Virginia men’s basketball badly needed to bounce back after losing by a combined 47 points in its two games in the Bahamas last week. While Tuesday night’s 74-65 victory over Manhattan got the Cavaliers (4-2, 0-0 ACC) back in the win column and featured five players recording double-digit scoring games, those performances were overshadowed by another disappointing margin of victory.
Sure, Virginia will take all the victories it can get at this stage in the season. And maybe the Jaspers (3-3, 0-0 MAC) – who defeated Army on Friday – are no pushover. But Manhattan continually exposed the Cavaliers’ lackluster abilities on both sides of the ball, benefitting from eight Virginia turnovers and numerous wide-open three-point opportunities.
The Cavaliers led wire-to-wire thanks to sloppy play from the Jaspers. 14 turnovers made Virginia look much more defensively adept than they were — it often took just a few passes for Manhattan to find the open three-point attempt or an easy bucket in the paint. It bears mentioning that Virginia took advantage of the turnovers, scoring 25 points off of them as the offense seemed determined to keep Manhattan from tying the game.
Despite a roughshod defensive performance, several Cavaliers got involved in the offensive end. Junior guards Isaac McKneely and Andrew Rohde scored 18 and 14 points respectively, each playing over 36 minutes. Rohde’s emergence as a key piece of the offense continued Tuesday in the highest-scoring game of his Virginia career. Notably, he did not attempt a three-pointer, instead showing scoring prowess from midrange.
Sophomore forward Blake Buchanan and freshman forward Jacob Cofie also scored in double digits. Despite the success of the Virginia forwards, the Cavaliers lost the battle on the boards, recording 28 rebounds to the Jaspers’ 31. Manhattan tallied 11 second-chance points, exploiting Virginia’s poor rebounding to keep the deficit within striking distance throughout.
Virginia had stretched the lead to 15 points midway through the first period, but after a series of missed free throws, turnovers and fouls by the Cavaliers, the lead was just seven points as the teams headed for the break. This was a recurring theme in the victory, as Virginia went on hot streaks that were almost immediately matched by Manhattan scoring runs.
The second half showed more promise, as the Cavaliers extended the lead to 16 points — their largest at any point in the game — with under 10 minutes to play. Quickly, though, it was back down to six with the clock ticking under four minutes.
But down the stretch, McKneely and Rohde did enough to stave off the upset. The duo combined to score Virginia’s last 11 points, hitting timely buckets and converting all six of their late free-throw attempts when Manhattan began to foul.
Although it left much to be desired, the nine-point victory gives Virginia something to be thankful for as the end of November hastily approaches — the Cavaliers’ 74-point performance marks their highest-scoring game of the season and just the second time Coach Ron Sanchez’s group has produced at least 70 points.
Virginia’s next matchup comes Friday, when they will welcome Holy Cross to John Paul Jones Arena. Tipoff is set for 4:00 pm on ACCNX.
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