Virginia doesn’t survive a second night of no offensive firepower

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Photo: theacc.com

When Virginia needed an entire half to warm up its offensive engine before going on to beat Louisville in Wednesday’s ACC Tournament second round, it counted on its defense to stay within striking distance.

On Thursday night, in a quarterfinal matchup against North Carolina, it was a different story. The Cavaliers’ offense was ice cold and the defense didn’t live up to its reputation in a 63-43 blowout loss that likely knocked UVA out of consideration for an NCAA bid.

When Tony Bennett was asked, after watching his team slip to 19-13 on the season, if he believed the Cavaliers deserved consideration, he didn’t hesitate.

“I mean, how we looked tonight, no,” Bennett said. “I don’t know if we’re in that conversation or not, but stranger things have happened if teams lose.”

Virginia was a bubble team going in, but Carolina likely erased the Cavaliers from that conversation. UVA was its own worst enemy, putting on one of its worst performances of the season and hitting offensive lows that go back decades.

One would have to go back to 1998 to find the last time Virginia scored fewer points in an ACC Tournament game, putting up only 41 against Duke.

That figure only scratches the surface of UVA’s offensive ineptitude against Carolina in Brooklyn.

The Cavaliers’ 34.6-percent shooting was a season low (ironically, Carolina only shot 38.5 percent and still won by 20).

Virginia had only 13 points at halftime, the lowest since scoring 13 against William & Mary in 1984. The 18.5-percent shooting (5 of 27) in the first half Thursday night was the worst since 2015 when California won in a blowout as the Cavaliers shot 18.4 (5 of 22).

While UVA struggled to score early in the Louisville game the night before and was stuck on only 4 points with less than nine minutes to play in the first half, at least the Cavaliers rallied. This time, against Carolina, the defense wasn’t there to save their bacon.

“I’d guess I’d want to watch tape before I can give a real answer, and one of my assistants said he didn’t think the defense was that bad, but it didn’t feel [that way],” Bennett said. “I kind of got on these guys after the game. I didn’t feel like it was as sound as it needed to be, allowing some offensive rebounds, getting split on ball screens.

“We really tried to work hard leading up to this one some of the things that we went against, and I didn’t feel like we executed. The eye test, I thought it was pretty poor. Numbers are one thing, but that’s the eye test.”

One of UVA’s defensive strategies worked, that being containing Tar Heels big man Armondo Bacot, who simply obliterated the Cavaliers in the first meeting. In that game, Bennett’s “Pack Line” had no answers against Bacot, who put up 29 points and 22 boards.

This time around, Virginia held him to 10 points on a 5-of-12 shooting performance, although he did post 11 rebounds, nine of them on defense, limiting the Cavaliers’ opportunities for second-chance buckets.

Jayden Gardner, who led UVA’s offense with 17 points, said the Cavaliers used multiple variations of choking out the post and doubling Bacot with Francisco Caffaro and Kadin Shedrick.

Gardner was essentially the only firepower Virginia brought to Barclays Center in the quarters. While he was 8 of 16 shooting, the rest of the team was a mere 10 of 36.

Even Gardner struggled early during a horrid UVA scoring drought that left the Cavaliers trailing at the break, 33-13, in what proved to be an insurmountable deficit.

“What’s going through your mind is we’ve got to keep getting stops to keep us in the game when shots aren’t falling,” said Shedrick, who finished with 8 points. “Hopefully eventually they will fall.”

They didn’t.

Virginia has struggled mightily on offense this season after most of its offense headed off to pro basketball, but the Cavaliers still managed to find ways to win 19 games, 12 wins in the ACC, including wins over Duke and Miami.

“When we did get some decent quality looks, we didn’t hit them,” Bennett said. “That kind of gets into you and we’ve talked about this a lot. It puts a lot of pressure on our defense. We didn’t have an answer for stretches.”

As Bennett would say later, things just snowballed.

While his defense was doing a good job of limiting Bacot, what Virginia didn’t count on was Brady Manek having such a good night. Manek, a hired gun from Oklahoma, shot lights out early and actually outscored UVA the first half, drilling three 3-pointers and eventually finishing with 21 points.

Meanwhile, Carolina coach Hubert Davis made a good move by putting 6-foot-8 Leaky Black on Virginia point guard Kihei Clark, listed at 5-10. Black’s length bothered Clark, who finished 3 of 9 from the field, had four assists and three turnovers, seven points. Clark struggled to efficiently run the offense in his normal fashion and to get the ball to teammates in scoring position.

