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Virginia basketball: 2019-20 season review and 2020-2021 first-look preview

By Mike Phillips

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - MARCH 07: Mamadi Diakite #25 and Braxton Key #2 of the Virginia Cavaliers walk off the court together after a game against the Louisville Cardinals at John Paul Jones Arena on March 7, 2020 in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - MARCH 07: Mamadi Diakite #25 and Braxton Key #2 of the Virginia Cavaliers walk off the court together after a game against the Louisville Cardinals at John Paul Jones Arena on March 7, 2020 in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images) /
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – MARCH 07: Kihei Clark #0 of the Virginia Cavaliers dribbles around Mamadi Diakite #25 in the second half during a game against the Louisville Cardinals at John Paul Jones Arena on March 7, 2020 in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – MARCH 07: Kihei Clark #0 of the Virginia Cavaliers dribbles around Mamadi Diakite #25 in the second half during a game against the Louisville Cardinals at John Paul Jones Arena on March 7, 2020 in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images) /

Standout Players

Kihei Clark

After being a complementary piece during Virginia’s championship run a year ago, Kihei Clark was asked to be the main cog this season. Clark was able to boost his scoring to 10.8 points per game and increased all of his major offensive statistics but turnovers were a major problem for him. Despite an increase of just over 11 minutes per night Clark’s turnovers spiked from 1.0 a game to 3.5 a game, which is a sizable spike for that larger sample size.

Mamadi Diakite

Diakite emerged as a force in the NCAA Tournament last year and built on that leap this season. Virginia saw Diakite lead the team in scoring and finish second in rebounding while he also developed more of a three-point touch, boosting his shooting percentage beyond the arc seven percent. The trade-off came with an eight percent drop in his overall field goal percentage, but Diakite was able to maintain his value as a rim protector, blocking 1.3 shots per game.

Braxton Key

The Cavaliers asked Key to come off the bench a year ago but the departures of Kyle Guy and Ty Jerome for the NBA created a starting role for the senior. Key led Virginia in rebounding and his field goal percentage leveled off, but the problem was that Key became a liability beyond the arc (18.5 percent from three, down from 30.5 percent the year before) and at the charity stripe, knocking down just 58.4 percent of his free throws.

Jay Huff

Like Key, Huff was given a bigger role this season, and he thrived on the defensive end of the floor. Huff blocked two shots a night for Virginia and grabbed 6.2 rebounds a game as well, but he didn’t offer a ton of value offensively. The Cavaliers got efficiency out of Huff’s game but didn’t ask him to be the main man, which makes sense given Huff’s role on the team.