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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