Shorthanded Wahoos Stay Perfect in ACC With 70-61 Win Over Wake Forest

Playing without Casey Morsell, as well as Kody Stattmann for the fifth consecutive game, the Wahoos overcame a 39-35 halftime deficit to beat Wake Forest 70-61 at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, VA. The Hoos’ entire starting five scored in double-figures, including Sam Hauser, who notched his second straight double-double (16 points, 11 rebounds), and freshman Reece Beekman, who had a career-high 12 points.

Morsell, Austin Katstra, and multiple coaches were out due to COVID-19 protocols. Per Virginia’s official website, Stattmann is dealing with “a non-COVID-19 related cardiac issue and will be sidelined until his evaluation process is completed.”

“We knew we were going to have to come together. I thought we had a spirited week of practice and obviously, events that happened today you know there’s a lot of stuff going on, but we just talked about let’s try to take a step in the right direction.”

-Tony Bennett (via VirginiaSports.com)

The starting unit did most of the work for head coach Tony Bennett as the bench combined for just 27 minutes played and eight points.

Other double-digit scorers for UVA were Trey Murphy III (13), Jay Huff (11), and Kihei Clark (10).

Murphy III was making his third start since transferring from Rice. The Hoos are 3-0 when he starts, which includes both conference games they have played.

Defensively, Virginia buckled down in the second half; they only allowed 22 points to the Deacs. It was their best second-half defensive performance of the season. Likewise, Virginia’s 10 steals in the game were a season-high.

Virginia improved to 6-2 overall and 2-0 in ACC play. Next up will be Boston College on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. ET (ACC Network).