UVA Men and Women’s Basketball Team Blue and White Game Recap (10-5-24)
By: Xavier Jones
Headline Photo Credit: Arturo Jones-LMS Network
Inside the John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, VA, the Virginia Cavaliers men’s and women’s basketball hosted their annual blue and white scrimmage game. To kick off the festivities, Coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton spoke with the crowd briefly after the player intros. The first scrimmage game of the day was between the UVA women’s team and their scout team. After a slow start in the first half, the Cavs locked in and took control of the game on both ends of the court. As a result of that, the Cavs outscored the scout team 25-9 in the second half. UVA used their experience, size, and quickness to their advantage. Although this was just a scrimmage game when it comes to the regular season it’s something they will have to build off of.
The next event was the 3-Point Contest between two members of each of the men’s and women’s teams. Isaac McKneely and Christian Bliss represented the men’s team, while Olivia McGhee and Kymora Johnson were the women’s representatives. This was a good showing for all participants involved, allowing them to showcase their shooting abilities to the fans in attendance.
Finally, the men’s scrimmage game was getting underway and everyone was eager to see what this new look Cavalier team was going to look like. From what I can see, they are looking to push the pace off of rebounds and turnovers. This should allow them to generate some quick and easy buckets throughout their games in the regular season. One glaring question mark is their offense when they have to get in and out of half-court sets. At times they seemed to rely heavily on going one-on-one with the defender. However, when they were able to move the ball around they were able to find the open player for an easy bucket. The one thing I know for certain about a UVA team is that defense will always be key and first priority. This season should be exciting and interesting for the fans and once everything starts to gel for them, the ACC should look out for them because they will be a force to reckon with.
