Five takeaways from Virginia basketball’s 26-point win over Holy Cross

The Virginia Cavaliers took care of the Holy Cross Crusaders 67-41 on Black Friday to move to 5-2 in the Ron Sanchez era. With Tony Bennett in attendance for the first time since his retirement, the ‘Hoos cruised to every easy victory.

Following the win, we have five takeaways for the Cavaliers ahead of a tough week of competition.

Andrew Rohde and Dai Dai Ames continue to produce offensively

Dai Dai Ames and Andrew Rohde have had a fascinating start to the 2024-25 season, from battling for the starting spot to helping lead the Wahoo offense.

On Friday, Ames led the Cavaliers in scoring with 16 points on 6-for-9 shooting from the field including a 2-for-2 mark from downtown. He’s a jitterbug who consistently created offense for himself against a Holy Cross defense that struggled to contain him. He has been the definition of a three-level scorer in his seven games for the Cavaliers.

Rohde had a similarly effective performance on Black Friday. He recorded 13 points (5-for-8 on field goal attempts, 3-for-5 from three) and 3 assists. Virginia used him in the post for stints versus Holy Cross, where he made good use of his combination of size and court vision to generate good offense.

Rohde (50%) and Ames (52.9%) have stepped up as shooters this season, knocking down triples 24.3% and 20% higher than last year. Considering how some of UVA’s other shooters have performed thus far, their relatively unexpected production has been a meaningful development for the Wahoo offense.

Shooting on the front court risks how much UVA can spread the floor

A post-Thanksgiving matchup against a bad mid-major doesn’t offer the best bond to evaluate a team. Still, a few of the performances from Virginia’s bigs last Friday and over the past few games call into question some of the guiding principles of this Wahoo team.

Elijah Saunders has been noticeably ineffective on offense. The 6-foot-8 forward is shooting 31.2% from three (down from 33.1% last season) and just 45.5% from two-point range (down from 57.7% last year). He missed a number of bunnies against the Crusaders and finished 4-for-11 from the floor and 1-for-4 from three.

Saunders needs to improve, especially around the basket. Still, his struggles shooting the ball from deep along with Jacob Cofies (27.8%) and TJ Powers (26.3%) call into question how well Virginia will be able to space the floor with four or sometimes five players against legitimate competition.

Saunders and Power (if he continues to see consistent playing time) appear to have reverted to the mean that gives their shooting pedigree. Meanwhile, Cofie appears to be in the middle of a cold stretch in his first season of college basketball. If those three don’t improve as shooters, the advantage Virginia’s offense has from behind the arc diminishes meaningfully.

UVA should give young guns more opportunities

In games against teams like Holy Cross and Manhattan, Virginia should really give freshmen Ishan Sharma and Anthony Robinson more time.

Sharma played 10 minutes against the Crusaders and recorded four assists and four rebounds. Despite his biggest strength – outside shooting – coming along slowly in his true freshman season, he’s a solid cog to fit into the rotation on offense and defense.

In blowouts, he should get more reps, more shots and more time to adjust to college basketball because he could be a valuable part of the Wahoo rotation this season.

Similarly, Robinson is Virginia’s lone true center beyond Blake Buchanan. He entered the game along with walk-ons Bryce Walker and Desmond Roberts with 2:16 left. Interim head coach Ron Sanchez threw him in the game against St. John’s, but has otherwise limited his real playing time. His size and physicality could be a necessity for the ‘Hoos in conference play if Buchanan has to miss time due to foul trouble or injury.

Neither Sharma nor Robinson will make or break UVA’s 2024-25 season. And given the youth and inexperience of this team, it makes sense to play starters and bona fide bench contributors with added minutes. But it’s far too early in the season against such competition not to throw Robinson and Sharma into the fire more often.

Matchups vs Florida and SMU provide a return to reality next week

After home wins against Manhattan and Holy Cross this Thanksgiving week, the ‘Hoos will head south next week for the season’s first road test against No. 18 at Florida (Wednesday) and SMU (Saturday).

Staying competitive against undefeated Florida in Gainesville would be a success, while upsetting the Mustangs in Dallas would be a valuable 1-0 start to Virginia’s ACC schedule.

More broadly, these two contests are crucial for the Cavaliers to show some development after their pair of embarrassing losses in the Bahamas. Both for the team’s morale and its potential this season, it will be crucial to avoid similar results to what happened in Baha Mar.

Virginia’s new throwback look should be the default home uniform

Look, a Black Friday win against a bad Patriot League team doesn’t leave a ton to analyze.

What flashed Friday night was UVA’s new throwback uniform. The influx of orange on the jersey numbering and lettering, wrapped around the neckline and sleeves and on the hem of the pants is beautiful. So is the old “V” logo on the shorts and the cursive “Cavaliers” on the chest.

On Wednesday, after this new look dropped, deputy athletic director Tyler Jones tweeted that there is “more to come.”

The Virginia fan base has been fighting for orange jerseys for more than a decade. The December 18th game against Memphis is listed as an “Orange Out” game. Could the ‘Hoos reveal an extra orange throwback look in a few weeks?

Whether that happens or not, these white throwbacks should be Virginia’s primary home uniform this season. If not, this uniform should at least be consistently in the rotation. Of course, it’s a bit silly to be so caught up in the jerseys that the ‘Hoos are wearing. But this is sport – it should be fun! So it’s cool to see the Wahoo program embracing the entertainment fans can glean from a cute new uniform.