struggled at times finding offensive weaponry, Murray can be a difference-maker for Virginia.
No one is asking or expecting Murray to suddenly become instant offense for UVA, he doesn’t have to be.
What he appears ready to bring to the court is a steady rotational player that plays smart on both ends of the floor.
Murray’s been around the program long enough to know his value to the team and plays within himself.
He may be a critical missing piece for the Cavaliers this season.
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