McKneely's Threes Extend Virginia's Win Streak to Eight

Despite the high scoring affair, last night’s game felt like UVA teams of the late 2010s: In search of a win to put at the top of their tournament resume, Florida State (13-10, 7-5) gave the Cavaliers their best shot. UVA wasn’t necessarily dominating the entire time, but maintained control throughout, never giving away the lead after just four minutes of play. Behind Isaac McKneely’s career high 28 and Reece Beekman’s career best 21 points, the ‘Hoos absorbed the Seminoles’ late punches, made clutch baskets, and held on for another quality road victory.

College basketball pundits and the NET rankings will lead you to believe a win on the road against Leonard Hamilton’s group is nothing to hang your hat on. Virginia moved up just two spots in the NET after this victory from 34 to 32. But in my opinion, this game had “trap” written all over it.

From what I could tell watching on TV, the stadium wasn’t exactly raucous like the confines of other ACC foes, but Florida State’s athletic, fast, substitution-heavy style of play has given Tony fits over the years. The game plan for the Seminoles was to get up and down the court quickly and attack the basket, getting UVA’s tight personnel rotation into foul trouble and forcing us to play our slow, methodical style of basketball while trying to make up a deficit. And it almost worked. Our big men Jordan Minor and Ryan Dunn picked up their third fouls with nearly an entire second half to play with UVA claiming a narrow lead, testing our front court depth the rest of the way.

Here’s where Blake Buchanan deserves some recognition, and at least from me, an apology. Up until this 8-game win streak, I believed the Freshman from Idaho wasn’t ready for ACC competition. He looked a little out of whack and in over his head at times, but then again so did I as a Freshman in college, and I was just a NARP (a non-athletic regular person).

Buchanan has been key to this team reaching its potential. From the onset of the season, casual fans and coaches knew that front court size, skill, and depth were potential pain points for this year’s team. Ever since we turned to Jordan Minor to lead us down low, Buchanan has played really well coming off the bench in key moments, stepping in for Minor and Dunn when foul trouble or fatigue get in the way. Buchanan finished with 24 minutes, the most off the bench and double Minor’s 12.

The headline from this game is undoubtedly McKneely’s career performance on 8-12 shooting from the field and 5-7 from behind the arc. The West Virginia native’s offensive surge along with Beekman’s steady production and Jacob Groves’ hot hand have been central to this 8-game win streak. Buchanan’s contributions might not make as much noise on the stat sheet, but the Freshman’s ability to play 20+ minutes and hold his own defensively while maintaining an offensive presence has been essential for this team to do what it’s done so far.

Looking ahead to Tuesday, the ‘Hoos host a hot Pitt team that’s particularly good on the road. The Panthers are winners of 5 of their last 6 including wins at Duke and NC State.