In a highly anticipated top 5 college basketball matchup, Virginia threw the first punch but Houston didn’t flinch and spent the rest of the afternoon delivering body blows that led to a 69-61 victory at the John Paul Jones Arena. The loss knocked UVA from the undefeated list with all but one non-conference game completed.
After a heavyweight fight in front of an enthusiastic crowd, both coaches thought the matchup would pay dividends for their teams’ development.
“I think the film will be very valuable to see ‘hey look, we’re going to have to go there, you’re going to have to win, you can’t say well we’re going to win when our shots are going in or shooting – no, you’ve got to win games like this with soundness and toughness mentally,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. “The head and heart got to be connected on the defensive end and not just forget or just lose a little focus. That won’t work. That’s a great teaching lesson for us. What a wonderful atmosphere, the crowd was great, our young men played hard – that was going to be there – but today the tougher, sounder team on the defensive end won the game.”
“I keep bringing up Alabama, I thought against Alabama we got a little too passive and we got a little bit too selfish …,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said of his team’s 71-65 loss a week ago. “It was good that we had this game. You don’t ever say let’s go win the game. Let’s go play good, let’s go play the right way, let’s go defend, rebound, play together, play for each other. I thought all those things, this game will help us as we move forward.”
The game started well for the Hoos as they jumped ahead quickly with a strong opening four minutes that led to a 9-0 lead out of the gates. Offensively, Kihei clark sparked the early surge with a 3-pointer that swished home, a pair of free throws, and an assist that led to a Kadin Shedrick dunk. Jayden Gardner added two free throws as well to cap the early run, which Shedrick called “the start everybody dreams of.”
On the other end of the floor, Houston went 0-6 in that same stretch. J’Wan Roberts, Tramon Mark, Jarace Walker, and Marcus Sasser each missed attempts while UVA built its lead. Sampson, however, did not call a timeout and his team did not panic. That patience paid off. After absorbing that early flurry, the Cougars steadied themselves and worked back to a 16-15 lead.
Sampson said the slow start on the scoreboard wasn’t concerning because he thought his team got good looks in those first four minutes and that the preparation was good. That began to show up as the first half progressed and then it continued throughout the day. Roberts put in a layup, Jamal Shead followed with a floater, and Ja’Vier Francis added a 3-point play to get the scoring started. By the time the visitors took their first lead on another Roberts’ bucket at the 8:25 mark, they had settled in and the Cougars really controlled the game’s final 30 minutes.
“You know what was really good today was our shot selection,” Sampson said. “We had 17 assists today. I’m not even sure we passed 17 times last Saturday, but we had 17 assists today. The ball moved.”
The ball movement really caused issues for Virginia’s defense and the ability to stay locked in throughout enough possessions. That showed in the stats with the assists Sampson mentioned, but also the overall shooting numbers. Houston hit 25 of 51 shots to shoot 49%, which included 8-21 from 3-point range at a 38.1% clip. Keep in mind the 0-6 start with those numbers too because it means the visors were 25-45 for a 55.6% clip in the 36 minutes that followed. Add in 7 offensive rebounds that all seemed timely plus an 11-of-13 outing at the free throw line and it was too much to overcome.
Walker figured heavily into all of those numbers for the Cougars. The freshman made 6 of 11 shots (2 of 3 triples), grabbed 2 offensive rebounds, and dished out 4 assists. That led to 17 points and 7 rebounds with a +10 +/- while he was on the floor. He was one of five players in double figures as Sasser and Mark had 13 points each, while Shead and Roberts chipped in 11 and 10 respectively.
“The way we started, we were right but they just wouldn’t go away and a couple of crucial swings and then you’re playing from behind,” Bennett said. “We’ve done that before at Michigan, but not quite up to this point against that kind of defense that’s going to make you earn and then again when you get the shots and you don’t make ’em, that can have a little bit of an effect on you. So you’ve got to be as tough as whale blubber or whatever you want to say on the defensive end – you can bend, but you can’t break. I thought a few times at crucial possessions, we broke with an unsound play.”
Indeed, the Wahoos needed to convert on some good looks to try to offset some of the defensive miscues but they couldn’t do that consistently enough. UVA ended up shooting 20-48 (41.7%) overall and 6-22 (27.3%) from 3-point range. That included a little bit of fool’s gold in the final 30 seconds when Houston’s defense let up a little while icing the game at its own free throw line. Armaan Franklin canned a 3-pointer and Shedrick got two uncontested buckets at the rim during that late stage. The hosts did put down 15 of 17 free throws to help get points on the board, but it wasn’t enough to offset some of the struggles elsewhere.
Both of those players finished in double figures. Shedrick led the way with 16 points on 7-8 shooting, while Franklin added 10 points and 6 rebounds. Gardner was the only other Hoo to join them with 13 points and 6 rebounds. Clark did have 9 points and 8 assists, while Isaac McKneely came off the bench for 9 points too. Reece Beekman, who did play after a hamstring injury against James Madison before the break put his availability in question, had 4 points and 5 assists on 1-5 shooting, while Ben Vander Plas did not score during an 0-7 shooting night. That included 6 misses from 3-point range. Virginia also committed 10 turnovers.
With some of the offensive miscues and the defense unable to make Houston uncomfortable for any lengthy stretches, it left the Hoos trying to mount a comeback in its first game back from the exam break. UVA fell behind by 7 points during the visitors’ surge midway through the first half and then by 11 points a little more than 5 minutes into the second half. From there, Virginia tried to rally while getting jabbed consistently by the Cougars. After one last push halted at a 6-point deficit when a good McKneely 3-point attempt rolled off the rim, the result essentially became a technical knockout to keep the big boxing match analogy going.
“The atmosphere was insane in here. They just started hitting tough shots and we had some defensive breakdowns here and there and I think that’s kind of when the flip switched,” McKneely said. “They stretched the lead out and we could never really fight all the way back. We’d gone on a little 5 or 7-0 run and then they’d make a tough shot and we could never get over the hump.”
A couple years from now, McKneely buries those shots. But I agree with Tony, that’s not the issue.