The Virginia Cavaliers dropped their second game in a row on Saturday afternoon, falling to the SMU Mustangs 63-51 inside the Moody Coliseum in Dallas. While the ’Hoos played well for the first 30 minutes, their offense abandoned them down the stretch leading to the first loss in an ACC opener for Virginia since 2008.
To make matters worse, Dai Dai Ames — Virginia’s starting point guard in eight of nine games this season — left Saturday’s contest with 10:39 to go in the first half and did not return. Coach Ron Sanchez said after the game that Ames “rolled his ankle” but that the ’Hoos don’t yet know the severity of the injury.
Ames is averaging 8.1 points per game and shooting a team-best 56% from three-point range this season while essentially serving as the primary scoring option behind Isaac McKneely. If Ames were to miss a significant amount of time, the ’Hoos would really be in trouble offensively. The Kansas State transfer had been the only healthy true point guard on the roster thus far this season, and he is truly the only Cavalier who can take his defender off the dribble with consistency.
“We had some really, really good stretches of basketball today, and I think today we took a massive step forward in our defensive side of the ball,” Sanchez in his postgame press conference. “But the turnovers again plagued us … we gave them 18 points off of our turnovers … and those are things that we have to continue to clean up. When you take one of your primary ball handlers of the game [Dai Dai Ames] out of the game, it definitely impacts that.”
Even with Ames sidelined, Virginia’s offense was able to momentarily stay afloat thanks to the heroics of Isaac McKneely. The junior sharpshooter poured in 10 points early in the second half (including a four-point play that gave UVA the lead with 11:09 to play), willing the ’Hoos in front.
But once the Mustangs adjusted and began to key in on McKneely late in the second half, Virginia’s offense completely stalled without Ames to turn to as a secondary option. The ’Hoos were held without a field goal over the final ten minutes of game time as SMU mounted a 25-6 run to flip a seven-point UVA lead into the twelve-point loss.
“They started kind of denying IMac the ball … and forcing other guys to make plays,” Sanchez noted. “Which, today, was a little bit of a challenge, honestly.”
The point guard position has been an area of concern for the ’Hoos since the departure of presumed starter Jalen Warley following Tony Bennett’s surprise retirement. Andrew Rohde, who has taken a huge step forward this season overall, was Virginia’s starting point guard on opening night. But Ames had since earned the job with a string of solid performances (including a season-high 16 points against Holy Cross).
Now, with Ames’s status uncertain, Virginia again finds itself in a ball-handling abyss. Best-case scenario, he is back in action for UVA’s next contest Thursday against Bethune-Cookman. But if not, Ames’s injury puts added urgency on the timeline for the Virginia debut of redshirt freshman Christian Bliss, who has yet to play this season as he recovers from a foot injury.
Sanchez indicated after the game that Bliss is “basically day to day right now,” and while the young Queens native has yet to play in a collegiate game, he may very well be thrown straight into the fire once he’s ready to go.
