CHARLOTTESVILLE — Late in the first half of Saturday’s slog against North Carolina, Virginia’s Reece Beekman drew a foul from Cormac Ryan as he passed to teammate Isaac McKneely in the right corner. Clearly after the whistle, McKneely causally heaved the ball toward the basket.
Make a meaningless shot, miss virtually everything else. Such was the story of UVa’s afternoon.
Check that. Such has been the story of Virginia’s last two weeks, a stretch of historically bad offense that prompts an unavoidable question?
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Are the Cavaliers shooting themselves out of an NCAA tournament bid?
With 27.6% overall accuracy, and 14.3% beyond the 3-point arc, they certainly shot themselves out of a chance to defeat the 10th-ranked Tar Heels.
“Just continue to take the good shots when they’re there,” guard Reece Beekman said of potential remedies after the 54-44 setback.
But no matter how open, shots are difficult to make when you’re confidence has bottomed out, and clearly that’s the case with Virginia (20-8, 11-6 ACC).
In one stunning first-half stretch, the Cavaliers missed 22 of 23 attempts. Layups, mid-range jumpers, 3-pointers: Every shot imaginable, they missed.
Virginia’s Isaac McKneely with the ball in the University of Virginia vs. University North Carolina Men’s Basketball Game at John Paul Jones Arena on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024.
The lone bucket in that gruesome stretch? Blake Buchanan’s uncontested dunk.
Were Saturday an isolated hiccup, only alarmists would fret. But since an 80-76 victory at Florida State two weeks ago, the team’s eighth straight, Virginia is 1-3.
The win in that span, 49-47 over Wake Forest? Even that bordered on unwatchable.
Two days later at Virginia Tech, UVa lost 75-41, its most-lopsided conference loss since a 99-54 shellacking at North Carolina in 2006.
Here’s how bad the Cavaliers were in Blacksburg: Their offensive efficiency of .66 points per possession was their worst since a 65-39 loss to Florida in the second round of the 2017 NCAA tournament, where they averaged .65 points per possession.
Moreover, they lagged defensively as Virginia Tech scored 1.21 points per possession, UVa’s third-worst defensive performance of the season.
Hey, if you’re going to faceplant, might as well do so at both ends of the floor and get it out of your system, right?
Teel: ACC coaches frustrated by NET and Big 12’s high rankings
Returning to John Paul Jones Arena figured to energize Virginia, and North Carolina’s woes here — eight consecutive setbacks — have been well-documented. But occasional lapses notwithstanding, the first-place Tar Heels (21-6, 13-3) are the ACC’s premier team.
They have the best blend of veteran and young talent, and they’re the lone conference squad ranked among Division I’s top 20 in adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency.
Guard RJ Davis is the prohibitive favorite to win ACC player-of-the-year honors, and center Armando Bacot (Trinity Episcopal) is a double-double machine. Thanks to Beekman, Jordan Minor and Bacot’s early foul trouble, the Cavaliers limited Davis (1 of 14 from the field) and Bacot to 22 points combined, but Ryan’s 18 points, on six made 3s, and Davis’ clutch free throws were more than enough to trump Virginia’s feeble offense (.73 points per possession).
Of the 10 Cavaliers who played, only Minor (5 of 9) made more than one-third of his shots as the Cavaliers scored fewer than 50 points for the third straight outing.
Only one other ACC team in the shot-clock era, Wake Forest in 1985-86, has scored fewer than 50 in three consecutive league games. And that was with a 45-second clock.
Those Deacons, by the way, finished 8-21, 0-14 in the ACC. Not good company for Virginia.
Opponents are “figuring some things out that are making it tough for us,” UVa coach Tony Bennett said.
Indeed, defenses are ganging up on the McKneely and Jacob Groves, the Cavaliers’ exceptional 3-point shooters, daring others to beat them. Since the Florida State victory, in which McKneely scored a career-high 29 points and Groves added 10 off the bench, McKneely is 5 of 19 from deep, and Groves has scored nine points.
Virginia has three regular-season games remaining: at Boston College on Wednesday, at Duke on Saturday and home against Georgia Tech the following Saturday. What it will take to secure an at-large NCAA bid hinges on many components, not the least of which is what transpires elsewhere around the country.
But this much is certain: Bennett and his staff must continue to search for ways not only to create better shots but also to restore the Cavaliers’ confidence.
Today in sports history: Feb. 23
1938: Joe Louis knocks out Nathan Mann in third round to defend his world heavyweight title
1938 — Joe Louis knocks out Nathan Mann in the third round to defend his world heavyweight title at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Heavyweight champion Joe Louis, during training on June 21, 1938, at his Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, training camp for his fight with Max Schmeling at the Yankee Stadium in New York on June 22. (AP Photo)
1960: Carol Heiss captures first gold medal for US in the Squaw Valley Winter Olympics.
