Franklin’s late flurry lifts Virginia to 71-69 win in OT over North Texas in NIT second round

By Scott Ratcliffe

After struggling offensively for the first 30 minutes of Virginia’s second-round matchup with North Texas Sunday, Armaan Franklin caught fire down the stretch. The junior guard scored 17-straight UVA points, bridging the second half and overtime, as the Cavaliers (21-13) held on to win, 71-69, and advance to the quarterfinal round of the National Invitation Tournament.

Jayden Gardner sank two free throws with 13.7 seconds left, giving UVA a four-point lead, 70-66, before North Texas’ Thomas Bell cut it to one on a three-point play with 4.5 ticks to go.

Kihei Clark was immediately fouled and split a pair from the charity stripe, and with no timeouts remaining, the Mean Green (25-7) had to go the length of the floor with a chance to tie or win. UNT’s Tylor Perry got a 3-point attempt off before the buzzer, but his shot bounced off the rim and the Wahoos escaped with the road victory.

UVA will face St. Bonaventure on Tuesday or Wednesday in the NIT quarterfinals (game details TBD).

Senior Kody Stattmann gave the Hoos a lift off the bench Sunday, breaking a 26-26 tie with a 3-pointer to spark a 10-0 Cavalanche to begin the second half.

Reece Beekman followed that with a steal-and-score, Gardner’s ensuing takeaway led to a Beekman 3, and then Clark stripped the ball from Perry and Beekman was there to follow his miss on the other end.

Gardner scored on a tough bucket to give Virginia a 40-31 lead, as the Hoos hit six of eight shots during one stretch. The East Carolina transfer forward notched double figures for the 28th time this season on a drive to the rack with 13:32 remaining to make it a nine-point advantage.

After North Texas cut it to five, Gardner struck again from the baseline, as he converted on four-straight Cavalier baskets. Clark buried an open triple to extend the UVA lead back to 10, 47-37, with 11:13 to play.

Franklin followed with his first basket of the game from downtown to make it 50-41 as the clock went under 10 minutes.

Mardrez McBride knocked down consecutive 3-pointers to trim the Virginia lead to 52-49 with 6:44 to play, but Franklin answered with another triple of his own. That turned out to be Virginia’s last basket of the second half, as the Hoos went scoreless for the final 5:42.

Leading by four, Gardner was called for an offensive foul with 2:58 to go, and then Perry completed a four-point play to tie it at 55-all with 2:32 left, as Kadin Shedrick fouled out on the play.

Bell lost the ball out of bounds with 1:15 left, giving the Hoos a chance to take the lead, but Clark couldn’t get a shot off in time, and the Mean Green got it back with just 8.4 seconds left in regulation. Perry launched one just before the buzzer, but his would-be, game-winning 3-point attempt was off the mark, sending the game to an extra session.

Franklin opened overtime with a trio of 3-pointers, scoring 17 of Virginia’s points in a row and giving the Cavaliers a 64-58 advantage with 2:46 left in OT.

Francisco Caffaro fouled out on the ensuing possession after arguing his fourth personal foul, leaving UVA without a big man for the final 2:31, allowing UNT to trim three points off of the Virginia lead from the foul line.

Gardner answered with a jumper to make it 66-61, and then Beekman came away with a rebound and raced the length of the floor for a layup. McBride made a 3-pointer with 40 seconds left to cut it to 68-64, and the Mean Green caught a few late breaks after Beekman and Stattmann both missed the front ends of their one-and-one opportunities in the final 34 seconds.

Virginia shot 48 percent on the evening (26 for 54), 53 percent from 3-point range (9 for 17), and 53 percent from the free-throw line (10 for 19).

Franklin and Gardner each scored 17 points to lead the way, while Beekman added 13 and Clark had 11. Beekman also had a game-high 9 assists, 7 rebounds and 3 steals. Stattmann finished with 9 points and a career-high 10 rebounds.

McBride led all scorers with 21 points, while Perry and Abou Ousmane added 16 apiece and Bell had 12, as the Mean Green shot 45 percent (25 for 56) from the field, 36 percent from downtown (8 for 22), and 79 percent from the free-throw line (11 for 14).

FIRST HALF

In the opening minutes, the two teams showed why they’re regarded as two of the top defensive units in the country, combining for just five points in the first five minutes.

McBride nailed a long 3-pointer to give the Mean Green a 7-1 lead, but Beekman answered with the Hoos’ first field goal after missing their first six attempts.

North Texas held a 15-8 advantage when Clark barely beat the shot clock with a triple to cut the UVA deficit to four just past the midway point of the half. Gardner followed with a jumper, and then Shedrick tied it with a jam with 7:47 on the clock.

Clark sank a baseline jumper to knot the score at 17-all after UNT briefly reclaimed the lead, and then Beekman gave the Cavaliers their first lead since it was 1-0 on a nifty reverse layup. Stattmann scored to cap a 13-2 Virginia run, and North Texas coach Grant McCasland called for a timeout with his team trailing, 21-17, with 3:49 until halftime.

The Mean Green scored four in a row out of the timeout to tie it up at 21-apiece, but Gardner connected from the top of the key to put Virginia back in front. Clark’s left-handed layup with 43 ticks showing pushed the Virginia lead to 26-21, but Perry converted a three-point play with 14 seconds to go, and the Hoos led 26-24 at the break. The Cavaliers ended the half making 10 of their last 16 shots.

Box Score

Team Notes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

• The Cavaliers improved to 21-13
• UVA is 2-2 all-time in NIT overtime games
• This was UVA’s first overtime contest of the season
• UVA had a 13-2 run to gain a 21-17 lead
• UVA led 26-24 at the half, improving to 16-4 when leading after 20 minutes
• UVA used a 10-0 run to gain a 36-26 lead
• Tylor Perry’s four-point play tied the score at 55-55
• UVA is 9-5 in nonconference action
• UVA has won 21 or more games for the 10th time under Tony Bennett
• Virginia is 144-11 when scoring at least 70 or more points under Bennett
• UVA is 8-1 when scoring 70 or more points in 2021-22

NIT Notes

• The Cavaliers are 19-11 all-time in 14 NIT appearances, including a pair of championships in 1980 and 1992
• UVA is 5-3 all-time in the NIT second round
• The Cavaliers are 4-5 on the road in the NIT
• The Cavaliers are 4-1 in NIT action under Tony Bennett
• Bennett is 4-2 all-time in the NIT, including a 68-57 loss at St. Mary’s as head coach at Washington State in 2009

Series Notes

• The Cavaliers are 2-0 all-time vs. North Texas

Player Notes

• Double Figure Scorers: Armaan Franklin (17), Jayden Gardner (17), Reece Beekman (11), Kihei Clark (11)
• Franklin matched a career-high with five 3-pointers and buried a trio of 3-pointers in overtime
• Clark reached double figures for the 17th time (51st career)
• Gardner reached double figures for the 28th time (102nd career)
• Beekman reached double figures for the 12th time (15th career)
• Franklin reached double figures for the 20th time (34th career)
• Stattmann had a career-high 10 rebounds
• Clark matched a career high with three steals
• Beekman (3 steals) has at least one steal in 31 of 34 games
• Beekman (9 assists) ranks eighth on UVA’s single season assist list with 175
• Beekman played a career-high 45 minutes
• Francisco Caffaro and Kadin Shedrick each fouled out
• Caffaro was assessed a technical foul with 2:31 left in overtime