Bennett conceded that move made it difficult for Clark, but shouldered some of the blame himself.

“I didn’t do a great job trying to find different ways for our guys to maybe get some more space or get better shots,” Bennett said. “I was frustrated with myself. I don’t believe [his team] stopped trying. Only they can look in the mirror and say that for the most part. But we’ve got to grow from this.”

Virginia won’t learn its fate until Sunday when the NCAA field is announced and the NIT follows later that evening.

ACC Tournament

Barclays Center
Brooklyn, N.Y.

Tuesday
Opening Round
Game 1 — No. 13 Boston College 66, No. 12 Pittsburgh 46
Game 2 — No. 10 Clemson 70, No. 15 NC State 64
Game 3 — No. 11 Louisville 84, No. 14 Georgia Tech 74

Wednesday
Second Round
Game 4 — No. 9 Syracuse 96, No. 8 Florida State 57
Game 5 — No. 13 Boston College 82, No. 5 Wake Forest 77 (OT)
Game 6 — No. 7 Virginia Tech 76, No. 10 Clemson 75 (OT)
Game 7 — No. 6 Virginia 51, No. 11 Louisville 50

Thursday
Quarterfinals
Game 8 — No. 1 Duke 88, No. 9 Syracuse 79
Game 9 — No. 4 Miami 71, No. 13 Boston College 69
Game 10 — No. 7 Virginia Tech 87, No. 2 Notre Dame 80
Game 11 — No. 3 North Carolina 63, No. 6 Virginia 43

Friday
Semifinals
Game 12 — No. 1 Duke vs. No. 4 Miami, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
Game 13 — No. 3 North Carolina vs. No. 7 Virginia Tech, 9:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Saturday
Championship
Game 14 — Semifinal winners, 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Poor shooting hurts Cavaliers in 63-43 loss to UNC in ACC quarterfinals

By Scott Ratcliffe

It was a long night for Virginia fans Thursday, as they saw their beloved Cavaliers struggle mightily on the offensive end and North Carolina roll to a 63-43 win in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals in Brooklyn, in a game that was never really close.

The sixth-seeded Wahoos (19-13) stumbled out of the gate and just couldn’t put the ball in the basket, trailing by double digits throughout the majority of the contest. Virginia, which shot a season-low 35 percent (18 of 52) from the field Thursday, is now 2-5 all-time against UNC in the ACC quarterfinals.

The third-seeded Tar Heels (24-8) will face No. 7 seed Virginia Tech in Friday’s second semifinal. Carolina All-ACC First-Teamer Armando Bacot, who put up 29 points and 22 rebounds in the lone regular-season meeting between the longtime rivals on Jan. 8 in Chapel Hill, didn’t have anywhere near that type of production Thursday night, but he didn’t need to.

Oklahoma transfer Brady Manek lit up the Barclays Center nets, pouring in 19 of his game-high 21 points in the first half to lead the charge, as Virginia’s slim NCAA Tournament chances took a major hit.

The Hoos scored more points in the first 10 minutes of the second half (16) than they did the entire first half (13), as Kihei Clark’s 3-pointer with 10:37 to play only cut the Carolina lead to 20, 49-29. UVA got within 19 points on a pair of Jayden Gardner free throws with 6:36 to go, but that’s as close as it would get.

Gardner led the Cavaliers with 17 points, as he was the only Virginia player to reach double figures (Kadin Shedrick had 8, Clark had 7, Armaan Franklin had 5). Reece Beekman finished with 3 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks.

Bacot couldn’t get it going early on, but recorded 10 points, a game-high 11 rebounds, 2 blocks and 3 steals, while Caleb Love added 10 points and 5 assists and R.J. Davis had 8 points, 8 rebounds and a game-best 6 assists, as Carolina shot 39 percent (25 for 65) for the game and 26 percent from downtown (6 for 23), outrebounding Virginia, 46-32.

FIRST HALF

For the second night in a row, it took over three minutes for the Hoos to put points on the board, but Gardner followed a pair of Franklin free throws with a tough move inside to give Virginia an early 4-2 lead.

The Heels answered with back-to-back buckets, but Beekman put the Cavaliers back in front with the team’s first 3-pointer of the tournament, and UVA led 7-6 at the first TV break with 15:12 on the clock.

