Five Takeaways From Virginia Basketball's Blowout Loss to Notre Dame

Virginia (9-11, 2-7 ACC) lost to 74-59 Notre Dame (9-10, 3-5 ACC) on Saturday night at John Paul Jones Arena. Here are our five takeaways from the game:

The Cavaliers Struggled Early, Setting the Tone for the Night 

Rohde attempted to push the pace on the game's opening offensive possession, resulting in a pass to Dai Dai Ames, who wasn't even looking, leading to the ball going straight out of bounds. On the second offensive possession, Saunders makes a lousy pass, resulting in a steal for the Irish. 

The two early turnovers set the tone for a brutal night in John Paul Jones Arena for Virginia basketball as the Fighting Irish dominated. Markus Burton led the way with 21 points on 7/14 shooting, which included a 4/6 performance from beyond the arc. This is Virginia's second double-digit loss at home this season, the first a 70-50 loss to Louisville, in what has become a season to forget in Charlottesville. Also, losing in front of a sell-out crowd doesn't make the loss any easier. 

The Hoos Had Another Off Night Shooting

The Cavaliers finished 23/57 from the field, a 40% clip that feels inflated after a 13-2 run towards the end of the game made the score look a little more respectable despite the Hoos losing by double digits. Besides McKneely's 14 first-half points, the next best scorer at halftime was Andrew Rohde with three. Not being able to generate consistent offense combined with not having multiple offensive threats gives Virginia no chance to win games. On the other side, Notre Dame was lights out, shooting 48% overall and 52% from three-point land. 

Isaac McKneely Impresses In the First Half 

McKneely scored 11 of Virginia's first 13 points of the game. The junior from West Virginia was the only player to show up in the early stages for the Cavaliers by knocking down three threes to keep Virginia in the game at the start before the Irish quickly pulled away. Minutes later, McKneely drilled his fourth three of the game before falling into a slump and scoring 0 points in the second half. The lack of contributions from teammates on the offensive end certainly made it challenging, as until late in the second half, no other UVa player eclipsed ten points.

McKneely also drove to the basket on one of his scores, showcasing his development as a multi-faceted player who isn't just an elite sharpshooter from deep. 

The 2024/25 Season Has Been a Season on the Wrong Side of History 

Headed into Saturday, Virginia was 9-0 against Notre Dame in Charlottesville. The loss at JPJ to Louisville a week ago was the Cardinals first win at John Paul Jones Arena and a win that snapped a nine-game win streak by Virginia in the series. Further, the Cavaliers are on track to suffer their first losing season since the 2009/10 season. Virginia has a lot of work to do if they want to flip this season around. 

As it Stands, Virginia is Missing the ACC Tournament

A win on Saturday would have put Virginia in a solid position to sneak into the ACC tournament. Notre Dame, on paper, matched up as a similar team to Virginia, at the bottom of the ACC, but that did not appear to be the case. In addition, the home-court advantage gave the Cavaliers a firm chance to dispatch another lower-level ACC opponent after the win against Boston College on Tuesday night.

Instead, Virginia was blitzed by the Fighting Irish, knocking the Hoos out of the ACC tournament picture for now and making the remainder of the season extremely daunting with a long road ahead in ACC play.  

The Cavaliers return to action on the road Wednesday night against Miami at 7pm.