Jay Huff’s Career Night vs. Cuse Keeps Wahoos Perfect in ACC Play

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Jay Huff has turned things up to the next level this year, setting a career-high in points (18) earlier on and then matching it three times over. On Monday night in Virginia’s primetime ESPN spot against Syracuse, he went up even further; Huff had 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting, finally getting past the 18-point high.

Virginia won by blowout 81-58 and showed a national audience this team is more than just elite on defense. This team has offensive chops and the numbers back it up. They’re averaging more points offensively (73.4) than any team in the Tony Bennett era and Huff wasn’t the only 20-point scorer on Monday. Sam Hauser also had 21 points in the game; college basketball fans know it’s a rare sight for two Virginia basketball players to have 20-plus in the same game.

All of Hauser’s points came via the three-point field goal, tying a career-high seven made.

According to KenPom, Virginia is ranked No. 9 in both offensive and defensive efficiency. By comparison, last year’s UVA squad was No. 234 in offensive efficiency.

Credit is deserved all around. The Wahoos starting unit of Huff, Hauser, Trey Murphy, Kihei Clark, and Reece Beekman is really hitting its stride and complimenting each other well. The trio of frontcourt players are deadly from long range which creates matchup nightmares for opposing teams; Beekman and Kihei are pests defensively and growing as playmakers with each game. Against Syracuse, the guards got the offense ignited and everyone’s unselfishness kept the ball a few notes ahead of Jim Boeheim‘s famed 2-3 zone. Clark, specifically, was trouble for the zone, getting to the second level at will and leaving numerous beautiful passes for his big guys to slam home.

The Hoos shot 45.2 percent (14-for-31) from behind the arc against a team that normally allows teams to make less than 30 percent of their threes. On the defensive end, Virginia held the Orange to just 20.8 percent from deep and 37.3 percent overall.

Huff, who also had 12 boards against Cuse, has now scored in double-figures in all seven of Virginia’s conference games and ranks No. 6 in KenPom’s Player of the Year standings. In just 24 minutes per game, he’s averaging 13.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and 2.5 blocks per game.

Virginia, now 11-2 and 7-0 in conference play, is the only ACC team in the Top 10. They’ll play again this Saturday against rival Virginia Tech on the road at 6:00 p.m. on the ACC Network. The Hokies, it should be noted, lost arguably their best player, Tyrece Radford, for the season. He was suspended indefinitely after a DUI and weapons arrest in Blacksburg.