Virginia claimed a significant win, 70-60, over Villanova in Baltimore on Friday.
The Cavaliers are undefeated at 3-0, heading next to the Bahamas in the Continental Baha Mar Men’s Championship next Thursday.
Isaac McKneely scored 23 points and made all six of his three-point attempts, as the Cavaliers finished 14-of-25 from behind the arc.
McKneely made his first six shots of the game, including four three-pointers.
Virginia went on a 12-2 run to take the lead 14-11 with 9:30 remaining in the first half, holding the Wildcats scoreless for over seven minutes.
The Cavaliers would never trail in the contest after taking the lead.
Here’s some takeaways from downtown Baltimore.
When I-Mac attacks, Virginia’s dangerous
Virginia coach Ron Sanchez had asked McKneely to be more aggressive and look for more shots.
McKneely responded, by having a great night offensively with 23 points, connecting on 8-of-9 field goal attempts. The six threes were a career high.
In Virginia’s first two games of the season, it appeared as though McKneely was passing up a shot to make a pass.
Not tonight.
He was aggressive in calling for the ball, and when he got it, he ripped it.
Bad back Rohde was good
Andrew Rohde, who was a late scratch from Tuesday’s contest with Coppin State, came off the Virginia bench, and was certainly a first-half spark. Sitting close to the court, I was able to watch Rohde handle the ball, and he displayed solid court vision, moving the ball well, and finding the open shooter.
Again, from the view closer to the floor, I like Rohde’s size as well.
The back issue that kept him on the bench in Tuesday’s game, looked fine tonight, although he was stretching considerably during timeouts.
Tonight was certainly a confidence boost for Rohde, by far his best game as a Cavalier.
Clearly this is Sanchez’s team
Virginia took 25 three-point attempts tonight. And only a few were the result of a dwindling shot clock.
The Cavaliers moved the ball well, lots of motion, and took the open three, regardless of the shot clock.
Pace of play, so be it, it seemed like Virginia played the way modern college basketball is being played today. Virginia took the best available shot available on most possessions, and shot most three’s and layups.
So back to the pace of play, Virginia had a very Virginia-like 59 possessions, with 28 scores. The difference being, 14 made three’s.
Virginia’s three-guard lineup might work
After a sluggish start tonight, down by seven early, Sanchez replaced starter TJ Power with Rohde, who was quicker on defense than Power. At times Sanchez played Dai Dai Ames, Rohde and McKneely together. McKneely and Ames played over 35 minutes each, while Rhode had 27 minutes. The three-guard lineup allowed Virginia to penetrate and then find the open shot. The long ball got the job done here tonight, but moving forward the Virginia big men will have to step up as well, getting more involved in the UVA offense.
Saunders was an inefficient 2-of-7 from the floor, struggling in the paint against the Villanova big men. Apparently, Saunders was also dealing with some cramping.
Power is still a work-in-progress, while Cofie added some garbage time points, as well as somehow heaving up seven threes. Not sure Sanchez is going to like seeing that on the stat sheet.
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