Behind another big day from Gardner, UVA bounces back, rallies to sweep Miami, 74-71

By Scott Ratcliffe

Virginia erased a double-digit deficit in the second half and held on late to complete the season sweep at Miami Saturday, 74-71. Senior forward Jayden Gardner poured in a game-high 23 points as UVA picked up a huge conference road win and improved its NCAA Tournament resume with just two weeks left in the regular season.

Gardner’s turnaround jumper with 1:39 left beat the shot clock and gave the Cavaliers (17-10, 11-6 ACC) an eight-point lead. Miami cut it to three, 68-65, on a Charlie Moore triple a minute later, but a Reece Beekman touchdown-pass inbound assist to a streaking Kihei Clark for an easy layup sealed the contest with 14 seconds to play.

Trailing by 10 early in the second half, the Hoos got a much-needed 3-pointer from Clark to break a six-minute scoring drought. Fellow senior Kody Stattmann followed with a wide-open triple to get Virginia back within a basket, 40-38, with 17:20 to go.

Clark drilled another long ball at the 15-minute mark to give the Hoos a 45-44 advantage, Gardner scored on consecutive possessions, and Clark connected again from deep to cap a string of eight-consecutive Wahoo buckets.

Kadin Shedrick split a pair from the charity stripe to extend the scoring run to 23-4 and the UVA lead to 53-44, but Kameron McGusty’s 3-ball with 11:55 to play stopped the bleeding for the Hurricanes (19-8, 11-5), who responded with 7 unanswered points over a three-minute stretch to get back within two points.

Beekman beat the buzzer with a jumper to push the Cavalier lead to four as the clock went under five minutes, and then delivered an assist to Gardner on a strong take the next trip down, and Virginia held a 61-55 advantage at the final media timeout with 3:41 remaining.

Shedrick came up with an important block on an Isaiah Wong layup attempt as the game went under three minutes, leading to two Beekman free throws on the other end, and the Hoos were able to hang on.

Virginia shot 63 percent after halftime (15 for 24) and 49 percent on the evening (25 for 51), connecting on 5 of 16 from long range (31 percent) and 19 of 25 (76 percent) from the foul line. UVA edged Miami on the boards, 36-33, committing 11 turnovers while forcing six. The Cavalier bench outscored the Hurricane non-starters, 21-6.

Gardner posted his sixth game of the season with at least 20 points, adding 7 rebounds, a game-high 3 blocks and 2 assists on 9-of-14 shooting.

Clark, who was 1 for 12 from the field over his last 60 minutes of basketball prior to Saturday’s second half, scored 14 of his 17 points after halftime (he was 5 for 10, 3 for 6 from deep in the half) to go along with 5 assists.

Shedrick double-doubled with 13 points and 13 rebounds, while Stattmann scored all of his 8 points in the second half. Beekman finished with 6 points, 4 boards and a game-high 7 assists.

McGusty led the Hurricanes with 20 points, while Jordan Miller (15 points), Moore (14) and Wong (10) also registered double figures.

FIRST HALF

The Hurricanes sank their first five shot attempts — and six of their first seven, using a 7-0 run to grab an early 12-4 lead.

The Hoos answered with a 10-3 spurt as Franklin trimmed it to one, 15-14, with the Hoos’ lone 3-pointer of the half (1 for 8), and then Shedrick tied it up at 18-apiece with a pair of free throws at the 13-minute mark.

After missing their first three field-goal attempts of the contest, the Cavaliers went on to make seven of their next eight, while also knocking down their first eight from the free-throw line.

Gardner’s second bucket of the half knotted the score at 25-all with 7:30 to play, as Miami went over four minutes without a point, missing six field-goal attempts in a row.

Shedrick, who scored 10 first-half points, gave UVA its first lead of the game on a three-point play with 6:17 left, 28-27, but he picked up his second foul two minutes later and didn’t return until after halftime.

Gardner gave the Hoos a 30-29 edge with 5:06 on the clock, and those would be the final Virginia points of the half. UVA missed its final six shots and Miami closed on a 9-0 run to lead 38-30 at the break.

Box Score

Team Notes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

• Virginia improved to 17-10, 11-6 ACC
• UVA is 5-6 on the road (5-4 in ACC play)
• The Cavaliers have won five or more ACC road games for the sixth consecutive season
• Virginia’s 8-0 run cut the Miami lead to 40-38
• UVA used a 23-4 run to gain a 53-44 lead
• UVA has won 11 or more ACC games for the 10th straight season
• Miami closed the first half on a 9-0 run and led 38-30
• UVA improved to 3-8 when trailing at the half
• Virginia is 142-11 when scoring at least 70 or more points under Tony Bennett
• UVA is 6-1 when scoring 70 or more points in 2021-22

Series Notes

• Virginia is 15-12 all-time vs. Miami in the series that began in 1965-66
• The Cavaliers recorded their first regular season two-game sweep over the Hurricanes
• UVA defeated Miami 71-58 on Feb. 5 at John Paul Jones Arena
• UVA has a six-game winning streak vs. Miami, including a three-game winning streak at Watsco Center
• The Cavaliers are 4-7 against the Hurricanes in Coral Gables
• Thirteen of the last 15 meetings between the teams have been decided by 10 points or less
• Head coach Tony Bennett is 12-6 all-time against Miami

Player Notes

• Double Figure Scorers: Jayden Gardner (23), Kihei Clark (17), Kadin Shedrick (13)
• Clark become the 50th Cavalier with 1,000 career points
• Gardner reached double figures for the 22nd time (95th career)
• Gardner’s consecutive free throw streak ended at 30
• Gardner has a 10-game double figure scoring streak
• Gardner matched a career high with three blocked shots
• Shedrick added a career-high 13 rebounds for his third career double-double
• Shedrick reached double figures for the ninth time (11th career)
• Clark (5 assists) passed Othell Wilson into sixth on UVA’s career assist list with 496.
• Clark reached double figures for the 14th time (48th career)
• Reece Beekman’s steal streak ended at 16

UP NEXT

Mike Krzyzewski makes his final trip to Charlottesville as Duke head coach Wednesday when the Hoos host the ninth-ranked Blue Devils (7 p.m., ESPN).