By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com
CHARLOTTESVILLE –– By the time Christmas arrived, the University of Virginia men’s basketball team was to have tested itself against perennial powers Florida, Michigan State and Villanova in non-conference play.
For reasons related to the COVID-19 pandemic, none of those games was played. But with the recent addition of Gonzaga to their schedule, the Cavaliers have a high-profile game to look forward to before their Dec. 30 ACC opener.
“We’re excited for the challenge,” redshirt freshman Kadin Shedrick said Tuesday afternoon after Virginia dispatched William & Mary 76-40 at John Paul Jones Arena.
At 4 p.m. (ET) Saturday, No. 16 UVA (4-1) takes on top-ranked Gonzaga (6-0) at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. CBS will televise the first meeting between these programs since 2007.
“I think it’ll be cool to get a marquee game in before the conference play starts,” Shedrick said. “We’re all really looking forward to it.”
Against W&M (2-3), 6-8 junior Trey Murphy III, in his first start as a Cavalier, scored a game-high 15 points. A transfer from Rice who was granted immediate eligibility this season, Murphy acknowledged that it was frustrating to have UVA’s games against elite non-conference opponents called off.
“But it’s something I can’t control,” Murphy said. “Things that you can’t control, you can’t have a negative reaction to it. And so I just had to move on, because I just know we’re going to get our opportunity, and I’m looking forward to that on Saturday.”
After the 11th-hour cancellation of its ACC/Big Ten Challenge clash with Michigan State, which was to have been played Dec. 9 at JPJ, Virginia wasn’t allowed to practice for 10 days. That resulted in the cancellation of UVA’s game with Villanova, which was scheduled for this past Saturday night in New York City.
Once their quarantine period ended, the Cavaliers returned to the court and shifted their focus to William & Mary. The game was the Hoos’ first since a Dec. 4 win over Kent State at JPJ.
“It was difficult at first to come in after 10 days,” Shedrick said, “but it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. It felt like we hadn’t missed that much.”
The Wahoos never allowed the Tribe to get into a rhythm Tuesday. W&M didn’t reach double figures until the 2:59 mark of the first half, when Luke Loewe’s three-point play cut UVA’s lead to 26-12.
“I think guys were really thankful and grateful, we talked about that, to come back and practice and play,” head coach Tony Bennett said.
Fifth-year senior Sam Hauser, the Cavaliers’ leading scorer this season, didn’t attempt a shot until more than 16 minutes had passed Tuesday, but his teammates supplied plenty of firepower. Virginia led 36-12 at the break and 54-27 midway through the second half.
That the Tribe grabbed 14 offensive rebounds displeased Bennett, but he generally liked what he saw from his team.
“I think our guys came out focused and ready and looked fairly sharp,” Bennett said. “They’re probably going to say, ‘See, Coach, practice is overrated. We can rest for 10 days and [then play well].’ But they came out ready, knocked down some shots, and I thought we played fairly alert defensively.”
For the Hoos to knock off the Bulldogs in Fort Worth, Bennett knows, more will be required. Gonzaga already has beaten Kansas, Auburn, West Virginia and Iowa this season. In the latest Associated Press poll, Kansas is No. 3, Iowa is No. 4, and WVU is No. 7.
“I think you’re going to have to be better in every area,” Bennett said. “Not saying we were poor [against W&M], but it’s just the reality of that. I look at that 14 offensive rebounds, you have to have a level of urgency like you haven’t had this year in terms of being back and set and then getting to shooters and everything. You’ve got to take care of the ball, but you don’t back down. So you run your stuff hard and you go against them.”
In 14 minutes off the bench Tuesday, Shedrick totaled 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Hauser and another fifth-year senior, 7-1 Jay Huff, added nine points each, and junior point guard Kihei Clark finished with six points, four assists, two rebounds and two steals.
Reserve guards Casey Morsell and Reece Beekman scored six points each, and Beekman, a freshman from Baton Rouge, La., also had four assists in his 15 minutes.
“I think that quarantine really put a little bit of hunger in us,” Murphy said, “and we were all just so eager to play … I think we really just missed each other a lot and we were all just happy to play with each other again. And so we were really excited to play again. That’s what this team is built on: just playing with each other and playing with a lot of chemistry.”