The Virginia men’s basketball team scored in the 40’s for the third straight game Saturday and that resulted in a double-digit loss for the second consecutive outing. North Carolina delivered the defeat this time as it grabbed a 54-44 win.
UNC snapped an eight-game losing streak at the John Paul Jones with the victory, while UVA lost back-to-back games for the second time this season. The Hoos now stand at 20-8 overall and 11-6 in the ACC, which sets the stage for a nerve-testing final three games as they try to position themselves for an NCAA Tournament bid.
Virginia likely will need to right the ship offensively to make any noise down the stretch or in the postseason. After all, the Cavlaiers scored fewer than 50 points in three straight games for the first time since the 2019-2020 season. That came against Arizona State, Maine, and Purdue in November and December.
“Offensively, yeah it’s hard,” UVA coach Tony Bennett said. “We were a little better in the second half, but they’re really keying in on a few guys and really playing off of some others. We tried to get some more movement and again some of those shots we need to finish and knock ’em down. You just keep trying to get quality looks and work hard. And they defended well too. They had a week to prepare and they were right defensively, made it hard, and you can see why they’re a good team.”
While the Carolina game came during a three-game string of struggles, Saturday’s performance somehow outdistanced the other two and actually surpassed more than a decade of rough outings.
Virginia shot just 27.6% overall (16-58) and 14.3% from 3-point range (2-14). UVA also enduraed a brutal 16.7% shooting first half (5-30) that saw the hosts make no 3’s. That overall number marked the lowest field goal shooting percentage since 2013 (23.4% vs. Wisconsin on Dec. 4). The 16.7% first half was the program’s lowest since 2009 (13.6% vs. Florida State on Jan. 24).
Reece Beekman actually got the day off to a good start with 2 buckets in the first 2 minutes, which at the time left UNC with a 5-4 lead. After the second one at 18:08, however, the Hoos didn’t score again until Blake Buchann converted an offensive rebound at the 10:10 mark. The next field goal didn’t come until Jordan Minor scored on an offensive rebound with 3:01 to go before halftime. That adds up to 2 field goals in 15 minutes and the Tar Heels grew their lead to 21-10 during that span and UVA spent the rest of the contest chasing a comeback that never came.
Beekman finished with 10 points on 4-14 shooting with 7 rebounds and 5 assists. He was the only Hoo with an assist in the game. Minor posted a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds. Isaac McKneely tallied 7 points on 2-9 shooting with only 1 3-pointer. Elijah Gertrude saw his first extended minutes in recent ACC action with 18 and scored 6 points, but that came from 1-7 shooting and 4-8 shooting at the free throw line.
Asked how to not let the offense’s problems weigh on the team mentally, Beekman said that you have to stay aggressive.
“I’d say just stay encouraged and still stay aggressive,” Beekman said. “When you start not taking the shots, that’s when the whole offense doens’t work. I feel like we were getting to good spots today, just the shots weren’t falling. We don’t want it to affect the defensive end too much and it didn’t – I fee like that kept us in the game enough today.”
Indeed, the Cavaliers stayed within striking distance on the scoreboard thanks to a much better defensive effort. UNC had a rough shooting night too with a 32.0% overall number (16-50) and a 31.8% 3-point outing (7-22). That’s the second straight contest at the JPJ where the Wahoos held the opponent below 35.0% – Wake Forest managed 34.6% last Saturday in a 49-47 UVA win.
RJ Davis shot 1-14 for the Heels, but made it to double figures with 12 points coming mostly from a 9-10 night at the free throw line. Armando Bacot had a double-double with 10 points on 4-7 shooting and 13 rebounds despite foul trouble that limited his first half minutes. Harrison Ingram posted 7 points on 3-6 shooting to go with 10 rebounds too, while Elliot Cadeau had 4 points and 6 assists.
The real difference maker, however, turned out to be Cormac Ryan. The one-time Notre Dame standout lit up the defense for 18 points on 6-11 shooting from 3-point range (6-12 overall). That included 5 triples in the first half with the final one coming at the 2:01 mark when UVA had climbed back to 21-14 on the scoreboard. He followed that with a shhh finger to the lips as the crowd noise quickly dampened. His only trey of hte second half served as a similar silencer – UVA had the deficit down to 28-22 when Ryan knocked one down at the 16:40 mark.
“I thought we ran into some screens uncharacteristically,” Bennett said. “We didn’t lower our shoulder, get on his numbers, and chase, and didn’t give enough help, and got lost a couple of times. He made us pay with those shots.”
The Hoos have a few days to regroup. Up next, they take the trip to Boston College for a 9 p.m. game on Wednesday night.
