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The Plus/Minus: Virginia Holds Serve, Defeats Notre Dame

Virginia avenged a brutal loss to Notre Dame, knocking off the Fighting Irish 65-53

Val Prochaska

The Plus/Minus: Virginia Holds Serve, Defeats Notre Dame
The Plus/Minus: Virginia Holds Serve, Defeats Notre Dame /
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Virginia extended its winning streak to five games an avenged an earlier loss to the Fighting Irish with a 65-53 victory over Notre Dame on Wednesday night at John Paul Jones Arena. Val has the Plus/Minus to break down what we saw from the Cavaliers in the win.

Plus

A win is a win is a win, as the Cavaliers led from the opening possession off an Isaac McKneely 3. With the win, a Virginia team that many left for dead after losses to Notre Dame, NC State and Wake Forest, sits third in the ACC standings with a 7-3 conference record… and the nation’s longest home winning streak for good measure.

Plus

Jacob Groves.

On a night that both teams would scorch the nets from deep, Groves was a class unto himself. He made his first four attempts, was 5/6 at the half, and finished 6/8 overall. Groves, who entered the game having scored just 14 points in his previous three games, had 15 at the break. Groves is now connecting at a 48.4% rate from beyond the arc. This is what he was brought here to do, to be that complement to McKneely. Jordan Minor’s emergence has brought balance to the Cavaliers, and on this night, Groves was the beneficiary.

Plus

Groves. Again. He’s become a much better defender. Starting out the season’s first 10 games as the 5 was a big ask. He is most definitely not a rim-protector and he’s been an average rebounder over his career, but he has learned how to move his feet and body up bigger and stronger low post players. He can hold his own in the paint and harry at the rim. He also grabbed four rebounds – all in traffic – in just 22 minutes.

Plus

Virginia won this game from behind the arc shooting 13/25 which is a season high. Groves (6/8), Reece Beekman (4/7), and McKneely (3/5) led the way and the shooting was timely. McKneely got it started on Virginia’s first possession and then hit at the half time buzzer for good measure. 

Groves got his first three 30 seconds after checking in and notched his second about a minute later. Beekman atoned for a pair of second half back-to-back turnovers by hitting his third three of the night.

Virginia had to be this good because Notre Dame put on a show from deep as well, going 9/18. Son-of-the-coach Braeden Shrewsberry was the star going 4/8 as five other players converted threes. Virginia is fifth in the ACC defending the three, but Notre Dame has lit them up, going 20/41 in their two games.

Minus

Andrew Rohde’s confidence is shot. He still got the start – as he has 20 out of 21 games this year – but on three separate occasions, late in the shot clock, he passed up open threes forcing Beekman and McKneely to have to hoist much more contested shots. I appreciate that he’s trying to play within himself, but he’s struggling right now. I think he might be better served coming off the bench and finding his flow in a game already in progression.

Plus

Because that is the formula that is working for Taine Murray right now. Murray is playing with confidence and he’s a jolt of energy off the bench. Murray seems to be able to score his points in bunches, which is a requisite for any bench player. (See: Groves, Jacob.) In the middle of the second half, Notre Dame was trying to get back into the game, and on three successive possessions, the Irish hit threes. Murray responded with a pair of driving pull-ups in the lane. 

Those two buckets kept the spread to 10 points before Groves’ final three of the night effectively ended the game. I thought that Murray was going to be an afterthought this season, content to sit at the end of the bench as he got his Darden education. He proved me wrong.

More:  Matt's got the full game report here.

Plus

Here’s the game highlights. But the best one is missing. Ryan Dunn, who is leading the ACC in blocked shots, had a pair in the first five minutes of the game. At one point, Notre Dame’s Logan Imes had a seemingly makeable 1 v 1 fast break, but he heard footsteps. Dunn’s footsteps. He stopped (travelled really) and pulled the ball out. Notre Dame didn’t score on the possession.

To Be Determined

Here’s hoping Micah Shrewsberry can keep his freshman together for a long run. Braeden is a keeper and Markus Burton is the real deal. He forced three Beekman turnovers on four Virginia possessions and scored 17 points on 6/10 shooting all while being defended by Beekman. That takes some doing.

Plus

Let’s see how the Virginia road to redemption is doing. Win on the road. Check. Avenge losses to NC State and now Notre Dame. Check. Win five in a row. Check. February is going to be a tougher month than was January. Next up is a visit to Clemson. Clemson is 10th in the ACC at 4-5 but the Tigers are 13 spots ahead of the Cavaliers in the NCAA’s NET ratings, the crucial metric that determines which schools make it to the Big Dance. Wins over Notre Dame and Louisville are better than, you know, losses, but Virginia has to start racking up the quality wins. Saturday is the first opportunity. Game time is 2pm and the game is on ESPN.

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Published
Val Prochaska
VAL PROCHASKA

Val graduated from the University of Virginia in the last millennium, back when writing one's senior thesis by hand was still a thing. He is a lifelong fan of the ACC, having chosen the Tobacco Road conference ahead of the Big East. Again, when that was still a thing. Val has covered Virginia men's basketball for seven years, first with HoosPlace and then with StreakingTheLawn, before joining us here at Virginia Cavaliers on SI in August of 2023, continuing to cover UVA men's basketball and also writing about women's soccer and women's basketball.

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