The Hoos did a good job containing Bacot early on, as he missed his first three shot attempts. Gardner’s jumper at the 13-minute mark knotted the score at 9-all, but Manek responded with his second 3-pointer of the half.

Bacot swatted a Francisco Caffaro shot and then slammed it home in transition for his first basket, as the Heels scored seven unanswered to lead, 16-9, at the midway point of the half.

Caffaro redeemed himself moments later, blocking Bacot on the other end, but Virginia missed six-straight shots and went over three minutes without scoring until Gardner sank one out of a timeout with 9:40 left.

Manek gave Carolina a 21-11 lead with his third triple before Shedrick’s putback slam of a Beekman miss with 6:15 remaining. UNC stretched its lead to a dozen, 25-13, with a Manek jumper, followed by a Davis tip-in of his own miss to cap a 16-4 run as the clock went under four minutes.

It only got worse from there, as the Heels tacked on eight more points and went into the locker room with a comfortable 33-13 lead. The Hoos didn’t score for the final 6:15 of the half, missing their last seven attempts from the field and shooting just 19 percent (5 for 27) across the opening 20 minutes.

Virginia’s 13 points marked the lowest-scoring first half of an ACC Tournament game in the shot-clock era (since 1985-86).

Bacot only had 2 points on 1-of-6 shooting in the half, but his teammates, particularly Manek, picked up the slack — Manek outscored UVA by himself, 19-13.

Box Score

Team Notes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

• The Cavaliers fell to 19-13
• UVA’s 43 points were its fewest at the ACC Tournament since scoring 41 vs. Duke in a first round contest in 1998
• The 20-point loss was UVA’s largest at the ACC Tournament since a 37-point loss vs. Duke in a first round contest in 1999
• UVA’s 34.6 percent field goal shooting marked a season low
• UVA’s 13 first half points were its lowest in a half since scoring 13 in a first half win vs. William & Mary on Dec. 5, 1984
• UVA shot less than 20 percent in a half (5 of 27 for 18.5%) for the first time since shooting 18.4 percent (5 of 22) vs. California on Dec. 22, 2015
• UNC outrebounded UVA 46-32, including 25-18 en route to its 33-13 halftime lead
• UVA is 26-37 mark in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals
• UVA head coach Tony Bennett is 13-9 in the ACC Tournament
• UVA is 9-2 all-time at Barclays Center
• UVA is 3-1 on neutral courts in 2021-22

Series Notes

• UVA is 60-133 all-time vs. North Carolina in the series that began in 1910-11
• UVA is 4-14 all-time against the Tar Heels at the ACC Tournament, including a 2-5 mark in the quarterfinal round
• UNC defeated Virginia 74-58 during the regular season on Jan. 8 in Chapel Hill.
• Bennett is 12-10 all-time vs. North Carolina, including a loss as head coach of Washington State in the 2008 NCAA Sweet 16
• Bennett is 1-2 vs. UNC in ACC Tournament action.

Player Notes

• Double Figure Scorers: Jayden Gardner (17)
• Gardner reached double figures for the 26th time (100th career)
• Reece Beekman (3 steals) has at least one steal in 29 of 32 games

UP NEXT

The Hoos will await word on their postseason fate as the NCAA Tournament and NIT brackets are announced Sunday evening.

Virginia must contain Bacot in tonight’s rematch with Tar Heels in ACC quarterfinals

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Tony Bennett was asked in his postgame interviews Wednesday night, what has changed with his team since Jan. 8.

Fresh off a 51-50, second-round victory over Louisville in the ACC Tournament, Bennett knew exactly where the question was coming from. By eliminating Louisville, the Cavaliers were set to face North Carolina in Thursday night’s quarterfinals (9:30, ESPN). Jan. 8 was the last time — the only time — UVA has played Carolina this season.

In that meeting two months ago, the Tar Heels obliterated the Cavaliers, 74-58, in a game that didn’t seem even as close as the final score. UNC’s Armando Bacot put up 29 points and 22 rebounds against Virginia, which had no answer for the Heels’ big man. No player had put up those kinds of numbers against UVA since Wake Forest’s Tim Duncan in 1997 (21 points, 23 rebounds).

Making matters worse, Carolina sharpshooters Brady Manek and Caleb Love scored 19 and 16, respectively, primarily from the 3-point line.

So, what has changed with Bennett’s team since that first meeting, which left the Cavaliers at 9-6 overall and 3-2 in the ACC?

