Virginia never trailed in their regular season finale against Louisville, grabbing the lead just three seconds in and holding onto it for the duration of the game. The Hoos came into the game with a chance for an improbable ACC title, and didn’t let it slip by as they won their 10th regular season crown ever and fifth under Tony Bennett.
The rock-solid performance they mustered is even more surprising when given their recent play. Coming into the game, the Hoos had dropped three out of four, the lone victory over Miami doing little to instill confidence.
But that narrative was flipped on its head with what was perhaps Virginia’s most important win of the season. The Hoos will now carry the number one seed into Greensboro for the ACC Tournament, having pulled themselves out of the quagmire that they were bogged down in for the last few weeks.
Here are three takeaways from the victory.
Sam Hauser deserves ACC player of the year
Virginia missed their first nine attempts from beyond the arc, crawling to a 3-15 shooting night from deep.
Enter Sam Hauser. The Marquette transfer-turned-ACC-POY-candidate was unconscious shooting the ball, hitting nine of his 14 shots. A beautiful stepback three five minutes into the second half was Virginia’s first three-pointer, and Hauser would go on to shoot 2-5 from downtown.
But it was the midrange where Hauser inflicted most of his damage. He knocked down almost every shot he looked at in that region, eliciting moans of disbelief from the 2,000+ Louisville fans that futilely tried to deter the rampaging Hoos.
And the 6-8 forward did it in just 30 minutes, limited by four fouls. His 24 points were his best in a Virginia jersey, and they came with eight rebounds and a pair of blocks.
Virginia played a good game all around, but it was Hauser who really excelled. He didn’t put the team on his back per se — they had surprising success with him on the bench — but he was certainly the catalyst in the biggest offensive explosion Virginia has created in a while.
The superlative outing should also be enough to bring the ACC POY trophy to Charlottesville. While other candidates such as Carlik Jones and Justin Champagnie are flagging, Hauser has kicked into another gear recently. His biggest competition at the moment would probably be Georgia Tech’s Moses Wright, who has been phenomenal down the stretch of this season.
Still, Sam’s unbelievable performance was just the latest in a series of great outings, and he has done enough to merit the POY award.
Virginia lived in the paint
Those are five words that have sadly not been uttered this season, but after scoring 32 points in the paint they are finally true. There was an emphasis on getting the ball into the paint that has been missing all season, and it was highly effective against an undersized Louisville team.
The Cardinals were without Malik Williams, the 6-11 senior who played just three games all season, and their lack of height showed as Virginia dominated down low. Nobody taller than 6-8 played for the Cards, allowing Virginia’s trio of forwards to wreak havoc on the inside.
Sam Hauser’s contribution has already been discussed, but what Trey Murphy did should not be forgotten either. Murphy had a couple of his worst performances of the season against Duke and NC State, but bounced back with 12 points against Miami and came up huge with 17 to sink Louisville.
For a fourth straight game Murphy struggled from deep, going just 1-5 from three-point land. But that hardly mattered, as he maneuvered his way to the rim countless times and hit some midrange jumpers as well.
He was accompanied in the frontcourt by Jay Huff, who played a very efficient 26 minutes. Huff went 5-6 from the field, scoring 10 points and corralling six rebounds. His four blocks moved him up on the all-time UVA blocks list, passing Mamadi Diakite to move to second all-time behind only UVA legend Ralph Sampson.
Ralph may not be occupying his normal spot behind the Virginia bench this season, but the Hoos certainly did him proud down low in this game.
Heading in the right direction
The one topic that this article has not yet broached is defense, an aspect of the game that Virginia has not executed well recently. They were better against Louisville, holding their hosts to 58 points on just 36.8% shooting. The Hoos also did well to stymie Carlik Jones, limiting him to just two made buckets on 15 attempts.
There are still some problems in the packline that require fixing though. Virginia has been burned when faced with strong big men, so they benefited from Louisville’s lack of size. That they were able to stop the Cards was important, but they did still allow 1.036 points per possession.
All the same, it was improved defense and a necessary step towards more consistent defensive play.
Virginia’s guard play was similarly encouraging. Neither Kihei Clark nor Reece Beekman exactly stuffed the stat sheet, but they both played clean games and distributed the rock well. Both have been cause for concern throughout the season, so hopefully this can be used as a stepping stone towards better play.
Justin McKoy and Tomas Woldetnsae also provided a lift off the bench. They combined for nine points and the same number of rebounds, showing again that Virginia has other options when the starters falter.
But falter they did not, and Virginia grabbed their fifth ACC title in 12 years under Tony Bennett.
Oh, how nice it feels.
Image – Virginia Athletics
2 comments
Great Article! Only one issue with it. Big on accuracy. This was his 5th Title in 12 years,not 11 as the Article states.
Thanks for pointing that out! Updated it with the correct number.
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