Wahoos hammer Saint Francis, but Bennett not happy with second half

Posted on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020, 8:56 pm

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By Jerry Ratcliffe

Kadin Shedrick had 12 points and eight rebounds off the bench. Photo by Andrew Shurtleff/courtesy Atlantic Coast Conference.

The second half belongs to Virginia, and Tony Bennett wants to keep it that way.

If the coach had any complaints about Tuesday’s 76-51 rout of visiting Saint Francis – a team that had soundly beaten Pitt of the ACC a week ago – it was that the Cavaliers lost the second half for the second game in a row.

The Red Flash felt the full wrath of 15th-ranked Virginia, coming off an upset loss to San Francisco in last week’s action at the Mohegan Sun “Bubbleville” event that dropped the Cavaliers from its No. 4 in the country perch. UVA was ultra aggressive right out of the gate as they coasted to a 45-13 halftime lead.

Virginia was nearly flawless during that span, converting a torrid 67 percent of its shots. Saint Francis, playing without its best player in guard Ramir Dixon-Conover, didn’t have a chance as the Cavaliers vaunted defense smothered the Red Flash, who made only four field goals and shot 17.4 percent in the half.

Saint Francis’ 13 points were the fewest allowed in the first half by Virginia since holding Virginia Tech to a mere 11 last February.

However, what Bennett didn’t like was the fact Saint Francis outscored UVA 38-31 in the second half, much like San Francisco did in pulling off the stunning upset last week in Connecticut.

Bennett praised his team’s first-half effort.

“We played really good basketball defensively and offensively in the first half,” the coach said. “Second half, not so much.”

While the outcome was never in jeopardy, the Cavaliers didn’t meet the defensive expectations that Bennett demands.

“[Saint Francis] outscored us in the second half and I felt we didn’t last or we weren’t persistent enough defensively,” Bennett said. “There were breakdowns.

“I thought we were pretty good defensively in the first half against San Francisco, pretty good against Towson and tonight. This team has to again continue to find the ability to battle and to get better and better as the competition goes up.”

The Red Flashes shot 52 percent in the second half, which drew Bennett’s ire. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers let up, scored but 31 points after being on a rare 90-point pace at the break. UVA shot only 38.7 percent the second half and only connected on 2 of 12 shots from behind the arc.

Clearly, Bennett is working with different combinations in his various lineups, looking for the best chemistry, what works, what doesn’t, what needs more tinkering.

He started a completely different lineup in this game, going with true freshman Reece Beekman at point guard over Kihei Clark, and with sharpshooter Tomas Woldetensae rather than sophomore Casey Morsell.

Clark had gotten off to a rough start in Virginia’s first two games, so Bennett elected to go with Beekman, who at 6-foot-5, is eight inches taller than Clark and less likely to get trapped in the paint.

Asked about the change, Bennett didn’t care to elaborate, but said it was a personal decision.

Whatever the reason, the newest version of Virginia’s starting lineup worked remarkably well as the Cavaliers bolted to a 21-4 lead and never looked back.

Bennett also trended away from the 5-out offensive sets he used in the first two games to more of the blocker mover offense Virginia has used in the past.

“We were a little more traditional today,” Bennett said about his offense. “Against Towson and San Francisco we tried to open up the floor and use some spacing and do different things. There’s another element to it and we have options, so that’s what you saw today. We’re trying to figure out what’s best for our personnel and what works.”

Whatever the offense, UVA senior seven-footer Jay Huff was undaunted. He scored 13 points (11 in the first half … he only played 14 and a half minutes in the game) on a 6 of 7 performance from the field, along with five rebounds and three blocked shots.

Kadin Shedrick showed some nice shooting touch as he finished just behind Huff in scoring with 12 points (5 of 6), while Sam Hauser added 11 (5-7) and Trey Murphy III posted 10 points. Woldetensae, one of only two players to clock more than 20 minutes (Beekman was the other, compared to Clark’s 15), was also the only Cavalier to make more than one 3-pointer as he knocked down 2 of his 4 attempts and finished with eight points.

Beekman took only three shots, made one for two points, but had four assists and no turnovers in 22 minutes. Clark was 0 for 2 from the floor, had three assists and three turnovers.

A lot of Virginia’s points came in the paint, 40 in fact, and that was by design.

“I guess it goes without saying that was an area of focus the last four days,” Bennett said about his 2-1 team. “We got on the glass (UVA won the rebounds 38-25), we touched the paint, scored in the paint and had offensive rebounds (9), so that was good to see. I think that was a step in the right direction.”

Huff, who had several easy slam dunks among his six buckets, said the intent was to attack inside right from the start.

“I think in some ways that’s what offense does sometimes, some guys get more shots than others depending on the other team defends,” Huff said. “Today [Saint Francis] didn’t necessarily cover the middle very well when we would drive and that led to a lot of open layups for guys like me and Justin [McKoy] and Kadin [Shedrick]. You can’t cover everybody on offense.”

Virginia hosts Kent State on Friday at 6 p.m. before gearing up for the ACC/Big 10 Challenge game against Michigan State on Dec. 9.

Team Notes

• The Cavaliers have won 24 straight home-opening games
• UVA is 80-7 in nonconference action under head coach Tony Bennett at John Paul Jones Arena
• The Cavaliers started the game on an 8-0 run, holding Saint Francis (Pa.) scoreless for the first 3:17
• UVA shot a blistering 66.7 percent in the first half (18 of 27)
• The Cavaliers enjoyed a 38-25 rebound advantage
• UVA led 45-13 at the half, marking its largest halftime margin since leading Grambling State 49-9 on Nov. 22, 2016
• The 13 first half points were fewest allowed by Virginia since limiting Virginia Tech to 11 on Feb. 26, 2020
• All 17 Cavaliers played in the contest with 10 reaching the scoring column
• Virginia is 10-0 all-time vs. the Northeast Conference
• The Cavaliers have scored 70 or more points in two of its first three games
• UVA scored 70 or more points in two of 30 contests last season

Series Notes

• UVA is 1-0 all-time against Saint Francis (Pa.)

Player Notes

• Double Figure Scorers: Jay Huff (13), Kadin Shedrick (12), Sam Hauser (11), Trey Murphy III (10)
• Shedrick had career highs in points (12) and rebounds (8)
• Huff blocked three shots to move into a tie for 8th on UVA’s all-time list with 108
• Huff has multiple blocks in each of the first three games
• Reece Beekman made his first career start and contributed a season-high four assists
• Tomas Woldetensae made his first start of the year and contributed eight points and career-best four assists