Clark, Gardner allow Cavaliers to outlast James Madison

By Kenneth Cross
JerryRatcliffe.com Correspondent

There’s no doubt Virginia’s starting five can match up and play against anyone, as this group exudes experience, athleticism, and basketball mentality to finish plays on either end of the floor. 

In Wednesday evening’s tough 55-50 win over James Madison, Kihei Clark and Jayden Gardner helped Virginia produce retribution for last season’s 52-49 win by the Dukes over the Cavaliers at JMU.

Both Clark and Gardner were monumental in the second half, as Clark scored the first nine points of the half by netting a pair of threes and then scoring on an and-one to allow Virginia to keep its lead at 36-30 with 15:03 to play. 

“Kihei was facilitating and running the show tonight, just setting us up,” said Gardner. “He was just setting us up and we have a feel. We have good chemistry and that is going back to our trip to Italy to spend a lot of time together.”

As Clark scored 11 of Virginia’s first 13 points to begin the second half, Gardner then took control inside, where he worked the boxes and was fouled as he was able to get to the line.

After JMU guard Takal Molson made a three to tie the game at 42-42 with 7:51 remaining, Gardner scored on a layup and then hit a solid jumper off the right wing to give the Cavaliers a 46-42 lead with 5:48 to play.

“We have guys who can (step up),” explained Gardner. “We just trust our slides and we just trust what we do, and we just trust the ‘Pack’ (Pack-Line defense), so that’s what we are going to do. We are going to defend.”

JMU came into the game as one of the top offenses among the 363  teams in D-I college basketball in averaging 93.3 points per game, while shooting 54.7 percent from the field. The Cavaliers held them to 15 of 55 from the floor, but James Madison outrebounded Virginia, 41-33.

The biggest play of the game came from freshman Ryan Dunn, after Molson had pushed Virginia to a slim 52-50 advantage with his lay-up off the left side with 1:01 remaining.

“I just said that if I get it and be aggressive, I can make a play,” said Dunn. “I went baseline and scored.”

Dunn also had an earlier rim-rattling dunk off the left side on the fast break from Clark. It gave Virginia a 17-10 lead with 7:49 to play in the first half. 

“They made some turnovers and probably made some errors, just like we did, that helped us out,” said Virginia coach Tony Bennett. “There was more defensive composure and poise. I think that team settled in that I played at the end, and we just went with it and made enough plays offensively.”

The experience and confidence of Clark and Gardner were key in the second half, as they combined for 22 of the Cavaliers’ 28 points.

JMU held Virginia to 5 for 21 from downtown, and the Cavaliers have made only 10 of 40 3-point field goals in posturing a pair of five-point wins over the Dukes and Florida State.

“When the games are really physical defensively, Florida State plays a different kind of defense, but obviously physical, sometimes that happens,” said Bennett.

Virginia had a tough night at the free-throw line, as the Cavaliers made only 12 of 24 free throws, and that left the door open for Molson and his teammates to make the run and have the opportunities that they did.

The Cavaliers had made 73.5 percent of their free throws through the first seven games, averaging 19.5 makes per game, good for fourth in the country.