Offense Propels Virginia to 89-54 Win in Opener

UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Virginia (1-0) hit 15 three-pointers and had a 22-0 run in the second half in its 89-54 win over Towson (0-1) to open the season in Bubbleville at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Three players scored in double-figures for the Cavaliers, led by Trey Murphy’s III (Durham, N.C.) 21 in his UVA debut. Sam Hauser (Stevens Point, Wis.) added 19 points in his first appearance for UVA and Jay Huff (Durham, N.C.) finished with 14.

UVA shot 56 percent from the field and 52 percent from 3-point range. The Cavaliers held Towson to 37 percent shooting. Virginia won the battle on the boards (34-26), points in the paint (34-20) and bench points (42-18).

HOW IT HAPPENED

Virginia used a 16-2 run over 5:48 in the first half to lead 19-5. The Cavaliers had another 7-0 run with five points from Huff over three minutes. Murphy hit three-straight threes to push UVA’s lead to 39-19 with 2:20 to play in the first half. Hauser hit is third three of the half just before the buzzer to give UVA a 42-19 lead.

Towson scored eight consecutive points to begin the second half. Murphy hit his fourth three of the contest to halt the run. Virginia went on a 22-0 run over five minutes in the second half to take a 73-36 advantage over the Tigers. Murphy had nine points in the run with two three-pointers along with an and-one. Reece Beekman (Baton Rouge, La.) and Jabri Abdur-Rahim (South Orange, N.J.) each scored their first career points as Cavaliers with threes in the second half. All 17 players appeared in the game for UVA.

THE GAME BALL GOES TO

Trey Murphy III made his UVA debut with 21 points, going 6-for-8 beyond the arc. Murphy hit three-straight threes in the first half and added back-to-back threes in the second with an and-one.

FROM TONY BENNETT

On learning about the rotation of players from today’s game:

“As I mentioned, we have depth. Our depth, I talked to the guys before last night, our depth can really be good, and I think in practice it’s made it competitive. We’ve got to keep figuring things out, different guys at different times so we can’t let our depth become a distraction. So, the hardest thing for me in coaching, I’ve set it often, is not being able to play guys because they work so hard and they want to play. But opportunities will present themselves. To play all those different matchups today and rotations was really good. So, thankful that the guys got in that some of our, we call them our green gang, our walk-ons that just work so hard and help prepare us. Again, you take a look at things and we’ll have a real good, quality opponent on Friday with San Francisco. If it plays out that way.”

NOTES

• UVA is 36-1 when scoring 80 or more points under Bennett
• UVA’s 15 3-pointers were its most since making 18 at Syracuse on March 4, 2019
• Murphy III matched a career high with six 3-pointers in his UVA debut after receiving his waiver from the NCAA on Nov. 24
• Murphy III recorded his eighth career 20-point effort
• Hauser (19 points) added eight rebounds in his UVA debut
• Huff (14 points) added three blocked shots to move into 10th all-time at UVA with 103
• Reece Beekman, Kadin Shedrick, Jabri Abdur-Rahim, Carson McCorkle and Malachi Poindexter made their collegiate debuts
• Justin McKoy made his first career start

UP NEXT

Virginia closes out play in Bubbleville on Friday against San Francisco at 11:30 a.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.