“Yeah, that’s what I like about this team,” Bennett answered. “I said from where we were to start the season, they’ve improved. Overall, the team has improved. Individuals have improved and the team has improved.

“That means a lot to me because you want to be healthy and you want to be improved and playing good basketball at this time of the year, and I think these guys are doing that.”

Virginia, the sixth seed in Brooklyn, is 19-12 (12-8 ACC), and has scored wins over top-seeded Duke and Miami (twice) since that Jan. 8 battle with the Tar Heels. As Bennett mentioned, players have improved.

Kadin Shedrick has probably been the most-improved of the lot, as the 6-foot-11 center has become a dependable force in the paint. Not only has Shedrick become an offensive weapon, but has evolved into an effective shot blocker and rim protector, which will be incredibly important to prevent Bacot from going off again.

Francisco Caffaro, a physical, 7-1 center, has become capable on both ends of the floor and will also be a key in preventing Bacot from controlling offensive rebounds when the Tar Heels are on the attack.

Jayden Gardner has become the player everyone thought he would be after transferring from East Carolina. Gardner is the leading scorer (15.3 ppg) and leading rebounder (6.8) for the Cavaliers, and has become lethal with his mid-range jumper. He has also evolved into the most-improved defensive player on the team.

The backcourt of Kihei Clark and Reece Beekman have developed a nice chemistry. Both are effective defenders, with Beekman assigned to shut down opponents’ best scorers. He was runner-up for ACC Defensive Player of the Year, an award many observers felt he deserved to win.

Beekman has also become more assertive offensively and is expanding his game to where he is a 3-point threat and explosive in attacking the basket, as evidenced in last night’s huge drive to the rim in a drawn-up isolation play that gave Virginia a two-possession lead in the waning moments of the win over Louisville.

That leads us to Armaan Franklin, who has been UVA’s second-leading scorer on the season with an 11.1-ppg average, but has fallen into an offensive slump.

In the past seven games, Franklin has reached double figures only twice, scoring 13 points in a home loss to Florida State and 13 in last Saturday’s win at Louisville.

However, he failed to score in Wednesday night’s third-game sweep of Louisville in the second round, missing all eight field-goal attempts. During the seven-game span, Franklin is 18 of 58 from the field (31 percent).

Brought in to boost Virginia’s scoring ability from the 3-point arc after shooting 42 percent from that range before transferring from Indiana, Franklin has also slumped late in the season, making only 8 of 32 attempts over the past eight games.

The Cavaliers desperately need a contribution from Franklin against the Tar Heels to help spread the floor and help open things up for UVA’s bigs.

Without a strong bench, Virginia won’t have a lot of bodies to throw at Bacot & Co., but can’t afford to back off the physicality like it did in Chapel Hill when the Cavaliers weren’t getting a body on Bacot all game long.

Meanwhile, UNC fans are concerned that the Tar Heels are still sky-high after spoiling Mike Krzyzewski’s going-away party at Cameron last Saturday night when they defeated Duke. Carolina coach Hubert Davis doesn’t believe that’s the case.

“The confidence and the joy that I think our players are feeling is because of that, it’s not directed on this past Saturday,” Davis told reporters this week. “I think it’s based upon the last month and a half and just how well we’re playing.”

Carolina has won 11 of its last 13 games, and its last five in a row, coming into tonight’s game.

The Heels have shown a slight tendency to lose intensity after a big win and have been vulnerable to the upset. Davis is fighting that theory with words.

“In terms of identity, I think we’re a tough team, a resilient team, and I think that’s been proven by the way that this team has continued to persevere and bounce back through ups and downs in the season to put themselves in a position where they are right now,” Davis said. “I can’t be any happier.”

Bennett knows that UNC has elevated its play over the season, the recent win over Duke serving as Exhibit A.

“They’re playing good basketball, they’re very talented and seems like they’re peaking at the right time,” Bennett said. “It’s a great opportunity for us, a great challenge to be as good as we can be in our way and try and get it done.”

Virginia, which owned a seven-game winning streak (all against former coach Roy Williams) heading into the season, is fighting for its postseason life and enters the game very much on the proverbial NCAA bubble. A win might not put them in the field, but a loss would certainly cast the Cavaliers into the NIT.

Podcast: Can Virginia pull the upset of UNC?

“The Jerry Ratcliffe Show” welcomes Chris Graham for a discussion of Virginia’s 51-50 win over Louisville in the second round of the 2022 ACC Tournament, a look ahead to tonight’s game with #3 seed UNC, and a little UVA football at the end.

