Virginia

Five Takeaways From Virginia’s 64-62 Loss to Memphis

Published

1 year ago

December 19, 2024

Five Takeaways From Virginia’s 64-62 Loss to Memphis

On Wednesday Night, the Virginia Cavaliers (6-5) fell 64-62 to the No. 21 Memphis Tigers (9-2) at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia. The Cavaliers posted a strong first twenty minutes backed by an uncharacteristically poor half from three for Memphis (2/14 3PT FG), but newfound intensity from Memphis in the second half on both ends of the floor quickly erased the deficit, and ultimately the Tigers’ defensive pressure, streaky offense, and a strong performance from star guard PJ Haggerty (27 points) proved just too much for the Hoos to overcome in the narrow loss.

Read below for five takeaways from tonight’s game:

In a game where Virginia’s regular contributors lagged behind offensively, veteran Taine Murray gave a team-best performance off the bench. Murray finished with an efficient 14 points, matching a career high on 5/9 shooting and maintained an impressive level of intensity on both ends of the floor throughout his 26 minutes of action. Coach Sanchez mentioned post-game how proud he was of the fourth year for his gritty performance.

Despite the loss, the Virginia defense deserves credit for building a nine-point halftime lead Wednesday night. Memphis came into the night as the second-best three-point shooting team in the nation, and a disciplined Cavalier defense held the Tigers to just 2/14 from three in the first half, and a season-low 21 points through the first 20 minutes of action. The Memphis offense found more rhythm in the second half, backed by a return to their normal rate of free-throw line trips (18 free throw attempts in the second half), but the Cavalier defense maintained an admirable level of intensity as they fought for a ranked win on their home floor.

After their lowest-scoring half of the entire season in the first 20 minutes of their visit to JPJ, the Tigers came out of the halftime locker room with an impressive level of intensity, and one that proved too high for the Cavaliers to meet. The Hoos struggled to battle the Memphis full-court press and increased half-court pressure throughout the development of the second half, and particularly right out of the break. Dai Dai Ames’ return to the lineup was a welcomed presence, but the second-half pressure from the Memphis guards proved a challenge for him in his return to action as he finished with eight points on just 2/11 shooting.

The frenzy of the Memphis second-half pressure sent Virginia spiraling into foul and turnover trouble early, with four team fouls in the first two minutes of second half action, and Memphis in the bonus by the 10-minute mark of the half. The Memphis pressure carried over to the offensive end, where they attacked the rim and got to the free-throw line. After just two first-half free throws, the Tigers finished the contest with 17 free throws on 21 attempts.

Virginia has struggled with turnovers throughout the first ten games of the ’24 campaign, and for the first time tonight came out and won the early turnover battle. The Hoos entered the halftime locker-room with 14 points off of seven Memphis turnovers, compared to just three points off of four Virginia turnovers.

Unfortunately, that story flipped in the second half. Memphis’ pressure forced a slew of lackluster decisions from the UVA offense, who looked quite unprepared to battle the full-court press and half-court pressure with no alternatives to Dai Dai Ames as a primary ball-handler. The points-off-turnover gap rapidly closed with four UVA turnovers in the first four minutes of second-half action.

Some fans may not believe in moral victories, but if they do exist, tonight’s loss against Memphis was certainly just that. In the words of Head Coach Ron Sanchez in his post-game presser, Virginia “battled for all 40 minutes” Wednesday night while competing against an AP Top 25, high-level Memphis team, something that hasn’t happened when the Cavaliers have faced good teams this season. It is crucial this narrow loss serves as a source of confidence, and motivation, for this group as they turn to ACC play soon.

Up next, Virginia hosts American on Sunday at 2pm at John Paul Jones Arena before taking more than a week off until the full ACC portion of the schedule arrives.

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Virginia

Lauren Hurst commits to Virginia Tech out of transfer portal, joining Alyssa Latham

Published

5 hours ago

April 11, 2026

Press Room

Lauren Hurst commits to Virginia Tech out of transfer portal, joining Alyssa Latham

Former Lady Vols basketball guard Lauren Hurst committed to Virginia Tech out of the transfer portal on April 11, making her the second Tennessee player to join the Hokies.

Former Tennessee forward Alyssa Latham committed to Virginia Tech as a graduate transfer on April 1.

Latham and Hurst were part of the mass exodus from the Lady Vols that left no returners on the team. All eight players with eligibility left entered the transfer portal, and five-star forward Oliviyah Edwards was released from her signing, leaving four-star wing Gabby Minus as the only incoming freshman.

Both Latham and Hurst were key players in Tennessee’s rotation by the end of the season. Latham spent two years with the Lady Vols after transferring in from Syracuse and was one of a handful of returners from coach Kim Caldwell’s first season.

Latham was one of four forwards on Tennessee’s roster – the other three graduated – and averaged 19.1 minutes this season. The 6-foot-2 junior averaged 4.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and one steal while shooting 53.9% from the field this season.

