Former ‘Hoo Isaac McKneely was clearly motivated – iMac had 23 points, a season-high, and put up a season-high 16 shots.
He just didn’t get enough help from his ‘mates.
Louisville fell behind 14-0 four minutes in, and never could get all the way dug out of the hole, as Virginia got the Top 25 road win, 79-70, on Tuesday in the KFC Yum! Center.
ICYMI
It got interesting a couple of different times. UVA (15-2, 4-1 ACC, NET: 16) led by double-digits for a long time in the first half, but Louisville (12-5, 2-3 ACC, NET: 18) edged its way into getting the margin to 33-28 at the break.
A J’Vonne Hadley driving layup got the deficit to four, but a trio of threes from Malik Thomas, who finished with 19 points, and six made threes, got the lead back into double-digits.
Virginia kept a safe working margin the rest of the way, with Louisville only getting as close as six a couple of times late.
Player notes
- Johann Grunloh matched his season-high with 16 points (4-of-8 FG, 3-of-4 3FG, 4-of-4 FT), and also had seven rebounds and four blocked shots in 26 minutes.
- Malik Thomas got his 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field – the six makes came on eight attempted threes. The six made threes is a season-high for him.
- Sam Lewis had 15 points (4-of-10 FG, 2-of-7 3FG, 5-of-6 FT).
- Thijs de Ridder, coming off the sublime performance (22 points, 8-of-11 FG) in the win over Stanford, had a quiet night: nine points (3-of-10 FG, 0-of-3 3FG, 3-of-4 FT) and eight boards.
- Chance Mallory had seven points (1-of-6 FG, 0-of-5 3FG, 5-of-5 FT) and four assists.
- Big night from Dallin Hall: just five points, but he had 12 rebounds, easily a career-high, and four assists.
- Jacari White, returning from a wrist injury that had sidelined him for five games, had five points (1-of-3 3FG, 2-of-3 FT) in 12 minutes off the bench.
- Ugonna Onyenso saw his minutes limited by Grunloh having a solid night: three points, three rebounds, three blocks in 14 minutes.
- Devin Tillis may be playing his way out of the rotation: he put up his third straight goose egg in 10 minutes off the bench.
Odom Ball
- Points off turnovers: Virginia -11
- Second-chance points: Virginia +4
- Points in the paint: Virginia -14
- Threes: Virginia +12
- Free throws: Virginia +11
Shooting zones
- At the rim: Virginia 3/6, Louisville 9/21
- In the paint (including rim): Virginia 6/15, Louisville 13/28
- Midrange: Virginia 1/4, Louisville 1/1
- Threes: Virginia 14/34, Louisville 10/38
- Free throws: Virginia 23/29, Louisville 12/18
UVA Basketball in the NCAA metrics
- NET: 16
- KenPom: 14
- BartTorvik: 10