Virginia Falls Short Against San Francisco

UNCASVILLE, Conn. – No. 4 Virginia (1-1) fell 61-60 to San Francisco on Friday afternoon in Bubbleville at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

Three players finished in double-figures for the Cavaliers. Justin McKoy (Cary, N.C.) and Reece Beekman (Baton Rouge, La.) each had 11 points, while Sam Hauser (Stevens Point, Wis.) added 10.

Virginia out-shot the Dons, .410-.400, but San Francisco hit 13 3-pointers to three for UVA. UVA led in rebounds, 36-32, and points in the paint, 20-18.

HOW IT HAPPENED

McKoy opened the game with a three and scored the first five points of the contest, as UVA jumped out to a 7-0 lead. The Cavaliers held San Francisco scoreless for the first three minutes of play. The Dons used an 11-0 run to tie to take a 14-11 lead at the 9:51 mark. Casey Morsell (Fort Washington, Md.) hit a jumper to stop the run. Beekman hit a three to put UVA back in front, 20-19. The Cavaliers scored the final four points of the half to lead 24-21 at the break.

Virginia trailed the Dons 32-28, when it used a 9-0 run to take a 37-32 advantage with 11:44 to play. The teams traded the lead until San Francisco had an 8-0 run with back-to-back threes to lead 61-54 with 2:11 to play. Virginia cut it to one and had a chance with 11 seconds left but were unable to convert the final shot.

FROM TONY BENNETT

On biggest difference between two games:

“Well first, I think San Francisco, defensively, they were physical, they were quick and they made it hard and they had some rim protection. The times that we got to the basket, we really labored to finish, partly because of their shot-blocking and at times we just weren’t physical enough on finishes. We avoided some contact. So that was it. You make a lot of threes against Towson and that’s the game and that can be, I don’t want to say ‘fool’s gold’ but it was. It’s never that easy. I knew San Francisco, their space, and if they start making shots, they put you in in a lot of tough spots and they made enough big plays and we had enough breakdowns. They ran good offense. Whenever we kind of broke down or weren’t sound, they took advantage of it because of their ability to shoot and their quickness with their guards. Again, offensively, you know your initial question, when we got to the rim we didn’t finish. We weren’t great, that’s for sure and you look at the stats back that up.”

NOTES

• The Cavaliers’ (1-1) loss snapped their nine-game winning streak dating back to last season
• Double Figure Scorers: Reece Beekman (11), Justin McKoy (11), Sam Hauser (10)
• McKoy buried his first career 3-pointer and scored UVA’s first five points
• McKoy had career highs in points (11) and rebounds (6)
• Beekman had a season-high 11 points

UP NEXT

Virginia hosts Saint Francis (Pa.) in its home-opener on Tuesday, December 1 at 4 p.m. at John Paul Jones Arena.