Virginia Uses Dominant 1st Half to Crush Louisville for Fourth-Straight Win

The Cavaliers built a lead as large as 30 points in the first half and cruised past the Cardinals for their fourth-straight victory

Virginia didn't need everything to go its way in order to win on Saturday in Louisville. But almost everything did. 

In the midst of a near-perfect first half for the Cavaliers, Jordan Minor got the ball under the basket but lost it on the way up, unintentionally throwing a perfect lob to Ryan Dunn for a slam dunk. Dunn, who has struggled quite a bit from the free throw line this season, later went to the charity stripe and banked in the first foul shot and had the second bounce on the rim three times before falling through. 

Those were a couple of plays where UVA got a lucky bounce. But make no mistake, this was a game in which the Cavaliers should have thoroughly dominated their opponent and, for the first time on the road this season, they did just that. Virginia (15-5, 5-3 ACC) built a lead as large as 30 points in the first half and cruised to a 69-52 victory over Louisville (6-14, 1-8 ACC) on Saturday afternoon at the KFC Yum! Center. 

Having easily dispatched Louisville by 24 points in the first meeting even when Virginia was going through a stretch of subpar basketball, this one certainly had the potential to get out of hand as the Cavaliers came in riding a three-game winning streak. It took UVA no time at all to seize control of the game, holding Louisville scoreless for the first five minutes of the contest, making its first five shots, and jumping out to an 11-0 lead. 

Louisville didn't score until five minutes and 45 seconds into the game and didn't make its first shot until almost eight minutes had elapsed. The Cardinals temporarily clawed back into the game as the Cavaliers endured a cold shooting spell, allowing Louisville to get back within seven on a three-pointer from Tre White. 

But that was the last time the Cardinals sniffed anywhere near the Cavaliers, as they failed to make another shot for nearly 10 minutes of game time. During that stretch, Virginia strung together a 22-2 run to essentially end the game well before halftime. 

UVA shot 16/28 (57.1%) from the floor in the first half and 4/9 from three, with two of those three-pointers coming from Andrew Rohde, who had six points, three assists, and two steals in the first half. Reece Beekman had seven points, five assists, and four steals and Ryan Dunn nearly had a double-double before halftime, tallying 12 points on 5/5 shooting and eight rebounds. Louisville meanwhile, made just four shots in the first half and was held to 13 points, the program's lowest single-half point total in 85 years. 

The second half was nothing to write home about for Virginia, and Louisville outscored UVA by 11 after halftime, including a last-minute 6-0 run by the Cards with the end of the Cavalier bench in the game, but the lead was never in doubt as Virginia cruised to a very comfortable 17-point win. 

Ryan Dunn recorded a new career-high 19 points on 8/10 shooting and also had 11 rebounds, two blocks, and an assist. Dunn was the only player in double figures, but three other UVA players scored nine points and 10 different Cavaliers scored in the game. Reece Beekman had another excellent all-around game with nine points, nine assists, five steals, and a block. Isaac McKneely and Jake Groves each made three three-pointers. 

Virginia finished the game exactly 50% from the floor and 8/17 (47.1%) from beyond the arc. UVA scored 24 points off of 18 Louisville turnovers and outscored Louisville 30-18 in the paint. The Cavaliers had 14 steals as a team. 

Beating a six-win Louisville team was never going to be impressive, but the Cavaliers ought to be pleased that they brought their A-game with them on the road and put the game away early on. 

Up next, Virginia returns home to take on Notre Dame on Wednesday at 7pm on ESPN2. 

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