Offense your cup of tea? Don’t tell that to defensive-minded, first-to-50 Virginia

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Virginia Cavaliers guard Kihei Clark (0) reacts after drawing a foul on the Louisville Cardinals during the second round game of the 2022 New York Life ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament at Barclays Center on Wednesday, March 09,2022 in Brooklyn, N.Y.. (Photo by David Welker / theacc.com)

Virginia’s DNA is composed of smothering defense, a natural genetic trait with Tony Bennett’s roots linked to his father’s creation of the “Pack Line” defense. The Bennett’s are disciples of defense-first.

That old tenet served Virginia well during an unsightly rock fight on the corner of Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues late Wednesday night in Brooklyn in yet another “first-to-50” outcome in the ACC Tournament. Purists called it basketball. Bennett described it as a knuckle-buster.

Whatever adjective you prefer, the Cavaliers relied heavily on defense to continue their dominance over Louisville in a 51-50 heartstopper (see related game story, game notes, boxscore and tourney schedule). UVA, fighting for its postseason life, got its 19th win in a three-game sweep of the Cardinals, who lost 15 of their last 17 games in a brutal finish.

For those who like scoreboards sent into offensive gyrations, this game would not have suited their palate.

In a game where Virginia missed 16 of its first 18 shots and had only four points in the first 11 minutes and 23 seconds of the game, the Cavaliers became the first team to win an ACC Tournament game without making a 3-point shot (0 for 6) since the NCAA incorporated the triple in 1986.

Didn’t matter, because UVA’s defense was so stifling that Louisville couldn’t score either. Advantage, Cavaliers, although Louisville coach Mike Pegues felt his team’s defense wasn’t too shabby either.

“I thought we executed our game plan to a tee,” Pegues said. “If you ever want to know how you go about guarding Virginia’s offense, their blocker-mover, you watch this game and take the example.”

With offense barely a rumor, the Cavaliers were right at home, dragging this game across the finish line. It was 24-20 at the half, a pace that’s right in Virginia’s wheelhouse.

“I had a feeling it would be a first-to-50 game,” Pegues said afterward. “They got there a few seconds before we did.”

Attribute that factoid to Virginia’s key defensive plays down the homestretch.

After the two teams spent much of the second half leapfrogging one another, the Cavaliers were clinging to a 43-42 lead with 4:12 to play when their pitbullish guard Kihei Clark drew a charging foul on Louisville’s Mason Faulkner.

After a timeout, UVA’s leading scorer Jayden Gardner scored from the paint, then added his almost automatic mid-range jumper for a 47-45 lead with 87 seconds to play.

Following another time out, Reece Beekman expanded that lead to 49-45 on an explosive drive to the basket, making it a two possession game with 40 seconds on the clock.

Beekman, arguably the best defensive player in the league, reminded everyone why on the next Louisville possession when he was in Noah Locke’s grill so closely that Locke traveled.

Had it not been for those two defensive gems, Virginia may not have pulled off the hat trick against the Cardinals, whose last bucket came with one-tenth of a second to play.

“You’ve got to play true to who you are and just find ways, and that’s where our defense hangs us in there and you find some tough baskets,” Bennett said postgame.

“To me it was beautiful and I say that because, yeah, we were struggling offensively, but to me it’s beautiful when a team finds a way. They guard hard, they just do tough things.”

Even though Bennett didn’t really want to look at the box score to see the poor offensive numbers, he wasn’t about to apologize for the way Virginia plays. We’ve been down that road before, remember?

A few years back, en route to the 2019 national championship, pundits said UVA’s deliberate style and suffocating defense was ruining college basketball.

“I want our guys, when they have shots, to take them,” Bennett said after UVA’s 15th win in the last 17 games against the Cardinals. “Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don’t. But when you know you’re struggling in certain areas, do you have the wherewithal and the identity to say, ‘We’re going to rely on stops and squeeze out a few points here and there, and then try to win a game.’ I’d take that win over an 85-82 loss.”

Amen, said the Virginia fan base, which is accustomed to edge-of-their-seats, heart-palpitating thriller dillers, even if shots aren’t falling.

For the record, Louisville shot 35.7 percent (20 for 56) and hit only 5 of 22 attempts from behind the arc. With Beekman moving to defend whatever Cardinal was hot at the time, most of his focus was on Locke, who finished 3-of-10 for 8 points.

