Cavaliers rise to elite status with rout
Fast-starting U.Va. romps to largest victory margin ever against ranked foe
Any disputes regarding No. 18 Virginia’s right to be included among the nation’s ranked teams coming into Saturday night’s game at Clemson seemed perfectly legitimate.
Who had U.Va. beaten? Not a single ranked opponent.
Was U.Va.’s 4-0 record against ACC opponents with a combined record of 9-21 indicative of how well the Cavaliers were playing? Hard to tell against the bottom-dwellers.
Did a loss to San Francisco, an overtime win against Kent State and a 23-point loss to No. 1 Gonzaga provide a more telling picture about U.Va.? The jury was still out on that one.
U.Va. needed a performance worthy of praise against No. 12 Clemson, and the Cavaliers delivered in stunning style. An 85-50
Next game
N.C. State (6-4, 2-3 ACC) at No. 18 Virginia (9-2, 5-0), 7 p.m. Wednesday, ACCN
win not only showed the Cavaliers at arguably their best this season on both ends of the floor, it also represented their largest margin of victory against a ranked opponent in the program’s history.
“We’re learning about our team, we’re growing, we’re becoming steadier,” said U.Va. coach Tony Bennett, adding part of the challenge this season has been blending his veteran players with guys who haven’t played for the Cavaliers before this season.
“An identity has to be formed — how hard we have to defend, how we have to play to beat good teams, and that’s just gotten better from after the Gonzaga game. True humble pie, right? I think we responded well.”
Clearly affected by playing in its first game since Jan. 5 because it had to pause basketball activities for a week while in coronavirus quarantine, Clemson struggled from the start,
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shooting 29.2% from the floor in the first half and 40% for the game. After Clemson missed 13 of its first 14 shots from the floor, U.Va. (9-2, 5-0 ACC) raced out to a 29-5 lead.
U.Va., which is in first place alone in the ACC, was just as sharp shooting the ball as it was defending Clemson.
Hitting its first nine 3-pointers of the second half, U.Va.’s lead grew to as many as 39 points. Sam Hauser and Tomas Woldetensae scored 14 points each to lead five U.Va. scorers in double figures — the third time in the last four games the Cavaliers have had five players contribute at least 10 points.
“When you combine the defense with that kind of shooting ... it came together nicely,” said Bennett, whose team shot 52% from the floor in its 11th straight win against Clemson. “We didn’t take our foot off the gas.”
U.Va.’s victory was the second-largest winning margin ever on the road by team against a program ranked in the Associated Press Top 25, according to the ESPN Stats & Info Twitter social media account.
NO. 18VIRGINIA 85, NO. 12CLEMSON 50 VIRGINIA (9-2, 5-0ACC): Hauser 5-7 0-0 14, Huff 5-12 0-0 12, Beekman 4-7 0-0 8, Clark 5-7 2-2 12, Murphy 5-5 0-0 13, Morsell 2-5 0-0 5, Woldetensae 5-7 0-0 14, Caffaro 1-1 0-0 2, McKoy 0-2 0-0 0, Abdur-Rahim 1-2 0-0 2, McCorkle 1-1 0-0 3, Coleman 0-0 0-0 0, Katstra 0-0 0-00. Totals 34-56 2-2 85. CLEMSON (9-2, 3-2): Baehre 0-1 0-0 0, Simms 1-9 0-0 2, Dawes 0-4 0-0 0, Hemenway 2-5 0-0 6, Trapp 2-4 1-2 6, Honor 3-7 0-0 6, Tyson 3-5 0-0 7, Hunter 2-3 0-0 4, Hall 4-7 0-0 8, Prosper 1-2 2-2 4, Newman 3-5 0-0 7, Kidd 0-0 0-0 0, Fox 0-0 0-0 0, Hoag 0-0 0-0 0, McBride 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-52 3-4 50. Half—Virginia 33-17. 3-point goals— Virginia 15-27 (Hauser 4-5, Woldetensae 4-6, Murphy 3-3, Huff 2-6, McCorkle 1-1, Morsell 1-3, Beekman 0-1, Clark 0-2), Clemson 5-23 (Hemenway 2-5, Newman 1-2, Trapp 1-2, Tyson 1-3, Baehre 0-1,
Dawes 0-1, Hall 0-2, Honor 0-3, Simms 0-4). Rebounds—Virginia 33 (Hauser 8), Clemson 20 (Simms, Trapp 5). Assists—Virginia 22 (Beekman 6), Clemson 7 (Simms, Honor 2). Fouls—Virginia 8, Clemson 8. A—1,876.