MBB: UVA goes cold down stretch in 63-51 loss to SMU in ACC opener

By Scott Ratcliffe

Virginia dropped its first ACC opener since 2008 on Saturday in Dallas, as SMU closed strong and won its first-ever conference contest, 63-51, at Moody Coliseum.

Kario Oquendo poured in 15 of his game-high 21 points after halftime (all off the bench), as the Mustangs (8-2, 1-0 ACC) finished the game on a 9-0 run after the Cavaliers drew within three, 54-51, on a pair of Elijah Saunders free throws with 2:44 to play.

UVA (5-4, 0-1) grabbed its largest lead of the day after a personal 7-point flurry from Isaac McKneely made it 45-38 with 10:19 remaining. That turned out to be the last made field goal of the game for Ron Sanchez’s squad, which fell to 0-2 in true road games.

The Wahoos would register just six more points from there (all from the charity stripe), as they misfired on each of their last nine shots from the field. Saunders sat most of the second half with foul trouble, while Dai Dai Ames started, but left the contest after spraining his ankle in the first half.

“I think [the Mustangs] started kind of denying [McKneely] the ball,” Sanchez said of the long drought. “Really jumping and forcing other guys to make plays, which today was a little bit of a challenge, honestly. … Having two starters out kind of made it a little more challenging, and we had to depend on a couple of young guys.”

One of those young guys, first-year forward Jacob Cofie, scored on a tough three-point play off the glass with his left hand to knot the score up at 36-apiece, then connected on a jumper to put the Hoos in front with 12:06 to go.

After Oquendo put back his own miss on the other end to tie it back up, McKneely completed a four-point play before adding another 3-pointer less than a minute later, capping a 12-2 spurt that made it a seven-point advantage.

However, the Hoos simply couldn’t buy a basket from that point on, and shot themselves in the foot in the comeback attempt in the final three minutes with three careless turnovers.

With SMU ahead by five, Cofie had an easy two-hand dunk rattle out on him, which was essentially a microcosm of the second-half collapse.

The last time Virginia came up short in its conference opener was in the penultimate season under Dave Leitao, way back on Jan. 13, 2008, losing to ninth-ranked Duke by 22 points. Sanchez’s predecessor, Tony Bennett, was a perfect 15-0 in ACC openers.

With George W. Bush — who was the president during Virginia’s last ACC-opening loss — and first lady Laura watching from their courtside seats on Saturday, SMU big man Samet Yigitoglu set the tone for the home team. The 7-foot-2 freshman center scored the Mustangs’ first seven points, part of a 14-point opening half on 6-of-7 shooting.

Virginia took a 17-15 lead midway through the half on a TJ Power 3-pointer before SMU used a 13-2 spurt to take its largest lead up to that point, 28-19.

The Hoos fought back with a 9-2 run of their own — with trifectas from Andrew Rohde, McKneely and Ishan Sharma — over the final five minutes and trailed by just a bucket, 30-28, at the break, but went cold down the stretch.

The Cavaliers shot just 34 percent from the field (16 for 47) on the afternoon, knocking down 8 of 19 (42 percent) from long range and 11 of 12 (92 percent) from the free-throw line. UVA was outrebounded, 36-25, and outscored by 20 (30-10) in the paint and 9-0 on the fast break.

McKneely posted a team-high 17 points (4 for 8 from downtown), as no other Cavaliers registered double figures — Rohde had 9, Cofie had 8 off the bench, and nobody else had more than 4. Ames played just 7 minutes, with Taine Murray getting the start in the second half.

The Mustangs shot 43 percent on the afternoon (21 of 49), including 25 percent (6 for 24) from 3-point range. Aside from Oquendo’s big day, Yigitoglu dealt with foul trouble in the second half but finished with 16 points and 6 rebounds.

SMU’s leading scorer on the season, Wake Forest transfer guard Kevin “Boopie” Miller, was held to 9 points on 3-of-9 shooting (0 for 5 from beyond the arc). Chuck Harris also added 9 points in 20 minutes off the bench.

Team Notes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

• Virginia is 5-4 overall and 0-1 in the ACC
• The loss ends the Cavaliers’ 16-game winning streak in ACC openers
• Virginia is 36-36 all-time in ACC openers
• UVA had an 11-0 run spanning halftime to gain a 33-30 lead
• UVA held SMU scoreless for 8:29 spanning halftime
• UVA had a 6-0 run to close the SMU lead to 30-28 at halftime
• UVA held SMU scoreless for the final 4:25 of the first half
• SMU used a 13-2 run to gain a 28-19 lead
• UVA made eight 3-pointers and has made six or more in each of its nine games
• UVA forced one shot clock violation (5 this season)
• UVA has committed 14 or more turnovers in each of its four losses

Series Notes

• Virginia is 1-1 against SMU in the series that began in 2013
• The Cavaliers defeated the Mustangs, 76-73, in the other meeting at the 2013 Corpus Christi Challenge

Player Notes

• Double Figure Scorers: Isaac McKneely (17)
• McKneely scored in double figures for the eighth time (34 career)
• McKneely (4 3-pointers) has made multiple 3-pointers in seven games

UP NEXT

Virginia will host Bethune-Cookman in a rare exam-week contest on Thursday at 7 p.m. on ACC Network. It’s the first of five consecutive games at John Paul Jones Arena (see full schedule below).