Virginia vs. Morgan State Game Preview, Score Prediction

The Cavaliers return home to wrap up non-conference play against Morgan State on Wednesday at John Paul Jones Arena

A week after its humbling loss at Memphis, Virginia returns to the court hoping to end non-conference play on a high note as Morgan State comes to Charlottesville on Wednesday night. 

Read on for a full preview of Virginia vs. Morgan State, including game details and notes, an opponent scouting report, what to watch for, and a prediction for Wednesday's matchup. 

Game Details

Who: Virginia Cavaliers (9-2) vs. Morgan State Bears (4-10)

When: Wednesday, December 27th at 7pm ET

Where: John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia

How to watch: ACC Network

How to stream: fuboTV (Start your free trial)

How to listen: SiriusXM 381, SXM App 971 | Virginia Sports Radio Network - click here for affiliates

All-time series: Virginia leads 4-0

Last meeting: Virginia defeated Morgan State 83-45 on December 3rd, 2018

Game Notes

• Virginia owns a 4-0 record vs. Morgan State in the all-time series that dates back to 2006. 
• UVA is 3-0 against Morgan State under Tony Bennett
• Virginia has scored at least 83 points in each of the four meetings with Morgan State and has held the Bears under 50 points in the last two games. 
• Virginia is 22-0 all-time against current members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, including 15-0 under Tony Bennett. 
• This is the second MEAC opponent UVA is facing this season, having defeated NC Central 77-47 on December 5th.

Opponent Scouting Report: Morgan State

2022-2023: 15-16, 7-7 MEAC
2023-2024: 4-10

Virginia's final non-conference game of the season is, to put it nicely, the definition of a tune-up game. Morgan State is a struggling program, having not been to the NCAA Tournament since 2010 and well on its way to a third-consecutive sub-.500 season. The Bears opened the season by giving up 122 points in a 63-point loss to Arizona. UVA isn't as good as Arizona and that gap is significant right now, but this should still be very manageable game for the Cavaliers. 

Morgan State dropped to 4-10 on the season with a 14-point loss to JMU on Friday and is now ranked No. 343 on KenPom (out of 362 teams) with adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency ranking in the 300s. The only metric Morgan State ranks highly in is tempo, as the Bears play at the 41st-fastest tempo in the country. Of course, Virginia ranks second to last in Division I in adjusted tempo and the game plan for the Cavaliers will be to slow the game down and prevent the Bears from getting any opportunities in transition. 

Morgan State's leading scorer is 6'2" senior guard Wynston Tabbs, averaging 16.4 points per game and shooting 34.6% from three. But Tabbs has missed the last three games with an injury and it's unclear if the Bears will get him back for Wednesday's game at Virginia. 

Three other Morgan State players are averaging double figures, including 6'0" sophomore guard Rob Lawson, who missed the first 12 games of the season, but returned for the last two games and is averaging 12.5 points and 3.5 assists per game so far. He's joined in the backcourt by 5'10" senior guard Kamron Hobbs and 6'5" senior guard Will Thomas. Hobbs is averaging 10.1 points and 4.1 assists per game and shooting just a touch under 40% from beyond the arc this season. Thomas has been in and out of the starting lineup and is averaging 10.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. 

Amahrie Simpkins, a 6'4" junior guard, has also been in and out of the starting rotation and is averaging 9.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. Virginia will need to keep an eye on Christian Oliver, a 7'0" center who is currently shooting 40.9% from three and averaging 7.8 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. The Bears have 13 players averaging double-digit minutes, so expect to see Morgan State employ a deep bench on Wednesday. 

What to Watch For

Shake off the rust.

Last time Virginia came off of a lengthy break, the Cavaliers went down 16-4 to Northeastern and just barely managed to come away with a two-point win at home, foreshadowing UVA's disappointingly lopsided loss at Memphis a few days later. Now eight days removed from that defeat in Memphis, Virginia cannot use rustiness as an excuse for not coming out of the gates with an edge and focus to take care of business early on against Morgan State. 

Taking care of the basketball.

The biggest problem in Virginia's loss to Memphis was ball security, as the Tigers scored 27 points off of a season-high 18 UVA turnovers. For a team that came into that game ranked No. 2 in college basketball in fewest turnovers, it was a shocking sight to see the Cavaliers cough the ball up so many times. Taking care of the ball against Morgan State shouldn't be as difficult or as impressive of a feat, but is critical if the Hoos want to get back to playing Virginia basketball. 

Final tune-up before bulk of ACC play begins.

The loss to Memphis showed the Cavaliers that they had quite a few areas of concern to address. They won't be able to answer all of those questions in one game against Morgan State, but it's imperative that Virginia look more like the team that smothered Texas A&M and buried Syracuse so as to rebuild some of that lost confidence with the bulk of ACC play on the near horizon. 

Prediction

Virginia has been solid at home and excellent against non-major conference opponents. That trend continues for the Cavaliers in their non-conference finale. 

Score prediction: Virginia 75, Morgan State 53

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