ACC Basketball power rankings: Wake Forest rises, Virginia slides down

When Virginia couldn’t crack 50 points in a road loss at James Madison, it signified that this was going to be a long season for them. And that was confirmed, losing at home by 17 points to a Clemson squad that isn’t a world-beater themselves. And had that game-winning shot by Jayden Gardner not fallen to beat Pittsburgh a couple of weeks earlier, an argument could’ve been made that this team should be around 13 or 14.

While it feels like the offense is somewhat similar compared to prior seasons, this year’s Cavalier squad has had to work even harder just to get to 50-60 points. Leading scorer Gardner (14.8 ppg and 8.1 rpg) has been as good as one can ask for but his lack of spacing at the four-spot makes things more difficult for the guards.

Indiana transfer Armaan Franklin is second on the team in scoring at 11.5 ppg but has been a disaster from three-point range, making just 20% to this point at five attempts a game. Kihei Clark is the only player in the rotation that can consistently shoot from deep, with the team ranking in the bottom-100 of the country. And unless Reece Beekman can give the Cavaliers a boost, it’s going to be tough for them to get to the 60s in scoring.

The defense remains solid but it’s not elite, which makes the offensive problems even more glaring. And with three straight road games coming up on the schedule, it could get rough before it gets better.