MBB: Hoos’ upset bid falls short in 64-62 loss to No. 21 Memphis

By Scott Ratcliffe

Virginia had No. 21 Memphis on the ropes midway through Wednesday’s nationally televised, non-conference tilt at John Paul Jones Arena, but the Tigers clawed back and held on late for a 64-62 victory.

The Cavaliers (6-5) led by as many as 11 points in the first half and held a 30-21 lead at halftime, but the visitors used a pair of scoring runs — fueled by the play of leading scorer PJ Haggerty — in the second half to avoid the upset and move to 9-2 on the season.

UVA was able to hold onto the rock in the first half, committing only four turnovers, but careless mistakes led to inexcusable giveaways across the final 20 minutes, which aided the Tigers’ comeback bid.

Haggerty scored 8 of Memphis’ first 10 points out of the break, part of a 10-2 spurt that got the Tigers within three, 34-31, by the first media timeout of the second half.

Following a two-handed flush by Blake Buchanan that put the Wahoos ahead 37-33, Memphis turned up the defensive pressure and went on a 14-2 run over the next three minutes and change, giving the Tigers their first lead of the night and a 47-39 advantage midway through the second half.

The Memphis run culminated in a 3-for-4 trip to the line for Haggerty after a common foul was called on Elijah Saunders, plus a technical foul on Dai Dai Ames for tripping after video review.

Saunders, who led the team in scoring with 15 points, answered with a much-needed triple, followed by a pair of Taine Murray free throws that cut it back to a one-possession affair, 47-44, with 9:13 remaining.

Murray had his best game of the season, matching a career high with 14 points off the bench. After Memphis took its largest lead of the game, 55-46, the fourth-year New Zealand native completed a three-point play with 5:37 left which fouled out Tigers big man Moussa Cisse.

“I’ve just tried to stay positive through it all,” Murray said of his roller-coaster UVA career. “[I help] my teammates when I’m not playing, and also grateful for them when they put me in positions to succeed. But I think we’ve got a lot of talent, we’re a young team, and I think this season we can really do something special if we keep improving.”

Saunders added a pair from the line moments later to trim it down to four, 55-51, and the Hoos got within four again on a tough Saunders 3-pointer, his third of the contest, making it 60-56 with a little over two minutes to play.

“They kind of set the tone with how the game was going to be called on their end with their physicality with the press,” Saunders said of the Tigers’ relentless fullcourt defense.

When the Tigers came up empty on the other end, the San Diego State transfer just missed on another opportunity from beyond the arc that would have cut it to a point. Ames was roughed up on his follow attempt, but no whistle was blown, and Memphis coach Penny Hardaway called a timeout with 49.2 seconds left to set up a play after his team came away with a crucial stop.

Colby Rogers misfired from long range when play resumed, but his backcourt mate, Tyrese Hunter, was there for the all-important offensive rebound, and was quickly fouled. With 30 ticks showing, Hunter made his first freebie but couldn’t connect on the second, leaving the door open with a 61-56 advantage.

Ames was mysteriously fouled and sent to the stripe for a one-and-one, and calmly sank a pair with 19.7 to go, trimming it to three. Rogers was immediately hacked on the inbounds pass and missed his first free throw with 18 seconds remaining, prompting a Ron Sanchez timeout. Rogers made his next attempt, and Ames gingerly strolled up the court with seemingly no sense of urgency with precious seconds ticking away, eventually missing on a reverse layup attempt, but Jacob Cofie was there for the tap-in to make it 62-60 with 9.6 on the clock.

Haggerty knocked down two free throws with 8.9 left, and Ames again struggled to get the ball up the floor quickly, putting through the final two points with just two-tenths of a second to go, in a classic case of too little, too late.

UVA has now dropped three of its last four games and five of the last eight, and is 0-4 in games against ranked opponents. The Cavaliers shot 40 percent (21 for 53) in the losing effort, including 32 percent from long distance (6 of 19) and 78 percent (14 for 18) from the line. The Cavaliers were outrebounded, 38-31, as the Tigers secured 14 of those on the offensive end.

Virginia turned it over seven times after the break, leading to 10 points on the opposite end. Andrew Rohde coughed it up five times himself against the Tigers’ press, which was a season-worst.

“I think Memphis picked up their pressure in the second half,” said Sanchez, “and we had to end up playing four guards just to have a little more ball-handling out there to help us manage it.”

Aside from Saunders and Murray, no other Hoos finished in double figures (Ames had 8, Cofie added 6). Isaac McKneely was one of three Cavaliers who was limited to 5 points on the night (Buchanan, Rohde), scoring his first basket (and only 3-ball) to end the opening half, finishing 2 for 7 from the field for the second straight game (1 for 4 from long range). The Poca native is 2 for 10 from deep in those last two outings. Anthony Robinson was forced into action after Cofie and Buchanan got into early foul trouble, and the first-year big man chipped in with 6 rebounds in 10 minutes (both career highs).

Haggerty led all scorers with 27 points, pouring in 19 of those in the second half. Hunter and Dain Dainja each added a dozen, while Rogers, who was averaging 13 points per game coming into Wednesday’s contest, was held to a season-low 3 points on 1-for-11 shooting (0 for 8 from deep).

Memphis connected on just 38 percent of its shots (21 for 56) all evening, and 22 percent from downtown (5 of 23), but eked out a hard-fought victory at JPJ.

“I think we battled for 40 minutes,” Sanchez said of his troops, “which is a big step for us trying to get our competitive endurance to increase. We practiced well, we prepared well this week, and I’m encouraged by their efforts.”

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Team Notes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

• Virginia fell to 6-5 overall
• UVA is 0-4 vs. ranked opponents
• UVA is 5-1 at home and has a 103-11 record in non-conference action at John Paul Jones Arena since 2009-10
• UVA made six 3-pointers and has made six or more in each of its 11 games
• Memphis gained its first lead at 39-37 at 12:31 of the second half
• UVA led 30-21 at halftime, limiting Memphis to 28.6 percent field goal shooting (8 of 28) and 14.3 percent 3-point shooting (2 of 14)
• UVA shot 39.6 percent from the field (21 of 53) and 31.6 percent from 3-point range (6 of 19)

Series Notes

• Virginia is 1-2 all-time against Memphis in a series that dates to 2014
• Memphis owns a two-game win streak in the series
• The Tigers defeated the Cavaliers 77-54 last season at FedExForum

Player Notes

• Double Figure Scorers: Elijah Saunders (15), Taine Murray (14)
• Saunders reached double figures for the sixth time (13 career)
• Murray tied a career high with 14 points (vs. Iowa, Nov. 29, 2021)
• Murray reached double figures for the first time (6 career)
• Murray tied a career high with three made free throws
• Isaac McKneely tied a career high with five assists
• Dai Dai Ames returned to the lineup after missing the Bethune-Cookman game with an ankle injury
• Anthony Robinson had season highs in rebounds (6) and minutes (10) off the bench

UP NEXT

The Hoos will host American (ACC Network) on Sunday at 2 p.m. in the final non-conference game of the regular season.