Virginia attempts to get back in win column vs. American

Virginia's only senior is heating up as the nonconference schedule concludes Sunday with a visit from American to Charlottesville, Va.

Taine Murray matched his career high with 14 points on Wednesday as the Cavaliers (6-5) took their first home loss of the season against No. 21 Memphis.

The swingman from New Zealand played 26 minutes off the bench in the 64-62 defeat to the Tigers, making 5 of 9 shots from the field. Murray had scored a combined 10 points in his previous five games.

"He was damn good (Wednesday)," Memphis coach Penny Hardaway said. "We didn't talk a lot about Taine Murray at all, and he came in the game and affected the game in a major way. ... He played like a senior, and he was ready for his moment."

Murray's parents made the long trip from New Zealand and saw him equal his career high, previously set in November 2021 against Iowa.

"His effort was fantastic," interim Virginia coach Ron Sanchez said. "He played with an unbelievable amount of passion on both ends."

The Eagles (6-5) are coming off a loss on Wednesday at Saint Joseph's, which snapped their five-game winning streak. American is 0-5 on the road this season.

Greg Jones and Matt Rogers each scored 19 points in the 84-57 setback against the Hawks. American fell behind 30-11 in the first 10 minutes and never recovered.

"Saint Joe's came out and punched us in the mouth," Eagles coach Duane Simpkins said. "They did to us what we've been doing the past few games.

"They did a tremendous job of just jumping on us right away and we never really could get our footing."

The leading scorers entering play Sunday are Isaac McKneely (12.2 points per game) and Elijah Saunders (10.5) for Virginia, and Rogers (14.6), Colin Smalls (12.5) and Elijah Stephens (11.6) for American.

Virginia is 5-1 all-time against American, including a 91-70 victory in the most recent meeting on Dec. 28, 2006.

--Field Level Media