Virginia defeated Louisville in a comfortable road win Saturday, picking up its second road victory of the year and their fourth overall since the start of the semester. The Cavaliers (15-5, 6-3 ACC) dominated the Cardinals (6-14, 1-8 ACC) in the first half, using Coach Tony Bennett’s famous packline defense to allow just two field goals in the half’s first 18 minutes. Even after allowing significantly more field goals in the second half, Virginia left the KFC Yum! Center with a 69-52 win.
Virginia started the game strong, winning the tipoff and scoring on their first shot of the game, a contested layup by senior guard Reece Beekman. After a jump ball and eventual shot clock violation on the next Louisville possession, graduate forward Jordan Minor finished an up-and-under layup to bump the lead up to four. After each team missed a few shots, Beekman assisted a floater from freshman center Blake Buchanan, then found sophomore guard Andrew Rohde for a 27-foot three-pointer. After five minutes of play, Virginia had made their first five shots and led 11-0.
Two free throws and a field goal for Louisville brought the score to 11-4, then Virginia responded with a three-pointer from sharpshooting sophomore guard Isaac Mckneely. Louisville quickly responded with a three-pointer of their own. This would be the Cardinals’ last field goal for nine minutes.
On the next possession, Minor lost his handle on the ball while trying to dunk, but sophomore guard Ryan Dunn managed to track the ball down above the hoop and dunk it in one fluid motion, just beating the shot clock buzzer. Beekman then found Dunn for another dunk, and the Cavaliers were back in rhythm. After trading fruitless possessions, McKneely found senior guard Taine Murray for a jump shot. Buchanan finished a hook shot five feet from the rim, then Dunn assisted a corner three-pointer for senior forward Jacob Groves. Virginia was rolling now, up 25-7 and on an 11-0 run.
A Groves foul on junior forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield led to a lone free throw, but the Cavaliers followed swiftly with a beautiful Rohde-to-Dunn connection for two points. After a miss by sophomore guard Mike James, Rohde again found Dunn for a dunk to extend the lead to 24 points.
Huntley-Hatfield made another solitary free throw to bring the score to 32-9, but the hot Cavalier shooting continued. Dunn hit a tough fallaway shot late in the shot clock, then was fouled attempting an audacious dunk on a fast break and made both shots.
A Beekman turnover finally led to an easy layup for Louisville, ending their field goal drought. Freshman forward Leon Bond III replied with a midrange jump shot on the next possession, then forced a steal that led to a Rohde three-pointer. James hit a midrange shot of his own to make the score 41-13, and the half finished that way as neither team found the net in the last minute of play.
Dunn led the field with 12 points and 8 rebounds going into the half, and Louisivlle was held to their lowest scoring first half of the season.
Virginia continued their unfortunate trend of starting the second half slowly, giving up five quick points to the Cardinals and watching Minor and Buchanan each pick up early fouls that saw them subbed out. Another Dunn dunk finally opened the Cavaliers’ tab for the half, and Beekman found Groves for a corner three-pointer on their next possession for a 5-0 run of their own.
The half then turned into a foul-fest. Over the final 20 minutes, Virginia would commit 13 fouls to the Cardinals’ eight. Louisville would gain 15 points off of the resulting free throws, which helped them keep the game close.
After Beekman assisted a McKneely three-pointer from far beyond the arc to go up 49-22, both teams would go more than two minutes without scoring. Dunn finally broke that streak by slamming home a Beekman lob in transition. Up 30 points with 12 minutes to play, Bennett pulled Beekman and Dunn to give the bench a low-pressure run.
Sensing opportunity, Louisville ratcheted up their intensity on both ends. Over the next four minutes, they would go on an 11-0 run to cut the deficit to 19. The Cavaliers committed four turnovers during this period, and Bennett was forced to put Beekman back in to restore stability. Eventually, McKneely stopped the slide, drilling a three-pointer to bring the score to 59-37.
Louisville would end the game on a 9-2 run, but it was much too little, too late, as Virginia dribbled out the clock to end the game 69-52. Dunn’s 19 points led all scorers, and Beekman came up just one point and one assist short of a second consecutive double-double. The Cavaliers won the turnover battle handily and excelled from deep, shooting 8-17 on three-pointers — the Cardinals managed to go just 3-11. Virginia also bullied Lousivlle in the paint, outscoring them 30-18. Dunn put on a show, posting a 19 point, 11 rebound double-double boosted by a menacing six dunks.
The game was a perfect representation of Virginia’s inconsistencies. The first half was dominant, but the second half featured rather leisurely play resulting in what ended up being a somewhat close final score.
“The start we got off to in the first half, it all came together on both ends,” Bennett said. “We were passing well, making some threes, getting to the rim. The second half was another story. I think we showed at times our inexperience and our inability to be mature and keep playing. It [the quality of play] shouldn’t dip as much as it did.”
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