By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics
To understand how exhausting the University of Virginia is on the defensive end, you can try watching some tape. You can ask others who have experienced it.
Nothing will prepare you for the real thing.
Facing a 16th-ranked Cavalier team that came in hungry after not having played since Dec. 4, the Tribe was no match in a 76-40 loss Tuesday at John Paul Jones Arena. W&M finished with its lowest point total since exactly two years earlier, when it also lost to U.Va. in Charlottesville.
The Tribe (2-3) shot 28 percent from the field, 3-of-17 from the 3-point arc, and had 17 turnovers. At least it came against a program that is notoriously stingy on defense — and, technically, still the defending national champion.
Virginia's reputation on defense, from speedy point guard Kihei Clark through 7-foot-1 Jay Huff on the backline, certainly precedes it. But simulating what the Cavaliers do in practice is another matter.
"The biggest thing is that they're so disciplined," W&M coach
Dane Fischer said. "They don't give up anything easy, or very, very rarely do. The hardest thing for us to simulate in addition to that is the length and athleticism they have.
"We did it in practice, and it didn't look like the way we played today. It's a real challenge to prepare for them, and they really executed at a high level today."
Virginia (4-1) was just as effective on the offensive end. The Cavaliers scored on seven of their first 10 possessions and took a 17-6 lead less than eight minutes in. Clark was a blur to the basket with three layups and two dish-offs in that stretch.
"That was a huge point of emphasis for us early in the game," Fischer said. "We got better at keeping them out of the paint, but it certainly didn't get off to a great start."
Virginia led 36-14 at the break, but W&M came out in the second half with a 7-2 run. Freshman
Yuri Covington accounted for all those points with a drive to the rim, a jumper from the arc, and an assist to
Connor Kochera in transition.
At the second scheduled timeout of the second half, W&M trailed 50-27 — 14-13 since halftime. After being outscored by 22 points in the first half, the Tribe finished minus-14 in the second.
"Part of it might have been (feeling) more comfortable after playing against them for 20 minutes and you see what you have to do," Fischer said. "We made a couple of adjustments like popping our 5-man a little bit more. … That helped us.
"Our guys had a great mindset. Every single timeout, every huddle, there wasn't this look of 'Oh, my god, what are we going to do?' The guys stuck together and said, 'Let's try to win these next four minutes.'"
Covington led the Tribe with 12 points along with four rebounds and two assists. Kochera had eight points along with a career-high six rebounds.
Luke Loewe was held to five points, 13 below his season average.
Following Saturday's 71-49 home loss to High Point, Fischer had few positives to stress. That wasn't the case after this game.
"I think there are some real positives we can take away," he said. "Namely, the effort we played with. For us to have 14 offensive rebounds against Virginia speaks to the effort our guys were giving. In the second half, we did some really good things on both ends of the floor.
"Throughout, our guys really competed. It's hard to do that when you're not scoring and you're down by the margin we were for most of the game. I was really pleased with the effort, and we got some young guys some really good minutes."
NOTES: Redshirt freshman
Ben Wight had a career-high seven rebounds off the bench, four on the offensive end. … Loewe has played at least 33 minutes in all five of William & Mary's games this season. … W&M's next game is Jan. 2 at Hofstra to open the Colonial Athletic Association season.
