Virginia Set for Road Test at Memphis
By Josh Burton
Coming off an underwhelming 56-54 victory over Northeastern on Saturday, the University of Virginia Men’s Basketball team is 9-1 and now turns its attention to the home of Blues and Rock & Roll. In their first true away game of the season, the Wahoos face Memphis on Tuesday night (12/19). This game is set to tip at 7 PM EST and will air on ESPN2.
About Memphis
The University of Memphis Tigers of the American Athletic Conference are led by 6th-year head coach Penny Hardaway. Penny has amassed a 119-54 record overall, going 8-2 so far this season. Memphis is coming off a huge week in which they beat Texas A&M in College Station and then took down Clemson in Memphis. Their two losses on the year were to Villanova in the Battle for Atlantis, and then a narrow loss at Ole Miss in the next contest.
Lining Up
Memphis has ten players averaging double digit minutes, with four players playing over 26 minutes apiece and the other six all in the teens. They like to start a big lineup, playing four forwards next to their point guard and then subbing in guards. Following the back to back losses, Memphis changed starting lineups and seems to have settled on it. They start:
PG - Jahvon Quinerly (6’1” Covid-year Senior) Averages 13.7 points, 4.9 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game
F - David Jones (6’6” Senior) Averages a team leading 20.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game
F - Ashton Hardaway (6’8” Freshman) Plays 12 minutes per game
F - Nick Jourdain (6’9” Junior) Averages 6 points and 3.9 rebounds per game
F - Malcolm Dandridge (6’9” Senior) Averages 5.8 points and 4.3 rebounds per game
Dealing with Length
Memphis is a long and athletic team. Matching up with this group could prove difficult, especially being its the first true road game of the season for our Wahoos. Hopefully the Cavaliers were just shaking off the rust of the exam break and will be ready for the task at hand.
In this contest, the only obvious matchup is Reece Beekman on Quinerly. You may remember Quinerly from his high school recruiting days. Virginia heavily pursued him in the 2018 class before later discovering Kihei Clark. Quinerly has been the piece that makes the Memphis offense go, so it’ll be up to Reece to keep their offense out of rhythm.
David Jones should be the biggest problem. He's proven capable of scoring from all three levels this season. The transfer from St. John's is shooting 38.5% from three-point range (on over six attempts per game), despite never topping 30% in his three prior college seasons. Andrew Rohde or Isaac McKneely will likely draw the defensive assignment to start, but Ryan Dunn could be called upon as the game goes on. Throwing different looks at great scorers is often good to keep them from getting into a rhythm, and this is a matchup that may require it.
The good news for the Hoos is that this goes back to being a more evenly sized matchup when the subs start to come in. 6'5" guard Caleb Mills and 6' 7” guard Jaykwon Walton play starter minutes off the bench, averaging over 9 points apiece.
Coming off the Bench
My biggest concern for this game is that Jake Groves could struggle to match up. If he’s not knocking down shots, this could be one of his toughest matchups all year. Memphis is a very athletic team, and Dandridge could prove to be too big for him to guard. Luckily for the Wahoos, this may be one of Tony Bennett’s most athletic teams ever. I’m looking for Leon Bond III to play his most meaningful minutes against high-level competition so far. His athletic versatility may be required here.
This is also a game where first-year Elijah Gertrude could continue to shine. He should not only be able to sub-in when Reece needs a break, but also play alongside him for stretches. Elijah gave the team a nice spark Saturday, and I expect him to continue to build on his success.
On the Horizon
This is the last chance for the Cavaliers to pick up a big win in the out of conference portion of the schedule. After the game, they'll have another eight day break before hosting Morgan State next Wednesday (12/27). Be sure to join Locker Room Access for this huge Memphis matchup. The pregame show starts at 6:30 Tuesday!
(Featured Image Credit: Keith Lucas/UVA Athletics)