Virginia men’s basketball failed to retain the momentum of a four-game winning streak coming out of the 11-day break for exams, as the Cavaliers scraped by mid-major Northeastern 56-54 Saturday before falling to Memphis on the road Tuesday, 77-54.
Virginia looked out of sorts for most of the first half against the Huskies (4-7, 0-0 CAA) as Northeastern scored 10 of the game’s first 12 points. Senior guard Reece Beekman helped Virginia take a brief lead late in the first, but hot shooting from the Huskies flipped the advantage once more, giving Northeastern a 30-24 advantage at the half.
The Huskies started the second half on a 7-0 run, increasing their lead to a game-high of 13. Virginia spent the next few minutes chipping away at that deficit thanks to brilliant scoring from Beekman. The Cavaliers retook the lead on a three-pointer from sophomore guard Isaac McKneely, but could not make it permanent as the game seesawed toward the finish line. Beekman tied the game from the line with under a minute to play, then secured a rebound on Northeastern’s next possession and called his own number on the other end. The senior guard scooped in a go-ahead layup with 5.4 on the game clock, giving Virginia a 56-54 victory.
“Reece kind of decided to take over the game,” Coach Tony Bennett said postgame. “We weren't ready the way we needed to be, and it showed.”
The Cavaliers followed this narrow win with their first true road game of the season, a big loss to the Tigers (9-2, 0-0 AAC).
Memphis blitzed Virginia early, scoring the game’s first seven points, including five from senior forward David Jones. The Cavaliers got on the board with a single free throw by sophomore guard Ryan Dunn, but a pair of three-pointers from the Tigers opened their lead to 13-1 at the first media timeout.
Virginia roared to life out of the break with sophomore guard Andrew Rohde feeding Beekman for a triple. Beekman then forced a steal and fed redshirt freshman wing Leon Bond III for a transition slam, followed by a three-pointer from graduate forward Jacob Groves, again assisted by Beekman. Memphis stemmed the tide with an easy layup, but Beekman fired right back with another three-pointer. A pair of Jones free throws was countered by Cavalier freshman Elijah Gertrude banking a layup, but Memphis hit consecutive jumpers to open up their lead again. Groves hit a quick inside shot off a Rohde feed, but the Tigers again countered with a Jones bucket, this time from deep.
The game was close to this point, but slowly it began to take a turn. The teams are complete opposites in terms of style and pace, with Memphis ranking 19th in the country and tempo and Virginia placing 361st, via KenPom. The Cavaliers spent much of the early game holding their pace down, but as the first half progressed, they spent more time running the floor and conforming to the Tigers’ preferred style. Sometimes, this led to pretty basketball, like a few possessions after the Jones three-pointer when Beekman found Dunn for a fast-break layup. Mainly, it led to the ugly turnovers and rushed shots that Bennett notably despises. The Cavaliers would finish the game with a season-high 18 turnovers that generated 27 points for Memphis.
“When they made some plays with their athleticism and disrupted us, then all of a sudden we made some uncharacteristic [mistakes],” Bennett said. “We couldn’t even dribble, pass, make simple plays. Then that just snowballed.”
The teams continued to trade buckets evenly late into the half, with Virginia coming as close as one point on behalf of Groves, who completed a very efficient first half shooting the ball. However, Jones and senior guard Caleb Mills hit a few tough shots in the closing moments, and Memphis walked into the locker room up 38-32.
As they had days before against Northeastern, the Cavaliers came out of the half flat and allowed Memphis to extend their lead even further. Beekman and Groves continued to hit enough shots to keep the deficit in single digits, but the rest of the team faltered around the two seniors. Gertrude forced a steal but immediately coughed the ball up, and Rohde missed an open layup, all while Jones and Mills continued to extend the Tigers’ lead.
With about 14 minutes to play, the wheels fell off for Virginia. A Reece Beekman layup around this point made the score 44-52, but the Cavaliers would not score again for another five minutes. Memphis proceeded to go on a 13-0 run, during which five different Tigers scored, to put the game out of reach. Virginia tried to force their way out of the slump by pushing the tempo and jacking three-pointers, but that just resulted in five turnovers and four missed three-pointers during the game-deciding span.
Dunn and McKneely finally scored to end the run and bring the deficit back to 17, but Jones sank a layup and Beekman proceeded to turn the ball over three times in the next four minutes before the team’s next field goal. Jones hit a pair of free throws to take his game-leading total to 26 points, and then a pair of Tiger role players hit a three-pointer each. Virginia’s senior forward Jordan Minor scored the game’s final basket, ironically off a fast break, and Memphis left the court 77-54 victors.
Shooting ultimately crippled Virginia in both games. Combined, the Cavaliers shot 6-33 on three-pointers, and McKneely, who had been the nation’s best three-point shooter entering exams, went 2-11 from beyond the arc. While neither opponent shot phenomenally, they certainly gained an advantage from outshooting Virginia. When the Cavaliers beat talented Syracuse and Texas A&M teams, they massively outshot each team from range. They will need to regain that form going forward.
Virginia will retake the floor at the John Paul Jones Arena next Wednesday when they host Morgan State. The Bears (4-9, 0-0 MEAC) offer a chance for Bennett and the Cavaliers to recalibrate from range and return to a more familiar game plan. The game will be broadcast live at 7 p.m. on ACC Network.
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