“The game comes down to making plays and there’s some good individual defensive plays,” Bennett said, directing his thoughts to Clark and Beekman.

“Kihei was heating up the ball, Reece was all over [Locke] and we just said make them shoot tough shots because Noah Locke can get going. I’m sure [Locke] wishes he had that play back, but Reece was right there and we always talk about contest the shot and bother it.

“We work on that and we knew we had to get it done with our defense.”

Beekman said the team knew it had to get stops, particularly down the stretch, with a chance for a rematch with North Carolina in tonight’s quarterfinals on the line.

“That was kind of our mindset the whole game,” Beekman said. “So coming down the stretch, it was going back and forth and at the end of the day, we knew we had to get a couple of stops to win the game. At the end, that’s what we did.”

The 19th win kept Virginia on the NCAA bubble, and after losing to UNC by 20 in the first meeting back in early January, the Cavaliers want to show the rest of the basketball world that was an anomaly.

Critics believe an upset over the Tar Heels just might push UVA through the bubble and into the NCAA field.

It might require another knuckle-buster. 

Virginia hangs on in a tight one over Louisville, 51-50, to advance to ACC quarterfinals

By Scott Ratcliffe

Virginia overcame a sloppy start and hung on late for a hard-fought, 51-50 win over a scrappy Louisville squad Wednesday to advance to the quarterfinal round of the ACC Tournament in Brooklyn.

Clinging to a late two-point lead, UVA guard Reece Beekman drove to the hole and scored off the glass with 40 seconds on the clock, as the sixth-seeded Cavaliers (19-12) went ahead, 49-45.

With 4.7 ticks left, Louisville’s Malik Williams scored on a putback to cut it to two, 49-47, but Jayden Gardner was immediately fouled and confidently sank a pair from the free-throw line to seal the deal, despite a last-second 3-pointer from half court by the Cardinals’ El Ellis.

UVA will now face third-seeded North Carolina in Thursday’s quarterfinal round in the Big Apple (see complete results and remaining schedule, along with game notes, below).

Down by four to start the second half, Kadin Shedrick scored on a hard-earned three-point play, the Wahoo defense forced a shot-clock violation, and then Gardner gave UVA its first lead of the night, 25-24, on a jump shot just over two minutes in.

Over the next few minutes, the two teams went blow for blow, matching one another with tough baskets and sat deadlocked at 33-apiece as the clock went under 12 minutes. Every time the Hoos grabbed a two-point edge, the 11th-seeded Cardinals (13-19) would knot the score.

Tied at 39-all, Kihei Clark scored on a reverse layup, but Williams answered with a contested corner triple, giving the Cardinals a slight edge with under five minutes to go. Shedrick sank a pair from the line on the next trip down the floor, and UVA took a 43-42 advantage into the final media timeout with 3:51 remaining.

Gardner stretched it to 45-42 with 2:57 to play, but Noah Locke responded with a 3-pointer to tie it up again, setting up the nail-biting conclusion.

After Beekman’s late bucket, he wasn’t through and turned his attention to defending Locke, who went up for a shot attempt but didn’t release before landing, resulting in an up-and-down turnover with 28.5 seconds left.

Gardner led all scorers with 17 points (7 for 12 FG) to go with his 4 rebounds, while Clark added 15 points (7 for 14), 4 boards and a pair of steals. Beekman finished with 8 points, a game-high 9 assists, 5 rebounds, a block and a steal, as UVA shot 52 percent after halftime (12 for 23) and 42 percent (21 for 50) for the game, missing all six attempts from 3-point range.

Williams was the only Louisville player in double figures with 11 to go with his game-high 13 rebounds, 3 blocks and 3 steals. The Cardinals shot 36 percent (20 for 56) and 23 percent (5 for 22) from beyond the arc, edging Virginia on the boards, 36-34.

FIRST HALF

More than three minutes passed before Virginia got on the scoreboard, and the Cavaliers trailed 4-2 at the first media timeout with 14:27 on the clock, opening the game with misses on seven of their first eight attempts from the field, and 16 of their first 18.

Clark got a jumper to fall out of the initial TV break to briefly tie it up before Louisville’s Jarrod West — who scored a game-high 20 points in the opening-round win over Georgia Tech — drilled a long 3-ball to put the Cardinals back in front. That turned out to be West’s only made bucket of the game.

