The Virginia basketball team added two more wins to its ACC total with victories against NC State and Pittsburgh. Both games required UVA to secure things in the second half, but he Hoos remained atop the league standings as a result. The Double Bonus is back for a closer look.

Spread Ball Screen Backdoor

The Cavaliers took care of the Wolfpack, 64-57, but the game was a grinder in Raleigh. The Hoos had trouble settling in on offense for long stretches as the Pack bothered cutters and smothered ballhandlers. They made it tough for UVA to find any rhythm.

Late in the second half, however, Virginia created an answer on a couple of possessions. It benefited Trey Murphy III both times.

The Wahoos dialed up a spread ball screen opener, a typical concept for them within most of their schemes offensively. You saw it into 3-man motion frequently against Pittsburgh, for example. In Raleigh, the ball screen opener was to set up a different opportunity, though. UVA sent Kihei Clark off a ball screen from Jay Huff in order to create a pop play that relocated Huff to the top of the key where he received a pass from Clark. On the catch, Sam Hauser cut through the lane from the side opposite of the pass to the top of the key. That left Murphy isolated on the left side of the floor with Hauser flowing to the right block. When Murphy’s man lost vision, he immediately cut down the baseline for an open pass and dunk.

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