Five Takeaways From Virginia Basketball's 83-75 Win at Wake Forest

Matt Newton | Mar 1, 2025

Virginia Athletics

Virginia (14-14, 7-10 ACC) earned a big-time 83-75 road win and handed an even more consequential loss to Wake Forest (19-9, 11-6 ACC) on Wednesday night at LJVM Coliseum in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Let's break down some key takeaways from UVA's victory over the Demon Deacons.

Isaac McKneely is red-hot and cold-blooded

The junior sharpshooter has had some incredible games in his time at Virginia, but this one is in consideration for the most impressive one considering his efficiency. McKneely finished with a season-high 27 points, just two points shy of his career-high of 29 points set against Florida State last season, on a hyper-efficient 10/14 shooting from the floor and 4/7 from beyond the arc. He also dished out five assists and came up with two steals and led the Cavaliers with a +/- of +8 in 37 minutes on the floor. Most importantly, McKneely hit his jumpers at the most critical moments: a three late in the first half when Wake had trimmed the lead to five points, an and-one early in the second half when the Deacs had come out of the gates hot, and a huge three to push the UVA lead back to seven points after Wake had cut it to two points. McKneely made a play whenever Virginia needed it most.

UVA's ball security > Wake's ball hawking

A core aspect of Wake Forest's defense is forcing turnovers. The Demon Deacons came into Wednesday's game ranked second in the ACC in forced turnovers and fourth in steals. Wake's opponents had committed double-digit turnovers in 23 of 27 games this season and 13 of 16 ACC matchups. Well, Virginia turned the ball over just three times in the first half and eight times in the entire game and the Deacs scored just four points off of turnovers. Removing that crutch from Wake's defensive game plan, Virginia proceeded to decimate the Wake Forest defense to the tune of a season-high 83 points.

Read Val's Plus/Minus breakdown of the game here.

Virginia wins in a shootout

UVA's defense hasn't been up to par this season; that much is undeniable. That means that the Cavaliers have had to win games by just outgunning their opponents in unusually high-scoring games and it hasn't worked well for them. It worked well this time. In addition to McKneely's game-high 27 points, three other Cavaliers scored in double figures and the Hoos shot 55.8% from the floor and 10/22 from three-point range as a team. UVA improved to 7-2 on the season when making at least 10 threes. Andrew Rohde scored 13 points on 5/8 shooting and recorded three assists, Dai Dai Ames had 14 points and three assists, and Jacob Cofie had 12 points and went 8/10 from the charity stripe. Virginia scored an impressive 1.297 points per possession, had 16 assists on 29 made baskets, and consistently generated quality looks regardless of whether Wake Forest was showing a zone or man-to-man defense. It was a good thing the Cavaliers kept it up on the offensive end because...

UVA gets foul-heavy on defense, can't defend the paint, and sorely misses Anthony Robinson

Only Andrew Rohde has improved more within this season than Anthony Robinson, who has provided essential physicality and interior strength that UVA's other bigs just don't have. Robinson missed the game against Wake with a foot injury and Virginia missed him dearly. All of the Cavalier bigs got into foul trouble, with Blake Buchanan, Elijah Saunders, and Jacob Cofie each finishing the game with four fouls. Wake's seven-footer Efton Reid had 12 points and 10 rebounds and was responsible for many of those fouls. UVA's interior defense was porous, as Wake scored a staggering 52 points in the paint with Cam Hildreth (22 points) and Hunter Sallis (25 points) getting to the paint at will. Had the Deacs been able to knock down a perimeter shot (2/14 from three-point range), this game might have turned out differently. But credit to the UVA coaching staff for managing their way through the game with the front court foul trouble and credit to the Cavaliers for keeping their foot on the gas on the offensive end to secure their most impressive victory of the season.

Virginia an ACC killer?

A little over three weeks ago, Virginia went into Pitt and manhandled a Panthers squad that was desperate for a win in order to cling to their now crushed NCAA Tournament hopes. Well, UVA might have just burst the tournament bubble of another ACC team, as Wake Forest came into this game as the very last team in Joe Lunardi's latest ESPN Bracketology projections. Now, the Deacs will undoubtedly be on the outside looking in and will need to win out and pull a stunning upset over No. 2 Duke in Cameron next Monday in order to get themselves back in consideration for an at-large bid. The Cavaliers, meanwhile, are now 7-10 in ACC play, tied for 9th with four other teams in the conference standings, and are closer to earning a first round bye in the ACC Tournament than they are to missing the ACC Tournament altogether, which was beginning to be a concern again after the two losses to Duke and UNC.

Up next, Virginia returns home for Senior Day, hosting No. 13 Clemson on Saturday in Charlottesville. Tipoff from John Paul Jones Arena is set for 12pm ET and the game will be televised on ESPN2.

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