Hoos Take Full Advantage of Robinson’s Gem

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

BLACKSBURG, Va. — In the team hotel Friday night, as University of Virginia men’s basketball coaches shared stories about memorable Cavalier wins at Cassell Coliseum, Isaiah Wilkins brought up a play from his freshman season.

In January 2015, UVA point guard London Perrantes lobbed an alley-oop pass toward the rim late in the second half, and Justin Anderson did the rest. Anderson soared for a slam that tied the game and silenced Virginia Tech’s fans, and the Wahoos went on to win 50-47.

“Who’s going to be our Justin tomorrow?” mused Wilkins, now an assistant coach at his alma mater.

Anthony Robinson proved Saturday that he’s up to the challenge. With the Hoos’ lead down to one and the Hokies’ faithful roaring, point guard Andrew Rohde threw an alley-oop that Robinson, a 6-foot-10, 250-pound redshirt freshman, hammered home to make it 73-70 with 1:05 to play.

“Rohde’s a great passer,” Robinson said, “so he puts the ball where it needs to be, and as long as I do my job it’s going to be successful.”

Robinson was the first option on the play, which immediately followed a timeout, but Rohde could have passed to junior guard Isaac McKneely (team-high 22 points) or senior swingman Taine Murray.

“At that point in the game, we are going to put the ball in his hands and trust that he’s going to make the right decision,” interim head coach Ron Sanchez said of Rohde.

No. 4 chose wisely, as he’s usually done of late. Robinson’s dunk gave him 15 points for the game—six more than his previous career high—and closed out the scoring in this Commonwealth Clash affair. The Hoos struggled defensively for much of the second half, but they got two stops in the final minute, and that allowed them to celebrate an immensely satisfying victory.

“Just really happy for the guys,” Sanchez said. “They played really well. We didn’t play perfect defense, but we defended well enough to get the W.”

The win was UVA’s first in Blacksburg since Feb. 26, 2020.

“I’ve never won here, so that’s a great step in the right direction, for sure,” McKneely said. “I’ve always wanted to win here. It’s a super fun environment to play in. You get up for games like these, so I’m super happy with the win. We’re trending in the right direction at the right time.”

The Hoos have won four of their past five games, including three in a row on the road. UVA’s only loss in that span was to Virginia Tech, Feb. 1 at John Paul Jones Arena.

Beating the Hokies “feels even better on the road, to be honest with you,” said McKneely, who matched his career high with six 3-pointers. “Like I said, I’ve never won here before, so I’m super happy with the effort that we played with tonight. We didn’t want to go 0 for 2 against them … so we came in here with the mindset that we’re going to win, and we played to win.”

UVA (13-12 overall, 6-8 ACC) went ahead, 10-8, on McKneely’s second trey, and Tech (11-14, 6-8) never regained the lead. For the Cavaliers, the contrast with their performance at Cassell last season could not have been more striking. The Hokies crushed the Hoos that day, 75-41, and McKneely brought up that loss in his pregame remarks to his teammates Saturday.

“So I think that kind of fueled us for this year,” McKneely said, “especially for the guys that played here last year.”

McKneely’s heroics were nothing new. He leads Virginia in scoring this season (13.7 ppg) and ranks among the nation’s elite outside shooters. Robinson’s performance, though, was a revelation.

No. 21 came in averaging 2.8 points and 1.9 rebounds per game and was shooting 56.3 percent from the line. In 18-plus minutes against the Hokies, he recorded career highs not only in points but in rebounds (nine), and Robinson made 7 of 8 free throws.

“Ant works super hard in practice,” McKneely said. “He’s one of my best friends off the court, so if anyone’s happy for him, it’s me. I’m super happy to see the strides he’s made over the past few games. He’s a great screener for me. I gotta thank him after every game for half the shots I get, just because of how he screens. But he’s trending in the right direction for sure, and hopefully he can continue to give us that effort.”

