On one day of practice, Wahoos light up Pitt in shocker

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Virginia could have used every excuse in the book to lose its Big Monday matchup at Pittsburgh.

The Cavaliers, coming off a heartbreaking, one-point loss to rival Virginia Tech two days before, had to hit the road to Pitt where the host Panthers were licking their chops. Pitt had just been rated by the bracketologists as a team good enough to make the NCAA Tournament field.

Virginia, with only one day of light practice in preparation for the trip, was still missing its second-leading scorer and leading rebounder in Elijah Saunders. Coach Ron Sanchez’s team hadn’t been particularly good on the road, especially in the ACC, with a 1-5 record.

No wonder Pitt was rated by the oddsmakers as a 13-point favorite.

So, what happens? Virginia wins in a shocking blowout, 73-57.

“We only had one day of practice … maybe we should practice less,” joked Sanchez after watching the Cavaliers (11-12, 4-8 ACC) completely dominate Pitt.

Practice? We talkin’ ‘bout practice …

For Dai Dai Ames, it didn’t seem to matter if Virginia practiced or not. The 6-foot-1 guard from Chicago lit up the Pittsburgh skyline with a career-high 27 points, the most by any Cavalier all season. He matched a career high of 16 by halftime, totally frustrating Pitt coach Jeff Capel over his team’s inability to find an answer to Ames’ aggressive play.

“We let a guy — hats off to Ames — who is averaging 6.8 points a game destroy us,” Capel barked. “He could drive, he knocked us off balance, we didn’t stand up to him and it got him going. It [the hoop] was a big basket for him.”

Ames, who really is more of a shooting/scoring guard than a point guard, was unstoppable.

“I was just feeling like nobody could guard me,” said the Kansas State transfer, who was 11 for 16 from the field and 3 of 6 from beyond the arc over 35 minutes.

Sanchez agreed.

“Dai Dai was a big part of it. He was fantastic in the first half, made one-on-one plays, a couple of 3’s and the guys continued to find him,” Sanchez said. “He got really good looks, he finished, he shared the ball and then he defended. Hopefully he can repeat this.”

Certainly the history is there. Ames, who has that inner-city Chicago game, and as Sanchez described “a little boogie to his game,” played on his 8th-grade team as a 5th-grader. Once, for the Kenwood Academy varsity, the No. 1 ranked team in the state of Illinois, Dai Dai lit it up for 65 points in one game.

While Virginia was superb on offense at Pitt, shooting 56 percent for the game (28 for 50, 10 for 22 from deep), it was defense that caused the Panthers to flatline in front of a raucous crowd anticipating a stomping of the visitors.

Pitt was averaging 87 points per game at Petersen Events Center. Virginia, which had played 30 minutes of poor defense against Virginia Tech last Saturday, held Pitt to a measly 57 and left Capel biting his tongue to prevent himself from saying what he really felt.

“I’m trying to stay under control here, I don’t want to say anything crazy,” a frustrated Capel said.

Still, he couldn’t believe what he had just witnessed.

“This is probably as bad of a performance of any team I’ve ever coached and it was embarrassing, and I’m sorry to the crowd, students, fans,” Capel said of the 14-8, 5-6 Panthers.

“We were bad in every aspect of the game of basketball. Turnovers, rebounding, defense, offense, everything. Our body language was bad. [Virginia] saw it, they fed off it. It gave them energy. Our inability to guard the ball in the first half, where they just drove us, it was really, really bad. I thought we got embarrassed.”

Hats off to Sanchez and his staff for keeping the Cavaliers positive after leaving a potential game-winning shot on the rim at the buzzer against rival Tech. Monday night’s game was all about responding. Pitt had dropped a tough road game at Wake, so the team that could get itself together would survive this one, and this time it was Virginia.

For a nuts-and-bolts account of the game, see our game story here.

The Cavaliers, who play a physical brand of basketball, manhandled the Panthers at every position. It wasn’t just Ames that played well.

Point guard Andrew Rohde, who fought through pain to play against Tech and was the player who left the last-second shot on the lip of the rim, bounced back with 9 points, 9 assists, 7 rebounds and no turnovers. Blake Buchanan, sidelined for most of the Tech game with foul trouble, responded with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Anthony Robinson, who continues to improve, added 9 points and 6 rebounds. Isaac McKneely, who was targeted by Pitt’s defense in the first half and didn’t scratch, finished with 8.

It was the end of a three-games-in-six-days grind for the Cavaliers, who held their ground in 15th-place in the 18-team ACC. The top 15 teams make the season-ending league tournament, and with a few days to prepare for visiting Georgia Tech, UVA stands a half-game behind the four teams directly ahead of it in the standings, including the Yellow Jackets.

Hell, maybe Sanchez should give them the next few days off and practice only the day before Tech comes to town.