Virginia hit 14 threes, Jay Huff recorded two career highs, and Virginia dealt Syracuse an 81-58 loss at John Paul Jones Arena. The win came both by virtue of superlative shooting from a couple of players and unstoppable inside play from Jay Huff.
Huff has been seemingly unable to bust through the brick wall erected at his previous career high of 18 points. But in this game he finally broke that barrier, going for 21 points and 12 boards, also a career high.
Huff has become very proficient at backing down opponents in the low post, but against Syracuse he decided to skip that step altogether. He relied on dimes from his teammates for easy finishes, recording six dunks as Kihei Clark lobbed him plenty of opportunities for rim-rocking slams.
Huff’s recent performances have been indicative of the player that he was always meant to be. The signs have been there since the start of his UVA career, and now those flashes have morphed into consistent performances. Huff is playing easily the best basketball of his career.
He has also benefited from the presence of Sam Hauser, whose shooting tends to draw defenses away from the 7-1 forward. With Hauser hitting seven of 13 threes like he did against the Orange, defenses are forced to key in on him. This opens up the inside for Huff.
And given Hauser’s recent shooting, it’s going to stay that way for a while. Sam is shooting the three-ball at a 46.8% clip in conference play. He drilled seven of them to sink Syracuse, scoring all 21 of his points from beyond the arc. That comes after he went 8 for 10 in the previous two games, making the senior forward’s three-point percentage over his last three outings a whopping 65%.
His midrange game didn’t have as much of a role to play this time out, but when you’re pouring in threes at the rate Hauser currently is those type of shots become rather unnecessary.
The same can be said for Trey Murphy, who is whipping up a storm of his own from deep. The Rice transfer canned four triples on ten attempts, scoring 16 points to go with seven rebounds and two assists.
The crazy thing about Murphy’s performance is that it actually brought his three-point average down, from 52% to 49%. That’s still a ridiculous number to be averaging from 22 feet away from the basket.
Murphy has scored his fair share of points from close in, however, jamming home two lobs to add to the dunkfest. On the other end of the court, his defense has shined through in recent games as well. He went from a little bit of a liability on the defensive end to a definite asset, now able to hang with even the best opposing players.
This defensive improvement has paralleled Reece Beekman’s, who had what was probably his best game of the season in the win. Beekman played well on offense, accumulating 10 points, five assists, and five boards. But the more remarkable thing he did was play absolute lockdown defense.
He put on a clinic against the Cuse, not biting on fakes and sliding his feet to deny offensive players the chance to get to the hoop. Add to that the already-exceptional affinity for steals and you have yourself one helluva defender.
Overall, Virginia played a pretty solid defensive game. They made things difficult for the Orange, forcing them into plenty of tough looks. Admittedly, Syracuse took a bunch of ill-advised shots, but overall defense still goes down as another category in which Virginia performed exceptionally well. And those ill-advised shots are often a result of the frustration with Virginia’s tight defense.
The only such category where the Hoos did not excel was turning the ball over. This was a problem early on—Virginia threw the ball right into the hands of the zone a few times—as well as near the end of the game. The press that Jim Boeheim employed to try and spark a late comeback deservedly incurred plenty of internet references to the 2016 Elite Eight game in which the Orange overcame a 15-point deficit to knock the Hoos out of the tournament.
Aside from that one minor gripe, however, Virginia moved the ball very effectively. Their on- and and off-ball movement was the best it’s been all season. That can be seen in the 23 assists on 29 field goals that Virginia recorded.
Of course, it helps the assist tally when the team starts making every shot it takes, but all the same the sheer quantity of assists is a good sign. Compare that to Syracuse’s 10 assists on 22 field goals, and it’s apparent why the Hoos found it much easier to score points than the Orange did.
Kihei Clark had a big impact on the amount of assists, even if he wasn’t scoring efficiently. He did well in his role as the facilitator, dishing out nine assists despite only scoring four points.
Unfortunately, Kihei’s recent rise in assists has coincided with a drop in scoring. He’s only made four threes all season, and has scored just six points over the last two games. It is definitely a tad worrying that a player who was once so good at finding the net has recently failed to do so.
Kihei’s struggles aside, he hasn’t really needed to score. This win marks the fourth time in 13 games that the Hoos have eclipsed the 80-point mark this season. For context, the 2018-19 team did that nine times… in 38 games. That group went on to win it all, and while it may still be too early to discuss national title aspirations, Virginia has certainly wormed their way into that conversation as of late.
The Hoos currently sit alone atop the ACC, and their stock continues to rise with each passing impressive performance.
Image – Virginia Athletics