Guess who doesn’t suck: Trey Murphy III has bounced back for Wahoos

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Everyone who follows Virginia basketball knew that Trey Murphy III wasn’t quite himself during back-to-back losses against Duke and NC State.

But when your mama calls you out, it’s time to fish or cut bait.

During those losses to the Hurricanes and Wolfpack, Murphy managed to get off only seven combined field goal attempts (made three). Consider that in there were only four other games all season when the Rice transfer didn’t attempt at least seven shots in any of those contests.

“[Teammates] were telling me, ‘we need you to score,’” Murphy shared. “Coach Bennett was telling me he wants me to be aggressive and make plays, and I just than them, and also my mom.

“She was talking trash to me, too, so that helped motivate me to get back to what I was doing.”

Your mom? Really?

Albeda Murphy is normally a mom who encourages her son through the bad times, but even she couldn’t hold back after the NC State loss.

“She’s one of those mom’s that’s like super biased, and she’s like ‘you played well’ even when I know I didn’t play well,” Murphy said this week. “But after the NC State game, she said to me, ‘Yeah, you sucked.’

“I was like, I I can’t have that happen, so I’ve got to pick this up.”

Murphy did. He broke out of his slump a bit in Virginia’s sluggish win over Miami, snapping a three-game losing streak. He was 3 for 9 from the field.

The Durham, N.C., native returned to his normal level of performance Saturday in Virginia’s win at Louisville, which captured the ACC regular season title and gave the Cavaliers a No. 1 seed in this week’s ACC Tournament in Greensboro.

Murphy was 7-of-12 and helped blow up Louisville’s defensive effort.

“I was just thinking I need to be more aggressive because if I’m not aggressive, it’s going to be a lot harder for us to win,” Murphy said of his comeback.

Tony Bennett was impressed with the way Murphy bounced back. The timing couldn’t have been much better as UVA heads to postseason.

“He’s improved on both ends of the floor,” Bennett said Monday. “Obviously, teams have played us differently, some switching more, some not. He is continuing to find ways to be effective.

“He’s being more assertive and just trying to impact the game. As a team, I think you grow when you struggle and you say, ‘Okay, what can I do to be better and learn from that?’ I think he has.”

Bennett wasn’t aware that Albeda Murphy had sent a stronger message.

“I didn’t realize his mom had told him he was struggling or something to that extent, so nothing like a firm word from a mom or dad to straighten you out if that’s the case, so perhaps that was it,” Bennett chuckled.

Murphy is having a solid year, shooting 50 percent from the field (70 of 140), 42.5 percent from the arc (34 of 80), and hasn’t missed a free throw all year (30 of 30).

What did Albeda tell her son after his bounce back?

“Good job, baby,” Murphy smiled. “Good job.”