Hard Lessons Continue for Cavaliers

By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — For the University of Virginia men’s basketball team, an extended road trip figured to present significant challenges, and the Cavaliers found no relief at their first stop.

UVA started well Wednesday night in its SEC/ACC Challenge matchup with No. 13 Florida, taking an 18-9 lead at the O’Connell Center. The unbeaten Gators are tall, deep, experienced and athletic, however, and they asserted themselves in the second half of what ended as an 87-69 loss for Virginia.

“They’re an Elite Eight, Sweet Sixteen level team,” UVA forward Elijah Saunders said. “For some of our guys, this was the first time playing in a road environment like this, getting even in a bigger role in this type of environment. So it’s definitely just something to learn from. Their size and physicality was something that we needed to go against. Just a learning experience.”

For the Wahoos (5-3), their next test awaits them in the Lone Star State. They’re flying to Dallas on Thursday, and they’ll practice there twice before taking on SMU (7-2) at Moody Coliseum on Saturday in the ACC opener for both teams.

The 2:15 p.m. game (Eastern) will air on The CW. It will be only the second time the programs have met. In November 2013, Anthony Gill scored 19 points to lead Virginia to a 76-73 win over SMU in the semifinals of the Corpus Christi Challenge in Texas.

That UVA team, well-stocked with future NBA players, went on to sweep the ACC regular-season and tournament titles and advance to the NCAA tournament’s Sweet Sixteen. This UVA team has only one senior (Taine Murray), and its rotation includes four newcomers (three transfers and a freshman).

“We’ve got to stay together,” said Murray, who scored a season-high eight points off the bench Wednesday night in Virginia’s first true road game of the season.

“We can’t hide. Everyone’s got to look in the mirror and come together and address what needs to be addressed. I think we’re close to where we need to be, but we just have to keep staying together and keep going at it.”

Florida was the third ranked team the Cavaliers have faced this season, and they’re 0-3 in those games. Turnovers doomed UVA in each loss. They totaled 34 in their losses to Tennessee and St. John’s in a tournament in the Bahamas last season, and they finished with 15 turnovers against Florida.

Carelessness caused some of his team’s mistakes, interim head coach Ron Sanchez said, but Florida’s suffocating defense played a role, too.

“It’s a top-25 team in the country for a reason,” Sanchez said. “They have athleticism and length. They are very physical defensively. They rebound the ball at a high level, they’ve got good shooters all around, and they’ve got some legit size on the inside.”

The Gators (9-0) turned UVA’s turnovers into 20 points. In wins over Manhattan and Holy Cross at John Paul Jones Arena last week, the Hoos had protected the ball well, “but this is a different level, with their athletes,” Saunders said. “They were aggressive on the ball, aggressive off the ball. At one point I looked up and we had 14 turnovers and they had four.”

Early last season, in a Hall of Fame series game in Charlotte, N.C., Virginia edged Florida 73-70. In the rematch, the Cavaliers couldn’t have asked for a much better start.

Led by junior guard Isaac McKneely, UVA made four of its first six shots from 3-point range. The Gators slowly reduced their deficit, but Virginia continued to play well, and when Saunders scored inside to make it 20-14 with 13:01 left in the first half, the home crowd remained a little uneasy.

That changed quickly. Virginia didn’t score again for more than seven minutes. Saunders’ two free throws ended Florida’s 15-0 run and made it 29-22 with 5:53 to play in the opening half.

The Gators seized momentum with Dai Dai Ames, one of UVA’s starting guards, on the bench with two fouls. Ames’ absence “limited some of our ball-handling,” Sanchez said, “and they picked up their pressure and we could feel that as a group. We’re handling the point by committee and when you have one of those guys out, it makes it a little harder to execute your offense.”

After Saunders’ free throws, a 3-pointer by guard Walter Clayton Jr. pushed the Gators’ lead to 10, but Virginia steadied itself late in the first half and went into the break down only four.

The Hoos stayed connected for the first six minutes of the second half, but Florida’s superior talent ultimately proved too much for them to overcome. The Gators shredded UVA’s Pack Line defense in the second half. Four players scored in double figures for Florida, which shot 51.7 percent from the floor and 40 percent from 3-point range.

Clayton, a 6-foot-1 senior, led all scorers with 27 points.

“He’s got a beautiful stroke,” Sanchez said. “He shoots the ball really well from the perimeter. He’s got hesitation moves. He can get in the lane, he’s a good passer. He’s very complete. When you’ve got a weapon that way, that’s legit, that 3-point ball with so much range, because I think he’s in range when he crosses halfcourt.”

McKneely, the top returning player from Virginia’s 2023-24 team, scored 12 points Wednesday night and recorded career highs in rebounds (seven) and assists (five).

Saunders, a 6-foot-8 junior, led the Hoos with a career-best 19 points. A transfer from San Diego State, he’s in his first season as a Cavalier.

“This is the reason why we wanted to recruit Elijah,” Sanchez said. “Versus this level of competition, for him to perform like this is definitely something that we expected. He’s had a couple of tough games, and tonight I thought he was physical. He shot the 3. He made some good plays. We put him in a position to be successful. Elijah’s a good player. I’m hoping that he can continue to do this and play as well as he did today. We just need other guys to kind of pick up their play and kind of catch up.”

The first month of the season didn’t go as Saunders wanted. He battled cramps in some games and foul trouble in others.

“I feel like this is my first really solid game,” Saunders said Wednesday night. “I feel like this is what I’m capable of.”

The Cavaliers have shown in stretches what they’re capable of. They defeated Villanova in Baltimore last month, and they stayed with Tennessee, now ranked No. 3 nationally, for a half in the Bahamas. Against Florida, the Hoos battled back after giving up 15 straight points in a hostile environment.

“I think overall I was very, very pleased with the first half,” Sanchez said. “I think that we handled adversity well. This group is on its way of becoming who they’re going to be, and this is the beauty of these games in December and November where you get some legit exposure to high-level talent that allow you to grow. It’s painful growth, but you grow nonetheless.”

Road trips are an opportunity for teams to bond, and the Cavaliers are “super fortunate to be in this position,” Murray said. “Obviously it’s little bit longer than usual, going to Dallas, but I think everyone’s super excited to be on the road.”

To receive Jeff White’s articles by email, click the appropriate box in this link to subscribe.