Hurst broke into the rotation in the second half of the season, and she was Tennessee’s most accurate 3-point shooter. The 6-foot-3 guard led the team in 3-point percentage, hitting 41.4% on 1.2 attempts from 3-point range.

The Cleveland, Tennessee, native averaged 2.3 points, 1.6 rebounds and 10 minutes per game on the season, and she shot 48.8% from the field. Hurst played a season-high 24 minutes at Ole Miss, when she scored a career-high 16 points on 6-for-9 shooting, including 4-for-5 on 3-pointers.

Hurst was part of a five-player 2025 class ranked No. 2 in the nation by ESPN, UT’s highest-ranked class since 2017. She was a four-star prospect ranked No. 45 in the class.

Tennessee has added two transfers out of the portal so far. Liberty guard Avery Mills and Northern Arizona guard Naomi White both committed to the Lady Vols.

Cora Hall is the University of Tennessee women’s athletics reporter for Knox News. Email: cora.hall@knoxnews.com; X: @corahalll; Bluesky: @corahall.bsky.social‬. Support strong local journalism and unlock premium perks:knoxnews.com/subscribe

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Virginia

‘Don’t Fairfax Me’: How Virginia’s largest county became center of antiredistricting campaign – WTOP News

Published

17 hours ago

April 11, 2026

Press Room

‘Don’t Fairfax Me’: How Virginia’s largest county became center of antiredistricting campaign – WTOP News

Signs that say, “Don’t Fairfax Me” and “Vote No” are appearing in rural parts of Virginia in opposition to gerrymandered maps being voted on in a special election.

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‘Don’t Fairfax Me’: Northern Virginians fight redistricting plan

As the special election that will determine the fate of a plan to redraw Virginia’s congressional districts approaches, the state’s largest jurisdiction has started being referenced as a verb in messaging opposing the initiative.

Signs that say, “Don’t Fairfax Me” and “Vote No” started appearing in rural parts of Virginia, Cardinal News reported. And on social media, Del. Wren Williams, whose district includes several counties in the southwestern portion of the state, defined “Fairfaxphobia.”

Early voting has been underway for weeks, but on April 21, voters will decide whether to OK a plan that would redraw Virginia’s congressional map. Currently, the state has elected six Democrats and five Republicans across its 11 districts. The proposed map could give Democrats a 10-1 advantage, experts say.

Virginia Democrats argue the step comes in response to President Donald Trump’s push for redistricting in Republican-led states. Republicans have been critical of the effort.

Williams is describing “Fairfaxphobia” as a fear that political power concentrated in Fairfax County will make decisions for the whole state and create policies impacting some communities that they can’t afford.

“We don’t want to be Fairfax County,” Williams told WTOP. “We don’t want skyscrapers. I don’t want to have to go somewhere outside and walk around to find some patches of grass to touch. I am interested in rural life, a little bit easier, a little bit simpler, a little bit more laid back, not as fast paced.”

“Fairfaxphobia” graphic circulated to represent the fear that political power concentrated in Fairfax County will make decisions for the whole state. (Courtesy of Wren Williams)

As part of the proposed map, Williams said, “at least five districts run up and split up Fairfax County, which will eventually lead to five sitting congressional members from the county of Fairfax, and that’s just not representative of the entirety of the commonwealth.”

Jeannette, a longtime Northern Virginia resident, said people who live in the northern part of the state “are seen as an anomaly, maybe to the rest of Virginia, given our, I think, collective more liberal leaning. And I understand why they’re saying that, but I think we should separate that from the goal of the referendum.”

Dave Lincoln, meanwhile, said Friday he hadn’t heard about the signs in rural parts of the state but, “I guess it’s — we are what we are.”

Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell called the campaign disappointing, because “Fairfax County does a lot for the entire state. If it wasn’t for Fairfax, our state would have the economy of Mississippi.”

The “Don’t Fairfax Me” signs say they’re paid for and authorized by a political action committee called “New Vision VA.” Dominion Energy made a $25,000 donation to the PAC, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.

Yves Fischer, who lives in Alexandria, said the messaging and advertising on the redistricting referendum are confusing.

For Tiffany, “I guess they’re saying ‘Don’t Fairfax’ Virginia, because obviously we are a much more educated, classy, professional, employed area, and we, of course, are going to vote ‘yes’ on this.”

In Springfield on Friday afternoon, Ann said she hadn’t seen or heard about the signs, but, “It should be a big ‘no.’ It’s not right. It’s not fair to most Virginians.”

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Virginia

Made in Southwest Virginia craft market returns

Published

1 day ago

April 10, 2026

Press Room

Made in Southwest Virginia craft market returns

ABINGDON, Va. (WCYB) — The made in Southwest Virginia artisan and craft market returns April 11, 2026.

The Southwest Virginia Cultural Center in Abingdon will host more than 20 local artists.

Those artisans will offer demonstrations of their work and they’ll also be selling some of their crafts.

“We want to give this opportunity for community members to come out, as the weather is warming up and as spring is rolling around, to meet these makers and take home a little bit of Southwest Virginia,” Ryan Vaughan with the Friends of Southwest Virginia said.

The market will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

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