In like a lamb, out like a lion. It's usually a saying in reverse that comes up in March, but the Virginia basketball team applied the old adage to its December exam break instead.
After a disappointing 52-49 loss at James Madison entering the break, the Cavaliers returned to action Saturday with a dominant 82-49 win against Fairleigh Dickinson. The two games essentially ended up as polar opposites offensively as UVA nearly doubled numerous categories in the lopsided win. The Hoos shot 38% against the Dukes and then scorched the Knights at 61.8%. They made only 15.4% of their 3-pointers at JMU, but knocked down 52.9% at the JPJ. The assists jumped from 11 to 21.
Obviously, the opponents provided vastly different challenges - James Madison is currently 9-2 on the season, while Fairleigh Dickinson fell to 0-10 with the loss - but Virginia was pleased to get back on track before ACC play restarts with Clemson on Wednesday.
"We played solid basketball. We really had I think a solid, good whatever 10 days, 11 days ... how we went about this longer break," UVA coach Tony Bennett said. "I saw some carry-over and some things that stuck that we really emphasized. It's not what you teach, it's what you emphasize as the saying goes and I saw that on both ends of the floor. That's going to be important for us. We were I thought pretty efficient, purposeful, intentional in how we trained in this period over this exam break and now we have to keep chasing improvement and keep enjoying each other through the ups and downs."
"After that JMU loss, I feel like we just came together," Cavalier guard Reece Beekman said. "This last week of practice, we've been locked in, more focused, just doing the little things that we know can help us win. I definitely feel like this game can be a confidence booster."
The Knights put up little resistance defensively for much of the contest with neither man nor zone schemes slowing down the Wahoos for long. The hosts put together a sizzling stretch that bridged the halves. Still leading by single digits in the final five minutes of the first half, UVA proceeded to unleash a 22-4 run behind 11-15 shooting that broke the game open.
Armaan Franklin and Jayden Gardner figured heavily into the outburst. Franklin started the run with fastbreak layup and a pull-up jumper, but the eye-catching moment for him came in the second half. That's because he knocked down a corner 3-pointer early in the second half after struggling through an 0-21 slump across multiple games. Franklin finished with 12 points on 5-8 shooting with 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 rebound.
Gardner stole the show overall, though, and he had a big hand in the decisive stretch as well. After Franklin started the surge with his two buckets, Gardner added two layups to end the half with a 34-19 lead. He then added three more buckets in the paint and a free throw to start the second half as part of a personal 11-point flurry. That encapsulated what his entire afternoon looked like for the Hoos.
The senior forward finished with 29 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 blocked shot. He made 14 of 18 shots against an FD defense that had no solution for his physicality or quick first move. Kihei Clark and Reece Beekman did a lot of the passing with 5 and 6 assists respectively, while Kody Stattmann and Malachi Poindexter chipped in 3 helpers each too.
"Teammates setting me up tonight, me finding spots, emphasis to get the ball inside tonight was key," Gardner said. "Just stuff we worked on in practice carried over so just got to keep it going."
"As far as the game is concerned, I though we competed well and hung for a while but then one man took the game over," FD coach Greg Herenda said. "Jayden Gardner literally looked like he had a cape on today. He was unstoppable on all levels all day and really set the tone midway during the first half."
Throw in a solid defensive effort and that offensive mismatch was too much to overcome. The visitors managed just 28.8% shooting in the game (17-59) and committed 15 turnovers to boot. UVA forced three shot clock violations in the win. They scored 13 second chance points on 15 offensive rebounds to help boost their final total, but that wasn't nearly enough.
Things continued to get more lopsided when Virginia's bench got involved in the second half. After not playing before intermission, Igor Milicic Jr., Carson McCorkle, and Taine Murray all came into the game and knocked down 3-pointers. So did Poindexter, who made a brief appearance in the first half, but scored all of his point in the second half. Milicic and McCorkle each made 3 of 4 attempts beyond the arc, while Murray and Poindexter each made their only attempt. That quartet fueled the majority of the long-range offense as the Hoos made 9 of 17 triples in the game. Other than two shorter shots from Poindexter, all of the points from the group came from 3-point territory in fact. McCorkle set a career-high with 9 points and Poindexter did the same with 7 points. Milicic had 9 as well, while Murray had 3.
Bennett said playing well in that time on the floor was important for the bench as the Cavaliers continue to figure out the best mix for this year's team.
"All those guys, I tell them how important it is," Bennett said. "I told them, I said, I really like what you guys are doing out here offensively, you're playing free and knocking down shots. I said but I think defensively, we can't have a drop-off or we need lifts. This is part of that learning process for all of these guys, a lot of our players that have not played ... extensive minutes in this. Igor, Carson, Taine, Kody, Malachi, you can't always play them all but they're in play so that's important."
With non-conference play complete, any more discoveries for this squad will come within conference play. Virginia hosts Clemson on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. before another mini-break through the end of 2021. The Cavaliers then open 2022 with three games in the first eight days at Syracuse, Clemson, and North Carolina.
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