Five takeaways from Virginia basketball’s 26-point win over Holy Cross

The Virginia Cavaliers defeated the Holy Cross Crusaders 67-41 on Black Friday to move to 5-2 in the Ron Sanchez era. With Tony Bennett back for the first time since retirement, the ‘Hoos cruised to an easy victory.

After the win, we have five takeaways for the Cavaliers ahead of a tough week of competition.

Andrew Rohde and Dai Dai Ames continue to provide offensive contributions

Dai Dai Ames and Andrew Rohde have had intriguing starts to the 2024-25 season, from battling for the starting point guard spot to co-leading the Wahoo offense.

On Friday, Ames led the Cavaliers with 16 points on 6-for-9 shooting from the field, including a 2-for-2 mark from downtown. He’s a jitterbug who kept getting on offense against a Holy Cross defense that struggled to contain him. In his seven games for the Cavaliers, he was the epitome of a three-level scorer.

Rohde had a similarly effective appearance on Black Friday. He scored 13 points (5 of 8 on field goal attempts, 3 of 5 on three) and 3 assists. Virginia used him in the post for stops against Holy Cross, where he made good use of his combination of size and vision on the field to generate good offense.

Rohde (50%) and Ames (52.9%) have excelled as shooters this season, hitting triples at a rate 24.3% and 20% higher, respectively, than last year. Given the performance of several other UVA shooters thus far, their relatively unexpected performance was a significant development for the Wahoo offense.

When shooting in advance there is a risk that UVA radiation can spread across the ground

A post-Thanksgiving game against a bad mid-major isn’t the best overview of a team. But some of the performances from Virginia’s bigs on Friday and in recent games call into question some of the core tenets of this Wahoo team.

Elijah Saunders was noticeably inefficient on offense. The 6-foot-8 forward is shooting 31.2% from three-point range (versus 33.1% last season) and just 45.5% from two-point range (versus 57.7% last year). . Against the Crusaders, he missed several balls and finished the game 4-of-11 from the floor and 1-of-4 from three games.

Saunders needs to improve, especially around the basket. But his difficulty shooting the ball from deep alongside Jacob Cofie (27.8%) and TJ Power (26.3%) calls into question how well Virginia will be able to play with four or sometimes five players against real competition to be on the field.

Saunders and Power (if he continues to see consistent playing time) appear to be due for a return to the mean that defines their goalscoring tradition. Meanwhile, Cofie appears to be in the midst of a cold streak in his first season of college basketball. If these three don’t improve as shooters, the advantage Virginia’s offense has behind the arc will diminish significantly.

UVA should provide more opportunities for young talent

In games against teams like Holy Cross and Manhattan, Virginia should really give freshmen Ishan Sharma and Anthony Robinson more run.

Sharma played 10 minutes against the Crusaders and recorded four assists and four rebounds. Although his greatest strength – outside shooting – has been slow to emerge in his first season, he is a solid cog that fits into the offense and defense rotation.

In blowouts, he should get more reps, more shots and more time to adjust to college basketball because he could be a valuable part of the Wahoo rotation this season.

Likewise, Robinson is Virginia’s only true center other than Blake Buchanan. He came into the game along with substitutes Bryce Walker and Desmond Roberts with 2:16 left. Interim coach Ron Sanchez dropped him in the game against St. John’s but otherwise limited his actual playing time. His size and physicality could be a necessity for the ‘Hoos in conference play if Buchanan has to miss time due to foul trouble or injury.

Neither Sharma nor Robinson will make or break UVA’s 2024-25 season. And given the youth and inexperience of this team, it makes sense to play additional minutes for the starters and true substitutes on the bench. But it’s far too early in the season against such competition not to throw Robinson and Sharma into the fire more often.

Matchups against Florida and SMU ensure a return to reality next week

After home wins against Manhattan and Holy Cross this Thanksgiving week, the ‘Hoos will head south next week for their first road tests of the season against No. 18 Florida (Wednesday) and SMU (Saturday).

Staying competitive against undefeated Florida in Gainesville would be an achievement, while a win over the Mustangs in Dallas would provide a valuable 1-0 start to Virginia’s ACC schedule.

More broadly, these two contests are crucial to the Cavaliers’ development following their two embarrassing defeats in the Bahamas. Avoiding similar results to Baha Mar will be crucial for both the team’s morale and its potential this season.

Virginia’s new retro look should be the standard home uniform

Listen, a blowout Black Friday win against a bad Patriot League team doesn’t leave much to analyze.

What flashed Friday night was UVA’s new throwback uniform. The orange influence on the numbering and lettering of the jersey, around the neckline and sleeves, and on the trim of the shorts is beautiful. Also the old-fashioned “V” logo on the shorts and the cursive “Cavaliers” on the chest.

On Wednesday, after this new look was released, assistant athletics director Tyler Jones tweeted that “there’s more to come.”

Virginia’s fan base has advocated for orange jerseys for more than a decade. The Dec. 18 game against Memphis is listed as an “Orange Out” game. Could the Hoos unveil another retro orange look in a few weeks?

Regardless of whether that happens or not, these white throwbacks should be Virginia’s primary home jersey this season. If that’s not the case, this uniform should at least be in the rotation consistently. Sure, it’s a little silly to get so caught up in the jerseys the Hoos wear. But that’s sport – it’s supposed to be fun! So it’s cool to see the Wahoo program embracing entertainment fans in a sweet new uniform.