Samuell Williamson dunked one down in transition to give Louisville an 11-4 lead just past the midway point of the half, and Curry followed with a basket to extend it to nine, as Virginia looked rattled by the Cardinals’ early intensity and effort, particularly on the defensive end.

Gardner finally got one to drop with 8:35 until halftime, ending a 9-0 Louisville spurt, then split a pair of free throws to cut the UVA deficit to 13-7, just before the Wahoo defense forced a shot-clock violation heading into the under-eight timeout for some extra momentum.

Gardner sank a turnaround jumper out of the break to cap his own personal 5-0 scoring run, Malachi Poindexter buried a long jumper to beat the shot clock on the ensuing possession, and despite the poor shooting, the Hoos were only down by three, 17-14, after a drive to the rack by Clark with 4:49 left.

Down by six late in the half, Clark spun and scored again in the paint, and then Beekman picked off a Louisville pass and laid it in on the other end, trimming the Cardinal lead to just two, 22-20, with 1:27 showing.

Gardner was whistled for a mysterious loose-ball foul, his second, with 28 seconds left, leading to a pair of Dre Davis free throws in the closing seconds. Clark launched one from halfcourt just before the halftime horn that bounced off the front of the rim, as the Hoos went into the locker room trailing 24-20.

Virginia shot just 33 percent (9 for 27) across the opening 20 minutes (0 for 4 from downtown), but did make 7 of its last 9 shots heading into the break to remain in striking distance.

Louisville wasn’t much better, shooting 40 percent (10 of 25; 1 for 10 from deep), but outscored the Hoos 7-2 on the fast break.

Box Score

Team Notes

• The Cavaliers improved to 19-12
• The Cavaliers will play No. 3 seed North Carolina in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday, March 10 at Barclays Center at 9:30 p.m.
• UVA forced two shot clock violations (34 in 2021-22)
• UVA advances to the ACC quarterfinals for the 10th straight year
• UVA has a program-best one win in each of the last eight ACC tournaments
• UVA is 2-0 mark in the ACC Tournament second round
• Head coach Tony Bennett a 13-8 in the ACC Tournament
• UVA is 3-0 mark on neutral courts in 2021-22
• UVA is 9-1 all-time at the Barclays Center (5-1 in ACC Tournament)
• UVA started 2 of 18 from the field and had four points in the first 11:23
• UVA’s 20 first half points were its lowest since 14 vs. JMU on Dec. 7
• UVA gained its first lead at 25-24, starting the second half on a 7-0 run
• UVA (0 of 6) was held without a 3-pointer for the second time this season
• Virginia’s 9:43 of lead time is its shortest in a UVA win this season
• UVA has now won six of its last seven ACC Tournament games

Series Notes

• Virginia is 20-5 all-time vs. Louisville in a series that began in 1923-24.
• UVA has a five-game winning streak vs. Louisville and has won 14 of the last 15 meetings.
• UVA is 15-2 vs. Louisville, including a 2-0 mark in the ACC Tournament, since the Cardinals joined the ACC.
• Tony Bennett is 15-2 vs. Louisville as head coach at Virginia

Player Notes

• Double Figure Scorers: Jayden Gardner (17), Kihei Clark (15)
• Gardner reached double figures for the 25th time (99th career)
• Clark reached double figures for the 16th time (50th career)
• Reece Beekman (9 assists) passed London Perrantes (153 assists in 2015-16) for 10th on UVA’s single season assist list with 155
• Beekman (1 steal) has at least one steal in 28 of 31 games
• Kadin Shedrick (3 blocks) passed Mamadi Diakite (63 blocks in 2018-19) for seventh on UVA’s single-season blocked shots list with 64

UP NEXT

It’ll be another late night for Cavalier fans, as the Hoos tip off against the Tar Heels Thursday at approximately 9:30 p.m. (ESPN) at the Barclays Center.

ACC Tournament

Barclays Center
Brooklyn, N.Y.

