No. 3 Hoos fight back, escape Ann Arbor with 70-68 win vs. Michigan in ACC-Big Ten Challenge

By Scott Ratcliffe

UVA coach Tony Bennett said after Wednesday’s matchup with Michigan that you can never win a tough game without a little grit and fight. His No. 3 Virginia team displayed both as it erased an 11-point halftime deficit and went ahead to stay on a Jayden Gardner elbow jumper with 39 seconds remaining.

Reece Beekman, who scored 15 of his team-high 18 points in the first half, came away with a crucial steal in the waning seconds, and then he and Gardner smothered Michigan’s last-second 3-point attempt as the Cavaliers held on for a 70-68 win on the road in Ann Arbor — in the final ACC-Big Ten Challenge of all time — to stay perfect at 6-0 on the season.

The Wahoos, who had five players in double figures, got a late lift from graduate transfer forward Ben Vander Plas, who scored 9 of his 10 points during a span of 3:51 down the stretch, part of a 13-2 Cavalier run that turned a six-point deficit into a 65-60 lead with just over five minutes to play.

The Wolverines (5-2) finished the first half on a 10-3 spurt to take their largest lead of the game, 45-34, into the halftime break. Michigan big man Hunter Dickinson scored 14 of his game-high 23 points in the first half, while the rest of his teammates were scorching the nets from beyond the arc en route to the comfortable advantage at the midway point.

Michigan came into Tuesday’s game shooting just 32 percent from 3-point land (49 for 154), but knocked down 7 of 13 (54 percent) in the first half.

Virginia buckled down defensively in the second, and quickly got itself right back in the contest, using a 14-5 run out of the break to trim the Michigan lead to just two, 50-48, by the under-16 media timeout.

Gardner scored moments later to make it 52-50, as the Wahoos connected on seven-straight field-goal attempts during one stretch. The Wolverines responded with 6 unanswered points, capped by a Jett Howard basket to lead 58-52 with just over 10 minutes left.

That’s when the Hoos turned things around behind the play of Vander Plas and senior point guard Kihei Clark, who between the two of them scored all 13 of the team’s points on the decisive scoring spurt.

Clark got it started on a nifty reverse scoop-layup, going under and around Dickinson and in for two off the glass. Vander Plas then caught fire when Dickinson briefly headed to the bench for a breather, backing down his defender to score his first bucket of the night and getting the Hoos back within two, 58-56, before drawing a charge on the other end.

A pair of Clark free throws knotted the score at 58-all with 8:09 to go, and then Vander Plas scored seven in a row — putting the Cavaliers ahead with a basket off the glass out of the media break, then added a baby hook and a 3-pointer to push it to 65-60 with 5:15 to play.

The Wolverines battled back with another 6-0 flurry to retake the lead, 66-65, with 1:41 showing, as Dickinson elbowed Virginia junior center Kadin Shedrick in the face, but went to the free-throw line and split a pair to put his team on top. Shedrick, who stayed face-down on the floor for a moment before exiting, picked up his fifth foul on the play. 

Gardner got a good look the next trip down, but couldn’t connect on a jumper from the free-throw line, but Dickinson misfired on the other end, the Hoos secured the rebound at the one-minute mark, and Beekman found Gardner open for the go-ahead bucket.

With Michigan on the attack looking to regain the late lead, Beekman intercepted a Jaelin Llewellyn pass and split a pair of clear-path free throws with 15.8 seconds to go. The Cavaliers retained possession and Clark sank both ends of a one-and-one to make it 70-66 with 14.2 to play.

Dickinson scored quickly to trim it back to two with 6.9 ticks showing, and Armaan Franklin was fouled with 5.7 remaining. After misfiring on the first, Michigan successfully iced the senior guard on his second attempt, giving the Wolverines one final try, but Howard was doubled by Gardner and Beekman in front of his bench and his last-second, desperation bomb was stuffed as the final horn sounded.

Virginia shot 51 percent on the night (27 for 53), 50 percent from downtown (4 for 8) and 63 percent from the charity stripe (12 of 19), outscoring the Wolverines by 20, 44-24, in the paint. Michigan won the rebounding battle, 29-25, but committed 12 turnovers which led to a dozen Cavalier points.

Clark made 7 of 8 from the foul line and scored 16 points to go with his 4 assists, while Gardner finished with his first double-double of the season, 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds to go with his game-high 3 steals.

Beekman, who was 6 for 7 from the field in the first half (7 for 10, 1 for 1 from deep for the game), turned his ankle when he stepped on Gardner’s foot less than five minutes into the second half, but got it taped up and was able to return for his late-game heroics. He also dished out a game-high 5 assists and grabbed 4 rebounds.

Shedrick finished with 12 points (5 for 6 FG) in just 22 minutes as be dealt with foul trouble. Franklin, who entered the night as the team’s leading scorer on the season, scored a season-low 2 points (1 for 6 FG, 0 for 2 from deep).

𝐇𝐨𝐨𝐬 𝐖𝐢𝐧

🔶⚔️🔷#GoHoos | Presented by @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/0jeScbB2kF

— Virginia Men’s Basketball (@UVAMensHoops) November 30, 2022

Team Notes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

• UVA is 6-0 for the first time since starting 7-0 in 2019-20
• UVA ends the ACC-Big Ten Challenge with a 14-8 record, including a 7-5 mark on the road
• UVA is 150-11 when scoring 70 or more points under Bennett
• UVA has scored 70 or more points in its first six games for the first time since starting the 2003-04 season with eight games of 70 or more points
• UVA is 161-47 in non-conference action under Tony Bennett
• UVA started the second half on a 14-5 run and trailed 50-48
• UVA outscored Michigan 36-23 in the second half
• UVA shot 50.9 percent, marking its third game shooting 50 percent or better
• Michigan shot 61.3 percent (19 of 31) en route to a 45-34 lead

Bennett Wins Watch

• Tony Bennett (322-117, 14 seasons) needs five wins to pass Terry Holland (326-173, 16 seasons) as the all-time winningest coach at UVA
• Bennett (391-150) needs nine wins to reach 400 career wins

Series Notes

• Virginia is 3-2 all-time vs. Michigan, including a 2-0 mark in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge

Player Notes

• Double Figure Scorers: Reece Beekman (18), Kihei Clark (16), Kadin Shedrick (12), Jayden Gardner (12), Ben Vander Plas (10)
• UVA had five players in double figures for the first time since Jan. 16, 2021 at Clemson
• Beekman reached double figures for the 19th time
• Beekman scored 15 of his 18 points in the first half
• Shedrick was 5 of 6 from the field and is now 22 of 29 for the season
• Shedrick reached double figures for the 16th time
• Gardner reached double figures for the 106th time
• Gardner had 12 points and 11 rebounds for his 37th career double-double
• Gardner matched a career high with three steals
• Clark reached double figures for the 53rd time
• Vander Plas reached double figures for the 88th time (3rd at UVA)
• Kihei Clark (4,438 minutes) passed London Perrantes (4,425 minutes from 2014-17) for first on UVA’s career minutes list and 16th on the ACC’s Career Minutes Played list
• Clark (1,139) passed Devin Smith (1,131 points from 2003-05) for 43rd on UVA’s all-time scoring list
• Clark is tied for fifth on UVA’s career games list with 134
• Clark (4 assists) tied Perrantes for fourth on UVA’s career assists list with 569

UP NEXT
Virginia begins ACC play on Saturday at John Paul Jones Arena, as struggling Florida State (1-7 heading into Wednesday’s final day of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge) comes to town. The Seminoles are 14.5-point underdogs Wednesday at home against No. 5 Purdue.