Virginia went cold from three-point range and struggled on both ends of the floor down the stretch as the Cavaliers (8-6, 1-2 ACC) suffered a 70-50 loss to Louisville (10-5, 3-1 ACC) in their first game of 2025 on Saturday evening at John Paul Jones Arena. Here are our five key takeaways from UVA’s loss, which was the first time the Cavaliers had ever lost to Louisville at John Paul Jones Arena.

There was stretches of Saturday’s game where the Cavaliers were going punch-for-punch with the Cardinals. A three-pointer from Andrew Rohde made it a four-point game with 15 minutes left in the first half, but that was the closest UVA ever got, as Louisville outscored Virginia 29-13 over the last 15 minutes of regulation. While the Virginia defense had been playing fairly well up to that point, the Cavaliers had too many breakdowns and gave up way too many open looks for the rest of the game. Unfortunately, the other end of the floor was the much bigger issue for Virginia.

Virginia came into the game ranked 27th in the country in three-point shooting, converting at 38.5% as a team. Against Louisville on Saturday, the Cavaliers went a dismal 5/26 from beyond the arc. Isaac McKneely and Andrew Rohde went a combined 5/12 from three, which isn’t bad, but the rest of the team shot 0/14. There were a couple of three-point attempts that rimmed out and UVA missed a few open shots, but the Cavaliers struggled mightily to generate open looks against Louisville and it showed in the final perimeter shooting numbers.

Part of Louisville’s ability to pull away in this game was the sharpshooting of Reyne Smith. UVA knew Smith was Louisville’s best three-point shooter and yet Smith continued to make the Cavaliers pay for losing track of him off of screens. Smith drained five three-pointers and most of them were open looks. Virginia needs to take a hard look at the tape from this one and replicate what Louisville was doing with Reyne Smith for Isaac McKneely. As a side note, Smith and the Louisville bench scored 34 points as compared to just two points for the Virginia bench.

The Cardinals won the rebounding battle 42-25 and had 14 offensive rebounds to UVA’s six. The Cavaliers were fortunate that Louisville only scored 10 second-chance points. There was an obvious gap in athleticism between these two teams, but more concerningly, there was an evident gap in the levels of energy, aggressiveness, and desire with which the Cardinals pursued rebounds that the Hoos simply couldn’t, or wouldn’t match.

We’ve talked at length about UVA’s point guard situation and the lack of depth this team has in terms of ball-handlers and offensive facilitators. Dai Dai Ames is UVA’s best ball-handler, but in the last two games, he has played just nine and ten minutes, respectively. He was 0/2 from the floor and scored zero points against Louisville. Andrew Rohde played a good game and he deserves some recognition for his efforts, recording 16 points, three assists, and three steals. But when Andrew Rohde is the team’s primary, and in some ways, only offensive playmaker, that underscores some of the fundamental offensive flaws this team is facing right now.

Up next, Virginia heads west for a pair of games in California, starting with a late-night contest at Cal on Wednesday at 11pm ET (ESPNU).

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Oklahoma State is in a new era, but it needs to come with new results.

OSU is looking to get its first conference win against West Virginia, but winning on the road is one of the most difficult tasks in the Big 12. While the Cowboys have already surpassed their road win total from last season, getting those victories in conference play is another animal.

OSU didn’t win its first conference game last season until its seventh try. Of course, that game was against West Virginia. If the Cowboys can find a way to take down the Mountaineers again this season, it would be an ideal start to 2025.

Game Information: Oklahoma State (8-4, 0-1 Big 12) vs. Opponent (10-2, 1-0)

Date/Time: Saturday, Jan. 4 at 11 a.m. CT

Where: WVU Coliseum – Morgantown, WV

TV/Streaming: CBSSN

Spread: West Virginia -9.5

Total Points: Over/Under 146.5 points

Moneyline: West Virginia -465, Oklahoma State +350

While OSU won its first conference game against West Virginia last season, it was the teams’ only matchup and was in Stillwater. The Cowboys’ last win in Morgantown came in 2021, with back-to-back losses there since.

