Red-hot McKneely sparks UVA’s 74-56 rout of BC

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Submerged near the bottom of the ACC standings heading into Tuesday night’s home game with Boston College, Coach Ron Sanchez’ Virginia team desperately needed to stop the bleeding.

The Cavaliers responded, lighting up the John Paul Jones Arena scoreboard with 11 3-pointers in a 74-56 rout of the Eagles, snapping a five-game UVA losing streak. The string of losses was the most by a Virginia team since 2010.

Sitting now at 9-10 overall and 2-6 in the ACC, Sanchez hopes his team can put together a winning streak, starting with Saturday night’s home game against Notre Dame. Five of UVA’s next six opponents are presently situated in the bottom half of the league standings.

“Winning is hard,” Sanchez said. “It’s nice to get off that slide and hopefully start a streak. A streak starts with one. Hopefully we’ll get two and then attack that. The SMU game still kind of sits with us a little bit.”

The Virginia coach was referring to his team’s 54-52 home loss to SMU a week ago, when the Mustangs scored two 3-pointers in the final 10 seconds, including Boopie Miller’s buzzer beater for the win.

This time out, it was Virginia’s hot shooting hand that was a major difference. The Cavaliers bolted to a 22-9 lead only 9½ minutes into the game, mainly on the strength of the long ball. Leading scorer Isaac McKneely, one of the most lethal 3-point shooters in the country, hit a pair of triples, along with Andre Rohde and freshman Ishan Sharma for the big lead.

But that was only a preview, as UVA went on to make 9 of 11 from the 3-point arc in the first half, blowing the game open for a 41-23 bulge at the break.

The Wahoos never looked back as McKneely broke out of his shooting slump, making 6 of 9 triples for a team-high 21 points. McKneely had previously missed 10 of his last 11 attempts from the arc before drilling four in a row to open the barrage against BC.

“[McKneely] has missed shots, but he has taken really good shots,” Sanchez said. “I kind of call them ‘iMac shots,’ when he’s coming off his pin down or his feet are set and he’s shooting it. The only thing we do is encourage him not to pass those up.

“I tell him, ‘I don’t care how many you’ve missed, if you’re open, shoot the ball.’ I think that kind of dialogue and that kind of confidence from your coaches maybe helps you not think about it too much, because we need iMac to shoot the ball and we need him to make shots in order for us to have a chance.”

Overall, UVA was 11 of 20 from Bonusphere, with Rohde adding 16 points and Elijah Saunders with 10. Saunders got all of his in the first half before exiting early in the second half, when both he and BC’s Donald Hand Jr. (the son of former UVA point guard Donald Hand) were assessed flagrant-two fouls on separate plays and ejected from the contest.

Sophomore Blake Buchanan posted his third consecutive impressive game, scoring 7 points and grabbing 6 rebounds.

Virginia shot 52 percent for the game (see full box score below for details) and 55 percent from the 3-point line.

Jon Golden Photo Gallery

Team Notes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

• Virginia ended its longest losing streak (5 games) since 2010
• The Cavaliers improved to 9-10 overall, 2-6 ACC
• Virginia is 8-3 at home
• UVA’s 41-23 halftime lead was its first in ACC play
• UVA’s 8-0 run extended its lead to 30-11 in the first half
• UVA started 9 of 13 from the field and led 22-11 at 10:51 first half
• UVA shot 55 percent (16 of 29) in the first half, including 60 percent from 3-point range (9 of 15)
• UVA’s 18-point halftime lead was its largest in ACC play since leading by 28 points at Louisville on Jan. 27, 2024 (41-13)
• UVA (11 3-pointers) has made six or more 3-pointers in 17 games
• UVA is 172-11 all-time when scoring 70 or more points since 2009-10 (4-0 in 2024-25).

Series Notes

• Virginia is 22-9 all-time vs. Boston College in a series that dates to 1971-72
• UVA has a three-game win streak against the Eagles, including a 72-68 road win and 66-60 overtime win at the ACC Tournament last season
• UVA has won 15 of the last 18 games in the series
• The Cavaliers are 12-2 against the Eagles in Charlottesville, including a nine-game win streak at John Paul Jones Arena
• UVA has limited Boston College to 58 or fewer points in nine of the last 14 meetings

Player Notes

• Double Figure Scorers: Isaac McKneely (21), Andrew Rohde (16), Elijah Saunders (10)
• McKneely reached double figures for the 14th time (40 career)
• McKneely tied a career high with six 3-pointers
• McKneely has made multiple 3-pointers in 12 games
• McKneely tallied his third 20-point game (8career)
• Rohde reached double figures for the eighth time (39 career)
• Rohde’s 16 points tied his UVA high
• Saunders reached double figures for the 12th time (19 career)
• Saunders was ejected for a flagrant two foul at 15:44 of the second half
• Markus Rouse made his collegiate debut