Virginia fell to Pittsburgh Tuesday night in its first loss at John Paul Jones Arena in over a year. The Cavaliers (19-6, 10-4 ACC) could not slow the game’s pace down in the second half as the Panthers (16-8, 7-6 ACC) relied on an assault of three-point shots. Senior guard Reece Beekman and sophomore guard Isaac McKneely led the scoring for the Cavaliers with 19 and 15 points respectively, but struggled to get other players involved in crunch time.
Pittsburgh got off to the right start against the Cavaliers. Connecting on a trio of three-point shots, the Panthers scored 22 points in the first nine minutes — a rare scoring feat against the mighty Virginia defense.
McKneely, the ACC’s top three-point shooter, kept the Cavaliers up to pace in the same stretch. McKneely hit the game’s first three-pointer and two smooth midrange jump shots to create an exciting back-and-forth game. Pittsburgh narrowly led 22-18 as Virginia called a timeout.
The Cavalier offense could not find a bucket for more than two minutes after the timeout, but junior guard Dante Harris turned defense into offense, stealing the ball and finding sophomore guard Ryan Dunn for the basket.
On Virginia’s ensuing offensive possession, McKneely took a long visit to the free-throw line after being fouled from three-point range. After making each attempt, Beekman finished a reverse layup to give the Cavaliers a 25-24 lead with just over six minutes left in the half.
Virginia appeared to have found their rhythm defensively. However, freshman guard Jaland Lowe and senior forward Blake Hinson gave the Panthers back-to-back three-point shots in the closing minutes of the half.
In what appeared to be Pittsburgh's final possession of the half, sophomore forward Guillermo Diaz Graham hit the Panthers' eighth three-point shot. Beekman turned the ball over in the final seconds of the half and fouled junior guard Ishmael Leggett in what was deemed a flagrant foul. Pittsburgh led 35-31 at halftime in an uncharacteristically poor performance from Coach Tony Bennett’s elite defense. Despite the late run by Pittsburgh, Virginia seemed to have buoyed their defense, having conceded just 13 points in the final 11 minutes of the half.
Virginia’s offense caught fire to open up the second half. Hinson began the half with a three-pointer, but sophomore guard Andrew Rohde responded with one of his own. Then Beekman took over. The senior knocked down a jump shot and then found Buchanan for an electric alley-oop dunk.
However, the Panthers overcame the Cavalier scoring surge in the same way they initially took the lead — an assault of three-point shots. Leggett tied the game with a deep three-pointer and then dished an assist to Hinson who connected from beyond the arc.
Pittsburgh held a slim 50-49 lead with just 13 minutes remaining. Facing a crucial crossroads in the game, Virginia went cold from the field. In a five minute stretch, the Cavaliers scored just three points, all of which came from junior guard Taine Murray. However, Virginia was still within striking distance of the lead after a Beekman jump shot with just over seven minutes remaining — they were down just 60-54.
In the game’s waning minutes, however, Hinson and Lowe sealed the deal for Pitt. Hinson connected on his fifth three-point shot of the game and Lowe hit a devastating turnaround jump shot. After Hinson ran the length of the floor to finish a second-chance layup off of a fast break, the Panthers had one of their biggest leads of the game — an insurmountable 12 points.
The Cavaliers were unable to bring the lead back to single digits in the final minutes. In many offensive possessions, Beekman took the lead by penetrating the defense and dishing the ball to teammates but could not find many open options.
The Panthers won with their unbelievable three-point shooting — they shot 14-32 from deep, while the Cavaliers shot 4-14. McKneely, who is Virginia's main three-point threat, shot 33 percent on three-point attempts, perhaps losing his rhythm after an airball.
Bennett and the Cavalier faithful will question if this loss was the rule or the exception. Virginia's slow-paced style appeared to work in their recent eight-game winning streak but prevented them from fighting back against a notable deficit. With limited offensive weapons, the Cavaliers will continue their struggle to find points in the critical final minutes of games.
“We just gotta figure out ways to stop those scoring droughts,” Beekman said.
Virginia now falls back down to third place in the ACC and will try to continue to prove themselves as an NCAA Tournament worthy team. The Cavaliers aim to avenge their previous loss to Wake Forest Saturday at noon at JPJ, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
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