Virginia at Clemson Basketball Preview
By Josh Burton
After a 65-53 victory over Notre Dame to end January, the University of Virginia Men’s Basketball team now sits at 16-5 (7-3 in ACC play) and looks to carry its momentum into a tougher February schedule. UVA will travel to Clemson Saturday to take on the Tigers in a major conference game. This game is scheduled for a 2 pm EST tip and will air on ESPN.
About Clemson
The Clemson University Tigers are led by head coach Brad Brownell. Brownell is in his 14th season at Clemson and has a career 422-268 coaching record. This season the Tigers are 14-6 (4-5 in the ACC) and spent over a month ranked within the top 25 spanning from early December to mid January. Earlier this week, Clemson defeated Louisville 70-64.
Clemson is a veteran team, with five of their ten players who average double digit minutes being Seniors. Their starting line-up is as follows:
PG - Joseph Girard III (6’2” Covid-year Senior, Syracuse transfer) Averages 14.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game while hitting 41.2% from three
G - Chase Hunter (6’4” Covid-year Senior) Averages 12 points per game
F - Ian Schieffelin (6’8” Junior) Averages 9.3 points and 9.6 rebounds per game
F - Chauncey Wiggins (6’10” Sophomore) Averages 7.2 points and 3 rebounds per game
C - PJ Hall (6’10” Senior) Averages 19.9 points and 7.1 rebounds per game
Stopping Hall
A lot of Clemson's early success was due to the very high level of play of their senior captain PJ Hall. He has been playing at an All-American level and is the type of player UVA has struggled with this season as he is not only a very good scorer inside but can step out and hit the three. Luckily for the Wahoos, the emergence of Jordan Minor has helped to neutralize the issues they faced earlier in the season against talented big men. A strong performance from Jordan along with the continued steady play of first-year Blake Buchanan will be crucial for the Cavaliers to have success this weekend.
What a difference a month makes for the UVA big situation.
— Preston Willett (@PrestonWillett) January 27, 2024
Jordan Minor and Blake Buchanan really finding their fit on both ends.
But Hall isn’t the only skilled big man UVA will have to deal with, as the Tigers play four players over 6’7” who average at least one assist per game. This could cause problems for using a post double that Virginia’s packline defense is known for, and if the double is deployed rotations will have to be crisp.
Keep Shooting
The Hoos are coming off of one of their better shooting performances on the season, as they hit 13 threes at a 52% clip on Wednesday against Notre Dame. Jake Groves was a major key to this success from deep, as he connected on six of eight attempts to finish with 18 points on the night. Reece Beekman also had a huge night as he went four for seven from outside in part of a 21 point and 8 rebound performance.
Virginia chose to go with a more offensively capable lineup for much of the night, as both Jake and Taine Murray played over twenty minutes off the bench each while Isaac McKneely was also in the game for over thirty minutes. Spacing the floor with more capable shooters led to Reece Beekman's highest usage of the season as he was consistently picking the Irish defense apart to set up good looks for both himself and his teammates. Locker Room Access forum member Rushdacote pointed out that Reece assists on 43.6% of teammates’ made baskets, which is #1 in the entire country.
Although these types of lineups require more out of Reece as both a scorer and facilitator, they have shown to produce very good offense for the Wahoos. Look for the team to continue to experiment with the scoring-friendly lineups they have been using as of late.
Quick Turnaround
There will be no rest for the weary as the Cavs will head back to Charlottesville to host Miami on Monday night (2/5). Locker Room Access coverage of the game will begin at 6:30!
(Featured Image Credit: Catherine Goodrum/UVA Athletics)