De'Andre Hunter Powers No. 3 UVA in Comeback Win vs. No. 18 Louisville

The third-ranked Virginia Cavaliers continued their recent hot streak against ACC competition with a come-from-behind 64-52 win over the No. 18 Louisville Cardinals at the KFC Yum! Center on Saturday.

The Cavaliers erased a 12-point deficit by outscoring Louisville 37-15 in the second half.

Since an 81-71 loss against Duke on Feb. 9, Virginia has won four straight games, all in the ACC. Three of those wins came over ranked opponents North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Louisville.

Virginia started the day tied with Duke and North Carolina atop the conference at 11-2. The Cavaliers are at a disadvantage for conference tournament seeding since they lost both head-to-head games against the Blue Devils, but they are in excellent position to at least secure a top-three seed.

De'Andre Hunter led Virginia's comeback by scoring a season-high 26 points. The other four starters combined for 12 points on 4-of-23 shooting.

Jordan Nwora carried the Louisville offense with 17 points, but the Cardinals were held to 30.9 percent shooting against the Cavs' stout defense.

De'Andre Hunter Emerging as Sleeper Candidate in Player of the Year Race

The go-to scorer for Virginia this season has been Kyle Guy. The junior entered Saturday leading the team with 15.4 points per game. He struggled against Louisville, finishing with just eight points on 2-of-8 shooting after averaging 21.7 points over the past three games.

With Guy struggling from the field, Hunter showed why he is the Cavaliers' best all-around player, an underrated candidate for national player of the year and an emerging NBA draft prospect.

Hunter has already made huge strides from his freshman year to this sophomore campaign. His scoring average is up six points per game (from 9.2), and his rebounds are up nearly two per game (from 3.5 to 5.4). He's a 54.3 percent shooter, including 47.4 percent from three-point range.

The only two three-point field goals Virginia had against Louisville were made by Hunter. The rest of the team missed its 15 shots behind the arc.

Beyond Hunter's offensive contributions, he's also regarded as one of the best defensive players in the country.

The Ringer's Jonathan Tjarks wrote in November what made Hunter such a problem for opposing players last season:

"There wasn't a player in the ACC whom he couldn't guard. He could bang inside with 6-foot-11 big men like Marvin Bagley III, the No. 2 overall pick in this year's draft, and stay in front of 6-foot-4 guards like Lonnie Walker IV, the No. 18 overall pick. According to the tracking numbers at Synergy Sports, Hunter was in the 87th percentile of defenders nationwide on spot-up shots, the 94th percentile against both pick-and-roll ball handlers and post-ups, the 92nd percentile against isolations, and the 99th percentile when contesting shots at the rim."

Hunter was named as one of the 10 finalists for Naismith Defensive Player of the Year on Thursday.

Following a Feb. 16 win over Notre Dame, Hunter received high praise from Fighting Irish head coach Mike Brey for his aggressive, attacking style of play.

"He's got a mid-range game, and he's physical enough to get to the bucket, and he gets LeBron calls," Brey told reporters. "I'm sorry, did I say that? Anyways, he's a hard matchup for anybody in this league and certainly for us."

No one else is going to compare Hunter to LeBron James, but his ability to do even one thing as well as one of the best NBA players of all time speaks to the trajectory of the Virginia star's career.

In the wake of Duke star Zion Williamson's sprained knee—he's listed as day to day by the team—the door for top contenders in the national player of the year race may be wide-open.

If Hunter continues his recent offensive surge—Saturday marked the third time he scored at least 20 points in the past four games—and Virginia wins the ACC, he will have as strong a case as anyone in the country for the honor.

Chris Mack Needs to Make Louisville More Aggressive on Offense

Even when Louisville was playing its best this season, it had flaws on the offensive end that needed to be fixed. The Cardinals aren't efficient, ranking 60th in the nation with 1.06 points per possession, per TeamRankings.com.

Per Paul Guttman of Streaking the Lawn, Louisville entered Saturday ranked 65th in percentage of shots taken from three-point range, 109th in three-point percentage, 150th in offensive rebounding and 151st in turnovers.

One thing Louisville did well, especially early, against Virginia was shoot the three. The team was 10-of-16 from behind the arc and took a 37-27 halftime lead but made just two of its 17 attempts in the final 20 minutes.

The Cardinals have been successful at the free-throw line. They rank ninth in the nation with a 77.1 percentage from the charity stripe, per TeamRankings.com.

Perhaps Louisville should try attacking the basket regularly in an attempt to get officials to blow their whistles. Instead, 60 percent of the team's shots against Virginia were from three-point range. The Cardinals had just eight free-throw tries and have averaged 12.9 over the past seven games.

Head coach Chris Mack is running out of time to turn things around with three games remaining in the regular season before the conference tournament begins.

Mack's methodical offensive style would seem to be a natural fit for Louisville to be more aggressive. It hasn't translated on the court, especially during this late-season malaise, but hope isn't lost heading into the madness of March.

What's Next?

Virginia will host Georgia Tech at 7 p.m. ET Wednesday. Louisville will go on the road for a matchup with Boston College at 9 p.m. ET Wednesday.