McKneely stays hot in leading UVA rout over NC Central

By Jerry Ratcliffe

When Isaac McKneely came out firing Tuesday night, North Carolina Central coach LeVelle Moton knew his team was in trouble.

Virginia’s sharpshooter connected on four-consecutive 3-pointers before Moton could blink, and the Cavaliers built a 12-0 lead that Central would not recover from en route to a 77-47 rout. McKneely matched his career-high 22 points against Syracuse last Saturday and helped lead UVA to an 8-1 record as the team heads into an exam break that will extend until the next game on Dec. 16.

“Everyone in America knows that McKneely can shoot the basketball and he has four 3’s without dribbling,” Moton said of his team’s lack of defensive awareness.

McKneely was en fuego, drilling the four triples in the first 3 minutes and 7 seconds of the game, giving fans one of those Michael Jordan shrugs and laughing as he dashed down the court. For the record, he made 6 of 8 shots from beyond the arc, 8 of 11 field goals for the night, playing only about eight minutes in the second half.

The sophomore sniper has now made 12 of his last 16 attempts from the 3-point arc.

McKneely was one of three Cavaliers in double figures, followed by redshirt freshman Leon Bond III (14 points, 6 for 8 FG) and true freshman Elijah Gertrude (13 points, 6 for 11 FG). Senior Reece Beekman played his usual complete game with 8 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and no turnovers in only 19 minutes, 48 seconds of playing time.

Virginia dominated the game right out of the blocks and never looked back, rolling to a 41-17 halftime lead and substituted liberally, with all starters coming out of the game with about nine minutes to play.

“We got off to a slow start and we were [without] four or five of our players, so that was my concern … is the moment too big,” said Moton of his 4-6 team. “[Virginia] showed us who they were against Syracuse, right? We saw the Texas A&M tape, but for Syracuse to go in there and get beat by 30, that was a great accomplishment within itself.”

Virginia has attacked every opponent with zeal since its lone loss against Wisconsin during Thanksgiving week, responding the way Tony Bennett had hoped. For Bennett, that’s how his team needs to play.

“We have no other option because if we don’t come out right, it doesn’t matter who we’ll play … we’ll get beat,” Bennett said. “The second our guys think differently is the second that we’ll lose, and you can’t afford that. Our margin of error is awfully slim, so we have no other way, and there’s no shame in that. That’s just the way it is.”

Virginia managed to show its athleticism against Central, getting out on the fast break and scoring 22 points running the floor, including several layups and dunks.

“We have maybe more than some years, guys who can finish in transition, so we’re encouraging them to look for that if it’s there,” Bennett said. 

Some of the breaks ended up in pull-up 3-pointers, something that Bennett also welcomed.

“Isaac and some guys have a green light if it’s a rhythm, push-transition 3,” Bennett said. “Some guys have a yellow light, some guys have bright red lights, and that means don’t shoot a transition 3. But of course, if you can get ahead and get to the lane and have a good layup, take advantage of it.

“Isaac got a couple of those transition 3’s, and that’s good to see. Any way we get points. We don’t pound it inside and have post guys that go to work. We use more cuts into the post. Some of our smaller guys are a little more effective on the low post or even that off-the-lane (called the playmaker spot), so you get guys in there and then have some action going on while the ball is in their hands.”

Virginia’s defense was its usual terrorizing self. The Cavaliers held Central to 29 percent shooting (15 of 51) and only 17 percent from the arc (3 of 17). Meanwhile, UVA was a red-hot 54 percent from the field (32 of 59) and 43 percent from the 3-point line (9 of 21). The Wahoos had 24 assists on 32 made field goals.

Team Notes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

• Virginia (8-1) has a four-game win streak
• UVA is 7-1 in non-conference action and 6-0 at JPJ overall
• UVA is 96-10 at home in non-league play under Tony Bennett
• UVA used a 17-3 run to gain a 33-13 lead
• UVA had a season-low five turnovers
• UVA had 24 assists on 32 made field goals
• UVA had a season-high 22 fast break points
• UVA shot 58.6 percent (17 of 29) en route to a 41-17 halftime lead
• UVA is 112-2, including a 3-0 mark in 2023-24, when limiting foes to fewer then 50 points during the Bennett era
• Bennett-coached teams are 137-3 when holding opponents to fewer than 50 points (25-1 in 3 years at Washington State
• Virginia is 162-11 all-time when scoring 70 or more points under Bennett
• UVA is 5-0 when scoring 70 or more points in 2023-24

Series Notes

• UVA 2-0 all-time against North Carolina Central
• UVA is 22-0 all-time vs. Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opponents

Player Notes

• Double Figure Scorers: Isaac McKneely (22), Leon Bond III (14), Elijah Gertrude (13)
• McKneely scored UVA’s first 12 points on 4 of 4 3-pointers
• McKneely matched a career high with 22 points
• McKneely reached double figures for the 12th time
• McKneely has made 2-plus 3-pointers in seven games
• McKneely is 12 of 16 from 3-point range over the past two games
• Bond reached double figures for the third time
• Bond added a career-best two blocked shots and tied a career high with nine rebounds
• Elijah Gertrude reached double figures for the first time
• Reece Beekman had a game-high four steals
• Dante Harris missed his third straight game with an ankle injury