You’ll hear the excuse, Georgia Tech was shorthanded. But Tech was also shorthanded when it beat Louisville last weekend, when it won in three OTs at Clemson on Tuesday.
Don’t shortchange that win for this UVA Basketball team, is what I’m saying.
“The goal for the week in practice, you know, was trying to piggyback on the performance at Pittsburgh and trying to see if we can improve,” interim coach Ron Sanchez said after Virginia made it two straight, and three of four, with a 75-61 win on Saturday.
ICYMI
- UVA Basketball: ‘Hoos, on Tony Bennett Day, dispatch Georgia Tech, 75-61
- Bad news, UVA Basketball fans: No, Tony Bennett isn’t coming back
A 10-0 second-half run got the margin into double-digits, and it would, only briefly, get as close as nine the rest of the way.
Couple this result with the 73-57 win at Pitt earlier in the week, and that’s two double-digit wins over teams that have, to borrow from Al Groh, pelts.
It’s starting to feel like this group, with a lot of young guys, and a lot of new guys, is maybe finally starting to get how to play Tony Bennett Basketball together.
“As we get more comfortable running our offense the right way, and you know, I’m playing with guys who make tough shots, and you know, I try to put them in positions where they can score, and they always seem to, you know, make hard shots and things like that,” said junior guard Andrew Rohde, who had 11 points (4-of-9 FG, 3-of-6 3FG) and nine assists vs. zero turnovers in 34 minutes.
In his last three, Rohde is averaging 10.7 points and 8.3 assists, with a 25:0 assist-to-turnover ratio, which isn’t even a ratio, because you can’t divide anything by zero.
“Rohde is playing fantastic basketball at the point guard position. He’s really settled in. He’s the guy that calms us,” Sanchez said.
If Rohde is the saucer, sophomore guard Dai Dai Ames is the hot cup of coffee.
Ames, the Kansas State transfer, went for 18 points, 14 in the second half, and in his last three, he’s averaging 18.7 points, and shooting 63.9 percent from the floor and 50.0 percent (7-of-14) from three.
For context, Ames had scored a total of 55 points over a 13-game stretch between the Dec. 4 loss at Florida and the Jan. 29 win at Miami – so, that’s 4.2 points per game, on 34.1 percent shooting from the floor, and 20 percent (4-of-20) from three, for two calendar months.
“I wish I was in today’s head to answer that for you. I don’t know was click for him, but I do see him playing with confidence,” Sanchez said.
Game Notes
Isaac McKneely led the way with 20 points, 18 in a tone-setting first half.
McKneely in the last four games: 18.3 points per game, 48.1 percent shooting from the field, 38.9 percent from three.
The two starting bigs had nice nights – freshman Jacob Cofie had nine points and six rebounds, and sophomore Blake Buchanan had seven points and 11 boards, five on the offensive glass.
Virginia had a 38-24 rebound advantage, and had 13 offensive rebounds on the night.
Two-level scoring: Virginia was 11-of-27 (40.7% FG, 61.1% EFG) from three, and 14-of-19 (73.7% FG) on shots at the rim.
Season numbers there coming in: 8.2 makes from three per game (37.6% FG, 56.4% EFG), 8.4 makes at the rim per game (62.2% FG).
Fast breaks: StatBroadcast gave UVA credit for 10 fast-break points tonight. Over their last three, the ‘Hoos are averaging 9.3 fast-break points per game.
Coming into the game: our guys were getting just 3.4 fast-break points per game.
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Chris Graham
