Wahoos host Hokies; will Saunders & Rohde play?

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Ron Sanchez was fired up after his Virginia team, minus two starters, claimed its first ACC road win earlier this week at Miami. The Cavaliers were without forward Elijah Saunders, the team’s second-leading scorer and leading rebounder, and missing point guard Andrew Rohde, the most improved player on the roster.

Still, UVA found new ways to win over the Hurricanes, 82-71, thanks in part to senior guard Taine Murray’s career-high 20 points and 7 assists, along with sophomore center Blake Buchanan’s 16 points and 9 rebounds. Their contributions, parlayed with Isaac McKneely’s 26-point effort, sparked the Cavaliers, now 10-11 overall and 3-7 in the league.

The status for both Saunders and Rohde, who were both wearing protective boots at Monday night’s game, will likely be unknown until shortly before game time for Saturday’s 4-p.m. clash with visiting Virginia Tech (ACC Network). Even with the two starters’ status in question, oddsmakers have Virginia as a 4-point favorite.

UVA has won five straight times against the Hokies on the Cavaliers’ home court. Both teams are desperate for wins as each battles to qualify for the ACC Tournament (only the top 15 teams in the 18-team league will be included in this year’s event). Virginia comes into the game tied for 13th in the conference race, while Virginia Tech, 9-12, 4-6 ACC, is tied for 12th.

While the rosters for both teams don’t resemble the squads who split last season’s games, only a few will remember the licking the Hokies put on the Cavaliers in Blacksburg last February. Tech beat UVA, 75-41, the largest Hokies win in the series since 1961 and the most lopsided defeat of a Virginia team since a 35-point loss at Tennessee on Dec. 30, 2013 (87-52).

If Saunders and Rohde remain sidelined, then Sanchez must get strong performances from Murray and Buchanan, plus McKneely, in order to take advantage of a sellout crowd at JPJ.

The Cavaliers have had other players to step up their games throughout the season but have lacked consistency, which has contributed to the unexpected mediocre record. Virginia was picked to finish fifth in the ACC in a preseason media poll, a week before legendary coach Tony Bennett rocked the basketball world with his sudden retirement.

Saunders has led Virginia in scoring eight times this season and scored in double figures on 12 occasions. Rohde has upped his game from his sophomore season, when he made only 29 percent of his field-goal attempts and averaged 3.6 points and 2.7 assists per game. So far this season, he is shooting 43.6 percent and averaging 8.7 points and 4.3 boards per outing.

McKneely is the team’s leading scorer and is second in the conference in 3-point shooting percentage at 43 percent. He drilled six 3’s at Miami and has made 50 percent of his long-range shots over the past three games.

It has helped that Murray hit three triples at Miami and that Buchanan also helped take some of the defensive pressure off McKneely with an inside scoring presence, particularly in Saunders’ absence.

The Hokies’ top two scorers are 6-8 junior Tobi Lawal, a transfer from VCU who averages 12.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. His high shooting percentage of 59.6 translates to a lot of opportunities around the rim.

Teammate Mylyjael Poteat, a 6-9 senior, averages 10 points and 4 rebounds per contest and has made 51 percent of his shots.

While UVA has upped its offensive output, cut down on turnovers and improved slightly in rebounding, the defense is still of a concern to Sanchez.

Consider that since 2010-11, the Cavaliers have finished in the top six nationally in scoring defense every one of those seasons, until now. Virginia is ranked 27th in the country, giving up 64.8 points per game.

Most of that can be attributed to the influx of new players struggling to get the details of the “Pack Line” defense down pat, something that Sanchez & Co., will most likely have to live with for the remainder of the season.

“Putting on the Virginia uniform does not make you a good defender,” Sanchez said this week. “It is the practice, the drills, the emphasis, the teaching, the time that’s invested. The defense is connected, five guys, and they’ve got to be completely connected. One guy screws up his coverage and all of a sudden, the possession breaks down.

“The biggest challenge of the Pack is you’ve got to teach it from Day One. It’s nice when you already have a foundation in it,” which most of UVA’s transfers didn’t.