Virginia was a perfect 11-0 in ACC openers under Tony Bennett coming into their first conference game of the season. They kept that perfect record intact with a 66-57 win over Notre Dame, never trailing as they kicked off conference play with an important victory.
Notre Dame threatened the No. 23 Hoos at times, cutting the lead to one at multiple points in the second half. Virginia answered the call though, hitting big shots and coming up with the necessary defensive stops to see the game through.
Kihei Clark was the catalyst on offense, going for 19 points in a second straight game. He added five assists to those points, and his zero turnovers are a great sign after his six against Gonzaga.
Clark was efficient, going 7-12 from the field and 2-4 from three in 38 minutes. He demonstrated the poise and leadership that was present in the latter stages of the 2019-20 season, hopefully marking a return to the player that he was a year ago.
The 5-foot-9 point guard got it done in a variety of ways, driving to the hoop, hitting outside and midrange shots, and most notably posting up an opposing guard who had a full eight inches on him.
While definitely the star of the game, it appeared after the first half that Jay Huff would be the one to earn that honor. The big man was seemingly unstoppable in the opening period, scoring six points in quick succession before ending the half with 13 and the game with 15.
Yet, as has often been the case with the senior forward, foul trouble kept him out of the game and limited his overall output. Huff played a mere 24 minutes, getting called for his fourth foul at the 9:40 mark of the second half.
The confident and aggressive Huff that took the floor in Purcell Pavilion was one that will be a tremendous asset, should he return. With his 7-foot-1 frame and silky stroke, there are a wide range of ways in which Huff can hurt opposing defenses. If he continues to step up like this the Virginia offense benefits tremendously.
The same can be said for Sam Hauser, who had a double-double with 13 points, 10 boards, and four assists. Hauser has seemingly not lived up to the expectations of the Virginia fanbase (or so my Twitter feed tells me), but there’s no arguing that he hit some massive shots down the stretch to put Notre Dame away.
His three from the wing with 1:40 left stretched the lead to eight and effectively ended the game. While Hauser wasn’t the most efficient, going 5-13 from the field, he created some good looks and hit the big shots when it counted. And like Huff, that he took so many shots is another good sign for the future.
Hauser also has his faults, however, and nowhere is that more clear than on the defensive end. When Huff came out and Hauser was left on Nate Laszewski, Notre Dame’s leading scorer imposed his will on the Marquette transfer.
As a whole, the interior defense remains a problem. Huff has made leaps and bounds from where he was a few years ago, but he is still occasionally sucked too far out of position. There were also some instances in which switching between players was done incorrectly, leading to wide open buckets and mismatches.
Those issues aside, Virginia’s defense is clearly moving in the right direction. They did a tremendous job on Notre Dame’s guards, holding leading scorers Prentiss Hubb and Dane Goodwin to just nine combined points.
But while the defense seems to be making the right steps, there are other fresh concerns that are coming to the forefront.
One of the most exciting things after Virginia’s explosive first game of the season was how deep the team looked. Unfortunately, that’s been proven false in the games that have followed, and was perhaps the most clear against Notre Dame.
The vast majority of Virginia’s minutes came from the starting lineup, and that would have been even more true had Huff not gotten into foul trouble. Virginia only had eight bench points, six from Justin McKoy and two from Kadin Shedrick.
Reece Beekman has faded into obscurity after an exciting start, Tomas Woldetensae is no longer the deep threat that he was, and Kadin Shedrick’s three minutes in this game were a shock after an impressive outing against Gonzaga.
Hopefully those three and McKoy can get more involved going forwards, because Virginia’s starters are going to need a rest in what promises to be a strenuous season.
The other place where Virginia might be able to find some production is Casey Morsell, who played an encouraging game despite an unimpressive stat line.
The lockdown D that he brings cannot be praised enough, which makes it important that he becomes less of a liability on the offensive side of things. Casey just needs to improve a little bit so he can get minutes, which will in turn present valuable game experience to further help his offense.
He only shot 2-9, but hit a big three and looked to attack the rim on multiple occasions. There was good and bad in his performance, but overall it was another positive in a game full of them.
The most notable of these positives is what can be described simply as a return to Virginia basketball. Playing good defense, slowing down the game, and grinding out the win are staples of Bennett-ball, and Virginia achieved that trifecta in their victory over Notre Dame.
The Hoos are now 1-0 in ACC play and are taking strides in the right direction ahead of Saturday’s clash with No. 24 Virginia Tech.
Image – Virginia Athletics