Looking back at beating Duke: Heat of the moment and headaches, plus Kyle Guy

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Heat of the battle.

That’s how Tony Bennett described the near-skirmish at Cameron Indoor in the second half of Virginia’s 69-68 upset of No. 7 Duke on Monday night. Kadin Shedrick had been on the wrong end of several elbows, shoulders, etc., and after he was fouled at the 15:05 mark of the game, the fourth personal on Blue Devils big man Mark Williams, that was enough from Bennett’s point of view.

Bennett, who said later that he appreciated game officials allowing physical play in the game, believed Shedrick was taking too much abuse. The UVA coach approached the officials, barking for the refs to review the call for a flagrant foul.

Some members of the Duke bench, specifically assistant coach Nolan Smith, a former Blue Devil (2007-11), shouted something and UVA associate head coach Jason Williford apparently took exception. Players and staff from both benches began to approach midcourt before things settled down.

Officials called a double-technical, called the Williams foul on Shedrick a common foul, and the game progressed. It was a tense moment, but only a moment.

Bennett played down the situation during his radio show on Tuesday night.

“That was just heat-of-the-battle stuff,” Bennett said. “I was telling the ref, ‘Are you going to review that?’ Someone on [Duke’s] staff … some words were exchanged. One of their assistants said something.”

Once things settled, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski motioned Bennett over and asked Bennett, “We’re all good?” Bennett said good.

It was one of the more physical games that Virginia had played in this season, which was to Bennett’s liking. He said his team is at its best when playing “rugged.”

Asked about dealing with officials during games of that nature, Bennett had an interesting comment.

“I don’t want to be one of those coaches that whine non-stop,” Bennett said. “I told my wife (Laurel) that if I become a coach like that, to tell me.”

Probing further, show host and UVA play-by-play man John Freeman wanted to explore more about coaches that whine all the time. Reading into the question, Bennett went out of his way to comment that he was not referring to Krzyzewski.

Take two aspirin & call me in the morning

Bennett said he did something Monday night at Cameron that he had never done before.

“I took two Advil and two Tylenol before the game,” Bennett said, noting that it’s so loud in Cameron, he usually ends up with a headache afterward.

Bennett asked head trainer Ethan Saliba for a couple of tablets, and it worked.

“I didn’t have a headache,” Bennett said. “Maybe it’s because we won.”

Maybe not.

52 down under

How amazing was it that Virginia scored 52 points in the paint against the Blue Devils, considered the top defensive team in the ACC? In fact, the Cavaliers outscored the Devils, 52-28.

Who would have imagined early in the season that UVA would eventually be an inside-out team before the campaign ended? With experienced backcourt players, most believed the Cavaliers would be outside-in, but with the emergence of Shedrick and Francisco Caffaro, along with veteran Jayden Gardner, Virginia has transformed into a physically intimidating team down in the paint, and it has resulted in three consecutive wins.

Speaking of Gardner, his defensive performance against Duke’s Paolo Banchero was superb. Considering that Banchero is considered the No. 1 NBA prospect in the ACC (some even have projected him as the top pick in the draft), Gardner worked him over Monday night.

Banchero played 38 minutes, made 3 of 9 shots (1 of 3 from the arc), had two free throws, nine points, nine rebounds and had four turnovers. In fact, Banchero didn’t score a point in the second half, and had it not been for his lone 3-pointer of the night (with 42 seconds remaining in the first half), he would have gone over 32 minutes without a bucket.

Pretty cool night for Gardner, who was actually born at Duke Hospital.

Malachi to the rescue

When starter Reece Beekman got into foul trouble both in the first half and early in the second half of the game, Bennett called on Malachi Poindexter, a Louisa kid who played at St. Anne’s-Belfield and was a preferred walk-on, who now owns a scholarship.

Poindexter clocked 13 minutes, 28 seconds of court time, essentially the minutes Beekman was on the bench. While he didn’t take a shot, he had two rebounds. Poindexter filled in adequately on defense and gave Bennett a chance to give both Beekman and Kihei Clark breathers.

“With the quickness of Duke offensively, I thought that maybe Malachi could slide better,” Bennett said of the move. “He gave us quality minutes.”

It’s part of Bennett’s mantra, in terms of his bench, to always be ready because they could be called upon at any moment.

Lunch with Guy

Virginia’s coaches got a surprise call Tuesday from former point guard Kyle Guy.

Guy’s Miami Heat team played against the Wizards on Monday, and before heading out on a near two-week road trip, Guy texted UVA basketball administrative guru Ronnie Wideman and said he’d love to see the coaches. So Guy came down to Charlottesville and had lunch with the coaching staff and later got up with a few Cavalier players.

Lunch with the MOP @kylejguy #Family 🔸⚔️🔹 #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/sHnSqHTPUa

— Virginia Men’s Basketball (@UVAMensHoops) February 8, 2022

“It was so good to see Kyle,” Bennett said. “I just love that young man.”

Bennett went on to say that whether or not his former players reach any level of professional basketball, he’s proud of the men they are becoming. That’s one of the reasons so many quality players keep signing with Virginia, because not only do their basketball skills improve, but they grow into good men.

Bennett mentioned something to Guy about whether he ever thought about coaching sometime down the road, and Guy told Bennett, “I think I could be a good coach.”

Super Bowl

Bennett was asked who he’s going with in the Super Bowl now that his Packers were no longer in the chase.

The coach said that because Guy was such a Bengals fan and because Bennett’s wife went to LSU (Joe Burrow), that he’s going with Cincinnati.

Dickie V loves Kihei

One of the viewers of Virginia’s win at Duke was none other than Dick Vitale, who made this observation on Twitter during the game:

“Kihei Clark may be 5-foot-7, but he is a giant with the ROCK in his hands. His penetration skills are superb.”

Clark had nine assists, some of them rather spectacular, including the final assist of the game, a pass to wide-open Reece Beekman for the buzzer-beating 3-pointer.