With former Cowboy Javon Small leading the way for West Virginia, OSU will have to find a way to contain its leading scorer from a season ago. Without Small, OSU has struggled to find anyone to emerge as the go-to scorer, which could come with major consequences in Big 12 play.

OSU lost its conference opener to Houston, shooting only 25.9% in the 60-47 loss. While OSU’s offense sputtered, it showed its defensive ability, something Steve Lutz’s team will have to hang its hat on in conference play.

The Mountaineers upset Kansas on the road in their Big 12 opener, with Small’s late free throws pushing his team ahead. The Cowboys are hoping for a letdown from West Virginia after its big win, but they must be prepared for a surge in front of the West Virginia crowd, where the home team is 7-0 this season.

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Minnesota shortened the Duke’s Mayo Bowl on Friday and leaned on its defense for a 24-10 win over Virginia Tech.

The Gophers ran a 15-play drive in the third and fourth quarters that took 9:20 off the clock and ended with a field goal. They took 4:35 off the clock on the previous possession just to go 29 yards and punt. But it worked. Virginia Tech got just 3 second-half possessions and the Gophers flummoxed each of them.

With the win, Minnesota extended its streak of consecutive bowl victories to 8, a mark that stretches back to 2015. The Gophers end the year at 8-5 while Virginia Tech drops to 6-7.

Here are 3 takeaways from the game.

Minnesota defense dominates

Virginia Tech averaged 8.3 yards per pass attempt — a fine number — but the Hokies were constantly behind the chains. Minnesota sacked Hokie quarterback Pop Watson 5 times. And it held the Hokies to just 4 yards per play on first downs. A disruptive defensive performance had the Hokies out of sorts all night.

Virginia Tech began the game with 3 consecutive 3-and-outs. After an 8-play, 80-yard touchdown march from Virginia Tech to take a 7-0 lead, Minnesota responded with a 21-3 run in the second quarter to take control of the game. In the second half, Minnesota limited the Hokies to 76 total yards of offense and just 18 plays.

The Hokies only got 3 second-half possessions while the Gophers sat on the ball on offense. The lone possession in the third quarter ended in a punt after 7 plays gained only 22 yards. On the Hokies’ final 2 drives, Minnesota held on fourth down twice.

After Max Brosmer threw an interception with 7:03 to play, Virginia Tech had one last chance to tighten things up and make a game of it. Defensive back Dante Lovett caught Brosmer’s pass off a deflection and returned it to Minnesota’s 15-yard-line.

In a 14-point game, the Hokies desperately needed a score. Instead, they went backward. After an 11-yard pass from Watson, 3 straight plays were stopped in the backfield for losses and Virginia Tech was forced to go for it on fourth-and-goal from the 14. Za’Quan Bryan jumped a Watson pass and ended the threat without any damage done.

Minnesota was able to run out the remaining 4:24 to walk away with the victory.

Darius Taylor closes strong

Minnesota tailback Darius Taylor ran it 20 times for 113 yards and a touchdown. He also threw a 10-yard touchdown pass. The 100-yard effort was Taylor’s fifth of the season and the ninth of his Minnesota career. That pushed him into a tie for the 10th-most such games by a Gopher player in program history.

Just a sophomore, Taylor will have a chance to leave his mark all over the Minnesota record book if he stays healthy. With Max Brosmer playing his final game for the Gophers (he went 18-for-29 for 211 yards, 1 score, and the aforementioned pick), Taylor could very well be the offensive engine next season for Minnesota just like Mo Ibrahim was several years ago.

Virginia Tech, shorthanded, does itself no favors

The Hokies were missing their entire starting secondary because of opt-outs and the transfer portal. Their regular starter at quarterback was once again unavailable. There were reasons to enter into Friday night with tempered expectations. Still, Virginia Tech didn’t help itself.

Offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen drew the ire of Hokie fans all throughout the game with his play-calling. After the Hokies’ fourth-quarter interception, Bowen’s sequencing was questionable at best. Rather than let Watson — who has flashed considerable potential late in the year — cook, Virginia Tech split his time with Colin Schlee and never really let Watson find a rhythm. He threw for 254 yards in the win over Virginia on Nov. 30 and threw just 12 passes on Friday.

Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.