The odds are once again stacked against Virginia (6-4) for its upcoming game, as No. 21 Memphis (8-2) is scheduled to visit John Paul Jones Arena on Wednesday night. The Tigers dominated the Cavaliers 77-54 last year when they faced each other in Memphis. While this rematch will be held in Charlottesville, Memphis appears to have improved since last season, whereas Virginia seems to have declined.
If the Hoos hope to exact revenge on Memphis, it is crucial for them to get Dai Dai Ames back from injury. They’ll need more than just that to succeed, but as for this first step, things are looking positive so far.
Virginia’s interim head coach Ron Sanchez held his weekly Coach’s Corner radio show on Monday night at the Dairy Market in Charlottesville, alongside Voice of the Cavaliers John Freeman and Kyle Guy. Towards the end of the show, Freeman inquired about the status of Dai Dai Ames, who suffered an ankle injury in the first half of the game against SMU on December 7th and missed the subsequent game against Bethune-Cookman.
Here’s how Sanchez responded to that question:
John Freeman: A lot of guys and girls want to know, Dai Dai, how is his ankle doing?
Ron Sanchez: He practiced today.
John Freeman: He’s good to go?
Ron Sanchez: Yep.
John Freeman: How about that? We got Dai Dai back.
Assuming this is a true confirmation that Ames will be available for Wednesday night’s game against Memphis, it is significant news for the Cavaliers. While it doesn’t guarantee a win against Memphis, it clearly gives UVA a much better chance than if Ames were unable to play.
You might wonder how Virginia can rely so heavily on a player who is currently the fifth-leading scorer at 8.1 points per game. The answer lies in the skewed nature of those stats; Ames played just seven minutes against SMU, scoring two points, and had a similar performance in the season opener against Campbell. Despite these low numbers, he has led Virginia in scoring twice and has scored in double figures four times.
Moreover, Ames is technically Virginia’s leading three-point shooter, hitting 10 of 18 attempts for an impressive 55.6% accuracy rate. While Isaac McKneely also performs well with 46.9% shooting, Ames’ efficiency from beyond the arc is notable given his limited playing time.
Virginia faces a point guard issue; they knew replacing Reece Beekman would be difficult, but a committee of Jalen Warley, Christian Bliss, and Dai Dai Ames was expected to fill the void. Since then, Warley transferred, Bliss has yet to debut due to a foot injury, and Ames’s absence left Virginia without a natural point guard during the Bethune-Cookman game.
The biggest reason Ames is crucial to the team is his unique ability to attack the paint and create his own shot. He has the capability to energize Virginia’s offense when it becomes stagnant, routinely driving to the basket for tough finishes and facilitating scoring opportunities for others.
The impact of Ames’s injury can be seen in recent games. In the SMU matchup, Virginia led by seven points with 10 minutes to go but then failed to make any field goals in the final minutes, ultimately losing 25-6 during that stretch. In the following game against a struggling Bethune-Cookman team, Virginia scored just one field goal in the first 11 minutes, showcasing the team’s struggles without Ames.
With only one made shot and nine total points over that span between the SMU and BCU games, the need for Ames became evident. Although Virginia found success in the second half to win against Bethune-Cookman, the overall performance was uninspiring.
Thus, Ames’s likely return is crucial for the Cavaliers, even though there may still be scoring difficulties and another potential loss against a strong team like Memphis. His presence brings hope for a competitive game, and it indicates that his ankle injury was not as severe as initially feared, allowing Virginia to stay optimistic about improvement leading into the ACC schedule in 2025.
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