Virginia overwhelms Villanova with 3’s and defense

By Jerry Ratcliffe

In a more perfect world, Friday’s matinee college basketball treat would have featured Jay Wright and Tony Bennett, two national championship coaches stepping right out of GQ, challenging each other’s wisdom on a 94 x 50 chessboard in downtown Baltimore.

That world is long gone, with Kyle Neptune and Ron Sanchez picking up the pieces and moving forward. This time out, Sanchez’ pieces were superior in a 70-60 Virginia victory over Villanova in a battle of former college basketball heavyweights.

Nova brought the physicality but little else, as unbeaten UVA brought out the big guns and a wicked defense in dismantling the Wildcats, who dropped to 2-3. The Cavaliers jumped on their Big East opponent early, with 3-point barrage that left Villanova reeling on the wrong side of an 18-2 run (20-11 at the 7:27 mark).

While the ‘Cats clawed back into contention at the break, trailing 31-26, Virginia answered with an 11-0 run early in the second half (50-33) and never looked back.

Villanova was handcuffed by UVA’s smothering defense, while the Cavaliers unveiled an arsenal of 3-point shooters that left the Wildcats shell shocked.

Led by sharpshooter Isaac McKneely, who finished 6 for 6 from Bonusphere in a 23-point effort, Virginia made 14 3-pointers, the most by a Cavaliers team since January of 2023.

McKneely wasn’t alone. Point guard Andrew Rohde, not known for his shooting ability, went 3 for 5 from the arc and scored 13 points (see related game story here), making critics eat crow (I prefer mine with barbecue sauce, please).

Jacob Cofie joined in with a pair of 3’s, while TJ Power,  Dai Dai Ames and Elijah Saunders each hit one.

Meanwhile, Villanova couldn’t throw a beach ball in the ocean, making only 19 of 54 shots (35.2 percent) and 9 for 32 from the arc (28 percent).

“A lot of credit goes to Virginia, they really defended at a high level,” said Neptune, in his second year after Wright became the first big-time coach to walk away because of the drastic changes in the game. “Thought we had some easy looks, but they made it tough. Made it really hard to score and they made some timely threes. A lot of credit goes to those guys — thought they were organized offensively. They weren’t really affected by our press. They moved the ball really well and did a great job.”

It was Virginia’s first step to a higher-caliber opponent after disposing of Campbell and Coppin State last week. The Cavaliers didn’t miss a beat, being dominant on defense and showcasing a plethora of players who can score.

“The beauty about this group is that not only our guards can shoot [the 3-pointer] but our forwards can shoot the ball as well, and it allows us to take advantage of different ball-screen coverages,” said Sanchez, who took over for Bennett, who suddenly stepped away from the game for the same reasons as Wright, but less than two weeks before UVA’s season began.

“We’re a team that I think has good enough shooting, and if guys have room and rhythm shots (where have we heard that before?), we’re going to encourage them to shoot the ball. They work hard at it and most of them have earned the right to shoot the ball, so we’re just encouraging them to share the ball, to be unselfish and shoot with confidence.”

Certainly that described McKneely’s game Friday. He started by hitting all six of his 3-point attempts, including a 4-point play on one of them, and finished by making 8 off 9 field goals. The 6 for 6 was a UVA record.

Sanchez has been encouraging McKneely to shoot more often, but didn’t have to prod him.

“We need iMac (McKneely’s nickname) to be aggressive, we need him to want to shoot. We need him to be okay missing shots,” Sanchez said. “Today he did a really good job of hunting his shots. He took some that were a little unconventional, but he made them, and I think as long as he has confidence in what he’s capable of doing.”

Virginia started with a big lineup with Saunders, Power and Blake Buchanan, but eventually changed it up with a three-guard setup. Sanchez said last week that his depth gives him the option of going big or playing small ball, depending on matchups and other factors.

The coach said that he and his staff are still trying to figure some things out in terms of lineups, combinations. Because of Villanova’s size and physicality, he started big and eventually changed things up.

“We felt our size and strength maybe could wall up in the middle of the paint,” Sanchez said.

Now, the Cavaliers brace for an even bigger step into competition when they travel to the Bahamas to battle No. 11 Tennessee on Thursday night. They need to pack that 3-point shooting in their baggage and make sure it clears Customs.