1960 — Figure skater Carol Heiss captures the first gold medal for the U.S. in the Squaw Valley Winter Olympics.
Carol Heiss comes out of a spin during the figure skating competition of the VIII Winter Olympic Games at Squaw Valley, Ca. on Feb. 23, 1960. She won America’s first gold medal of the 1960 Winter Games. (AP Photo)
1968: Wilt Chamberlain becomes first player to score 25,000 points in NBA
1968 — Wilt Chamberlain becomes first player to score 25,000 points in the NBA.
Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia 76ers watches his 25,000th career point start through the hoop with 1:51 left on the score board in the second quarter of the basketball game with the Detroit Pistons in Philadelphia, Pa., Feb. 23, 1968. Chamberlain made the shot on a free throw. (AP Photo/Rusty Kennedy)
1980: Eric Heiden wins his fifth gold medal, shatters world record by six seconds
1980 — Eric Heiden wins his fifth gold medal and shatters the world record by six seconds in 10,000-meter speed skating at the Lake Placid Winter Olympics.
Eric Heiden, of Madison, Wis. speeds past banner waving fans,, Saturday, Feb. 23, 1980 as he is on way to a new world record in the 10,000 meter speed skating event, which he finished in 14:28.13. (AP Photo)
1985: Indiana coach Bob Knight ejected after throwing chair across court
1985 — Indiana coach Bob Knight is ejected five minutes into the Hoosiers’ 72-63 loss to Purdue when he throws a chair across the court. Knight, after two fouls called on his team, is hit with his first technical. While Purdue was shooting the technical, Knight picks up a chair from the bench area and throws it across the court, earning his second technical.
This Feb. 23, 1985, file photo shows Indiana coach Bob Knight winding up and pitching a chair across the floor during Indiana’s 72-63 loss to Purdue, in Bloomington, Ind. Knight and Ralph Sampson are among the eight members of the Class of 2011 of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
2006: Japan’s Shizuka Arakawa stuns favorites to win figure skating gold
2006 — Japan’s Shizuka Arakawa, the 2004 world champion, stuns favorites Sasha Cohen of the United States and Irina Slutskaya of Russia to claim the women’s figure skating gold medal at the Winter Olympics.
Shizuka Arakawa, of Japan, performs during the Women’s Free Skate in Turin, Italy during the Turin 2006 Winter Olympic Games on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2006. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)
2007: Tiger Woods’ PGA Tour winning streak comes to shocking end
2007 — Tiger Woods’ winning streak on the PGA Tour, which began in July, comes to a shocking end. Woods fails to notice a ball mark in the line of his 4-foot birdie putt that would have won his third-round match against Nick O’Hern. Woods misses, then loses in 20 holes when O’Hern saves par with a 12-foot putt at the Accenture Match Play Championship.
Tiger Woods reacts after missing a birdie putt on the sixth hole during his third round match against Nick O’Hern at the World Golf Championships Accenture Match Play Championship in Marana, Ariz., Friday Feb. 23, 2007. (AP Photo/Matt York)
2010: Dutch skater Sven Kramer loses gold medal when his coach sends him wrong way on changeover
2010 — Dutch skater Sven Kramer loses the gold medal at the Vancouver Olympics when his coach Gerard Kemkers sends him the wrong way on a changeover during the 25 laps of the 10,000-meter speedskating race. Kramer had not lost a 10,000 in three years.
Netherlands’s Sven Kramer throws his glasses away after being disqualified for he forgot to switch a lane during the men’s 10,000 meter speed skating race at the Richmond Olympic Oval at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2010. At right is his coach Gerard Kemkers. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
2012: National League MVP Ryan Braun’s 50-game suspension is overturned
2012 — National League MVP Ryan Braun’s 50-game suspension is overturned by baseball arbitrator Shyam Das, the first time a baseball player successfully challenged a drug-related penalty in a grievance.
This July 10. 2008 file photo shows Milwaukee Brewers’ Ryan Braun (8) celebrating with teammates after scoring a run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeff Hanisch, File)
2013: Ronda Rousey wins the UFC’s first women’s bout
2013 — Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche make history just by stepping into the UFC cage. Rousey wins the UFC’s first women’s bout, beating Carmouche on an armbar, her signature move, with 11 seconds left in the first round of their bantamweight title fight at UFC 157.
Ronda Rousey fights Liz Carmouche during their UFC 157 women’s bantamweight championship mixed martial arts match in Anaheim, Calif., Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013. Rousey won by tapout in the first round. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
2014: Jason Collins becomes first openly gay athlete in United States’ four major pro leagues
2014 — Jason Collins becomes the first openly gay athlete in the United States four major pro leagues, playing 10 scoreless minutes with two rebounds and five fouls in the Brooklyn Nets’ 108-102 victory of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Brooklyn Nets center Jason Collins looks on from the bench during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2014, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
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