Like a computer that takes too long to boot up, the Virginia basketball team frequently has gotten off to slow starts this season. That habit proved costly Monday night in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge at the John Paul Jones Arena. Iowa jumped out to an early 16-8 lead that ballooned to 21 points in the first half and then survived a furious UVA rally to win 75-74.
That sort of start has been a bit of a pattern so far this season. In eight games, they’ve trailed early in seven. Navy scored the first five points and led 21-16 before it made a few plays late to win. Radford, Georgia, Providence, and Lehigh led 8-5, 6-2, 7-4, and 9-5 respectively before Virginia took control. Houston snared an early 14-2 lead and went on to win by 20. Then there was the Hawkeyes’ early blitz Monday.
For the Wahoos, the show of resilience with the rally may have been beneficial but learning from the slow starts may be more important in the long run.
“They made the play down the stretch, and we didn’t, but at least we did some things that were good. There was passion and grit,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. “But to bury yourself in a 20-point hole – some good plays they made but some of us just not being right and ready. We absorbed some defensive breakdowns even in the second half. We had to just get some guys off the floor and go with what was working but again, good fight, good comeback. I hope we’ll grow from it. But how we started a game and being that lukewarm in my opinion is not going to get it done for us.”
For Bennett to choose the word lukewarm, he clearly was not pleased with the effort at the beginning of the game. That’s the antonym to the passion pillar from the program’s five core principles.
Some key stats back up his observation. Iowa built a 44-30 at halftime and many of the points came from non-negotiable categories in Bennett’s mind. The Hawkeyes scored 20 of those points off of second chance or fastbreak points. They had 11 second chance points on 6 offensive rebounds and scored 9 fastbreak points, including some easy early offense post-ups and transition 3’s. The Cavaliers started 8-24 shooting to help fuel some of those transition looks before firing up the offense to make a comeback attempt.
The lackadaisical opening put UVA in a big hole.
“Yeah, we just weren’t back. Poor communication. Just again, foggy,” Bennett described it. “We were. I’ve got to do a better job of preparing us for that to start the game better.”
As unsure as the start was, the Hoos settled in and stormed back in front of a rowdy JPJ crowd. They finished the first half making 5 of their final 6 shots as they trimmed the one-time 21-point lead down to 14. That flurry carried through intermission and Virginia remained red hot the rest of the way.
In the second half, UVA hit 63% of its shots (17-27) including 77.8% of its 3’s (7-9) to not only get back into the game, but take the lead. An 8-0 run near the midway point of the second half pulled the Hoos to within two possessions and they eventually got over the hump in the final three minutes. Kihei Clark and Taine Murray were involved in both instances.
The first 8-0 run featured a 3-point shot from each and the duo copied that formula late for the lead. Back-to-back triples from Murray pushed the hosts ahead 71-70 at the 1:36 mark for their first lead since the first bucket of the game. Iowa’s Jordan Bohannon answered with his sixth 3-pointer to flip-flop the lead again, but Clark pulled up for one of his own 3’s that made it a 74-73 Virginia lead in the final minute.
To erase that 21-point deficit and lead late, UVA gave itself a chance to win.
“We played harder, more attentive,” Clark said. “You could just feel more life. I don’t know just laid out on the floor. We have a tendency to come out slow, but we can all see the difference. So just try to come out next game and just try to work on coming out more alert and more ready to look great.”
Murray missed the front end of a crucial 1-and-1 free throw opportunity with 25 seconds to go that could have extended the lead. That set up a dramatic finish.
First, Iowa needed a play to salvage its night after such a strong start. After a jumpball scramble on the first part of the possession, the Hawkeyes got the shot it needed. Joe Toussaint provided it when he used a ball screen on the right wing and navigated against Kadin Shedrick and a recovering Reece Beekman. A slight shot fake backed off Shedrick just enough and Toussaint kissed it in off the glass.
UVA immediately inbounded the ball for Clark to push it ahead. He made a move at the top of the key and got a twisting floater up to the rim, but it caught the back iron. Kadin Shedrick had an offensive rebound in his hands, but had the ball blocked by Patrick McCaffery to preserve the win for Iowa.
“I said that in the [previous] huddle. I said if they scored that I thought push and give because I thought we could maybe get one on the glass,” Bennett said. “Because of their three-quarter court pressure and how they were falling in the zone. I thought if we can get it down the floor and attack and get a quality shot, get it and get over the glass. I have to look and see, but Kadin had a tip, he had a chance that was right there. Kihei got in there kind of, I have to look at it again, I can’t tell. But, again, I could have possibly got it across halfcourt and called the timeout, those are things we decided before attack, attack and I just wanted them going. I’ll look at it and maybe I’ll change my tune if I did it again. I was okay with how it ended. I thought maybe we could get a foul, but I don’t think there was one.”
The big early lead, the big comeback, and the late drama overshadowed some solid offensive output at varying times during the game.
Iowa shot 53.6% (30-56) overall and 47.6% (10-21) from 3-point range for the game. The Hawkeyes placed three players in double figures. Bohannon led all scorers with 20 points behind a 6-9 shooting night, while star forward Keegan Murray periodically took it to the defense too. He put up 18 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and a blocked shot. Toussaint’s game-winning shot left him with 10 points.
Virginia, meanwhile, shot 52.6% (30-57) for the game. and 50% (9-18) from 3-point range. Jayden Gardner led the way with 18 points that included two triples and had 8 rebounds with 2 assists too, though he did sit late after some defensive lapses. Clark had 15 points that included 3-4 shooting from 3-point range and 5 assists, while Murray chipped in 14 points with 4-6 shooting from behind the arc. Beekman stuffed the boxscore again with 11 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists. Shedrick added 9 points and 6 rebounds despite some first half foul trouble.
The similar stat lines make since in what came down to a final shot in a 75-74 game. The high-caliber November game should help the Hoos prepare for their ACC opener to begin December. They host Pittsburgh on Friday night where they’ll be looking for more consistency and a win to open league play.
“I mean, that just shows we can when we play how we want to play,” Clark said of the comeback. “We’re pretty good. We stuck with them. We dug ourselves a hole, so battling back from that, it’s always tough to come back. We try to put two halves together.”
