As the turmoil of a rather eventful day drew to a close, fans looking for an escape turned to Virginia’s game against Wake Forest. It was supposed to be a calming activity, something to enjoy for two hours while the nation tore itself to pieces just 115 miles down the road from JPJ.
Alas, the game started out as anything but calming. Wake jumped out to an early 12-point lead, the Demon Deacons hitting contested three after contested three.
But Virginia weathered the storm, outscoring Wake by 14 in the second half to finish with a nine-point victory. With the win, Virginia improves to 2-0 in ACC play, leaving them tied with two other undefeated teams atop the ACC standings. Here are five takeaways from the win.
1) Hauser headed in the right direction
Encouraging is the word that comes to mind when thinking about Sam Hauser’s performance. Encouraging because he hunted his shot all night, encouraging because he rebounded well, and encouraging because he exhibited previously unseen defensive prowess.
Well, maybe ‘prowess,’ isn’t exactly the proper word. It just felt so impressive after the defensive performances that Sam had been turning in to start the season. He had some very good defensive possessions in this game, and overall seemed a lot more comfortable and confident with regard to his place in the packline defense.
Sam also shone with the ball in his hands on offense, scoring 16 points and grabbing 11 boards for his second straight double-double. Per usual, he excelled in the midrange game, creating his own shots off the dribble and hitting some tough looks near the end of the shot clock.
Yet it was a rough shooting night from beyond the arc, Hauser going 1/6 from deep. He struggled with the in-rhythm opportunities, looking far more capable of hitting shots that he created for himself. Tony Bennett made clear in his postgame presser, however, that he still has the utmost confidence in Hauser’s three-point shooting capabilities, so it’s not a major point of concern.
He’ll get back to hitting the three with deadly efficiency, and the other improvements that Hauser seems to have made are all promising.
2) Defense still has problems
Virginia has been up-and-down on defense all season, and that tendency continued against Wake. One the one hand, they allowed 39 points in the opening period—though that was partially a result of some Carsen Edwards/Corey Kispert-esque shooting from the Deacs. On the other hand, the Hoos held Wake to a mere 22 in the second half.
We’ve seen both the good of the second half and the bad of the first half in almost every game this season. But the measure of a defense is not what they do at their best, it’s what they do at their worst.
At their best, Virginia numbers among the top defensive teams in the nation. At their worst, they appear lost on the defensive end. Too many easy buckets and open looks were gifted to Wake in that first half, something that simply cannot continue.
But knowing that Virginia can muster a defensive half as good as the latter one is a good sign, even if there are still things to be worked out.
3) Beekman has massive potential upside
Stats can be misleading, a general rule that can be specifically applied to Reece Beekman and his Virginia career. While his season averages are unflattering, the freshman has shown his promising skill set on multiple occasions.
There is much more to Beekman’s game than just some numbers in the box score—though his numbers were quite impressive last night. He went for 12 points, three assists, and five steals, his ability to force turnovers praised as “uncanny” by Tony Bennett.
The other thing that Reece showed was his incredible first step and quickness. It’s something we’ve seen from him more than a few times, but that ability to blow by a defender remains breathtaking. His three-point shooting has been good as well, another aspect of his game that warrants excitement.
4) Use of depth
This Virginia team has been labeled one of the deepest in the Bennett era, and rightly so. There are more capable players at Bennett’s disposal this season than there have been in any other of his 11-year tenure.
Yet said depth has been arguably underutilized. While the missing players can be cited as the reason for this last night, bench minutes were already dwindling prior to last week’s COVID outbreak.
That made it something to monitor last night, and sure enough four players recorded over 35 minutes. Needless to say, that’s too much if Virginia is going to stay fresh in a 20-game ACC season. Granted, Morsell’s return will spread those minutes out, but it is still something that should be watched in the upcoming games.
5) Trey Murphy has been consistent
Early on, Trey Murphy looked like a player who’s value would come in his ability to catch fire shooting the ball—sort of like Tomas Woldetensae last year.
That impression has been proven false in recent games. Murphy has developed into a reliable scorer, hitting double-digit points in three of the last four games. He also leads the team in three-pointers made, and has matured from the shoddy defender he was a month ago into a dependable one.
That consistency is something that will prove invaluable down the line. There’s still a ways to go, but even amidst trying times this Virginia squad is taking steps in the right direction.
Image – Virginia Athletics