If not as eye-catching as his final dunk, Robinson’s free throws with 3:35 remaining were equally crucial. With UVA leading 64-61, Robinson had to wait out a TV timeout before heading to the line for a one-and-one in front of Tech’s student section, which was in full voice.

During that extended break, Sanchez said with a smile later, he talked to Robinson “about a lot of different things—except the free throws. What I wanted him to do was not to think about the free throws. So the entire time we talked about defensive coverage, communication, what we were going to do defensively, so that then when he stepped on the floor he would just take his dribbles and shoot.”

Robinson was the picture of poise at the line, calmly making both shots. His free-throw percentage coming into the game was subpar, in part because his 1-for-6 night from the line against St. John’s in November, but that didn’t faze Robinson.

“We spend a lot of time working on free throws,” he said. “It was only a matter of time before I got comfortable and started hitting them like I know I can.”

Rohde, who’d totaled 18 assists and no turnovers in his previous two games, showed he was human Saturday. He again finished with nine assists but had two turnovers, one of which led to a three-point play by Tech in the second half. Overall, though, Sanchez had few complaints about his team’s ballhandling or passing.

Sophomore guard Dai Dai Ames had five assists and only one turnover to go with his 11 points. A transfer from Kansas State, Ames is becoming a consistent contributor for the Cavaliers, a result of the experience he’s gaining, Sanchez said.

Ames, who has scored in double figures in each of the past four games, is “having an opportunity to grow,” Sanchez said. “It’s hard to learn that when you only get three or four minutes a game. He’s playing a lot of minutes, and he’s starting to see the impact that he has on the team.”

In its 75-74 win at JPJ this month, Tech made 11 of 21 shots (52.4 percent) from 3-point range. The Hokies weren’t nearly as accurate in the first half Saturday—Virginia led 40-33 at the break—but they found their rhythm as the game went on.

Late in the game, the Hokies scored on 8 of 11 possessions to cut their deficit to one.

“We knew they weren’t gonna quit fighting,” McKneely said, “especially in their home building. Even when we were up early—15 or whatever it was—we said, ‘They’re gonna go on a run.’ So we were prepared for it. But down the stretch, we just needed to get stops and we got them when they mattered.”

Tech forward Tobi Lawal, a transfer from VCU, led all scorers with 23 points, matching his career high, but Virginia held him to four in the second half. Tech guard Jaden Schutt, a transfer from Duke who’d torched UVA at JPJ, scored only three points Saturday.

“I’m really proud of the guys for getting the job done down the stretch,” Sanchez said.

He brought up the 6-foot-5 Murray, the only senior among the Cavaliers’ scholarship players. Murray hurt his nose diving for a loose ball, and that “showed us how bad he wanted it,” Sanchez said.

This is not the same UVA team that stumbled through non-conference play and the early part of its ACC schedule. The Cavaliers are more cohesive on the court, which is not surprising. Of Sanchez’s rotation players, five did not see time for Virginia last season: Robinson was redshirting, Elijah Saunders (San Diego State) and Ames were in other college programs, and Ishan Sharma and Jacob Cofie were high school seniors.

“Guys have to get used to each other,” Sanchez said. “Time is the key in it all. If you don’t have any shared experiences, then what do you tap into? This group was thrown together. We’ve got so many guys that didn’t play together last season … So I could want these guys to be where they are now back in November, but you need time to do that.”

The Hoos are better for the adversity they’ve faced along the way, Sanchez said. “You have to go through difficulties in order for you to arrive anywhere. So we are thankful for every loss that we took, every heartbreak, every long trip, because those experiences have to be had so that then you can persevere forward.”

NO TIME TO REST: Virginia plays again Monday night. At 8 o’clock, in a game to air on ESPN, UVA hosts No. 3 Duke (22-3, 14-1) at JPJ.

Duke, which sits atop the ACC standings, crushed Stanford 106-70 in Durham, N.C., on Saturday.

The Blue Devils have won two straight over the Cavaliers. In their most recent meeting at JPJ, Virginia defeated Duke 69-62 in overtime on Feb. 11, 2023.

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