Tuesday
Opening Round
Game 1 — No. 13 Boston College 66, No. 12 Pittsburgh 46
Game 2 — No. 10 Clemson 70, No. 15 NC State 64
Game 3 — No. 11 Louisville 84, No. 14 Georgia Tech 74

Wednesday
Second Round
Game 4 — No. 9 Syracuse 96, No. 8 Florida State 57
Game 5 — No. 13 Boston College 82, No. 5 Wake Forest 77 (OT)
Game 6 — No. 7 Virginia Tech 76, No. 10 Clemson 75 (OT)
Game 7 — No. 6 Virginia 51, No. 11 Louisville 50

Thursday
Quarterfinals
Game 8 — No. 9 Syracuse vs. No. 1 Duke, Noon (ESPN)
Game 9 — No. 13 Boston College vs. No. 4 Miami, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
Game 10 — No. 7 Virginia Tech vs. No. 2 Notre Dame, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
Game 11 — No. 6 Virginia vs. No. 3 North Carolina, 9:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Friday
Semifinals
Game 12 — Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner, 7 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN2)
Game 13 — Game 10 winner vs. Game 11 winner, 9:30 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN2)

Saturday
Championship
Game 14 — Semifinal winners, 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Virginia will face newly inspired Louisville team in tonight’s ACC Tournament

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Tony Bennett (Photo by Dan Grogan)

When Virginia last faced Louisville five days ago, the Cardinals were a team that had lost its spirit according to interim head coach Mike Pegues. The No. 6 seed Cavaliers may face a reinspired Louisville team in tonight’s second round of the ACC Tournament.

The No. 11 seed Cardinals, who had lost 13 of their last 15 games coming into Brooklyn, built a 27-point lead over No. 14 seed Georgia Tech in Tuesday’s opening round, then held off a furious Yellow Jackets rally to survive and advance by an 84-74 score (see complete updated results and schedule below). That thrusted Louisville into tonight’s game against UVA (9:30 p.m., ESPN2).

Virginia has dominated the Cardinals ever since Louisville joined the ACC. The Cavaliers have won the last four games against the league’s newest member and 13 of the past 14, including a two-game sweep this season.

UVA coach Tony Bennett has to be wondering what kind of opponent he will be facing this time after Louisville’s inspiring first-round win. The Cardinals’ Pegues hinted after Tuesday’s win that his team realizes it has to be tougher when they face the Cavaliers.

“UVA is a tough team,” Pegues said. “They have a national pedigree. Obviously, a national championship coach, a national championship point guard. They expect to win. They prepare to win. They make things really tough for you on the offensive end because of the way they guard and crowd the lane and keep the ball out of the paint.

“Offensively, [Virginia’s] continuity is tough to guard. They keep you moving, keep you fighting through screens. But we know them well. We’ve lost to them twice in what I would say were relatively close games. We were in the game. It’s not like we get blown out. At times through the game, we just have some lulls at the end that affect us on the defensive end. We can’t have those moments if we expect to win.”

Virginia had a first-round bye and should be well rested. The Cavaliers have played only one game in 10 days, that being the win at Louisville. UVA (18-12) has won six of its last nine games, so it’s playing its best basketball.

Bennett knows that if the Cavaliers are to make their eighth-straight NCAA appearance, his team must win tonight, then hope for the best for the remainder of the week.

Bracketologists have UVA as the “next four out.” Some believe the Cavaliers need to reach Saturday’s finals, others believe if they can make it to the semifinals, it might be enough. Otherwise, the team will be NIT-bound.
“I don’t think there’s a magic formula,” Bennett said. “It’s understanding who you are and what’s important to your team. You hear that saying sometimes that more teams beat themselves down the stretch. It comes down to how tough are you defensively? Can you take care of the ball, get quality shots, and yes, plays have to be made. It’s staying as true as you can to yourself.”

UVA’s players know exactly what’s on the line.

“Certainly we talk about it … everybody knows,” Bennett said. “We definitely talked about that even before [last Saturday’s] Louisville game, and after the Florida State game. 

“I don’t think you over-do things and I don’t think you under-do things. You say, ‘This is where it’s at. All right, let’s address it. Now, let’s be about the moment and go after it.’”

For UVA’s Jayden Gardner, it will be his first ACC Tournament after having transferred from East Carolina. While growing up as a kid in the state of North Carolina, Gardner attended some ACC Tournament games and dreamed of playing in the event, but doesn’t feel like the Cavaliers are putting pressure on themselves going into tonight’s game.

“No, we don’t feel pressure,” Gardner said. “We’re just going out and playing basketball. We just focus on the next opponent.”

He will have his own cheering section in tonight’s game. His mother is from nearby Queens, and so he has spent a lot of time in Brooklyn while growing up, but hasn’t been there since his early high school years. He has a lot of family coming to the game.

ACC Tournament

Barclays Center
Brooklyn, N.Y.

Tuesday
Opening Round
Game 1 — No. 13 Boston College 66, No. 12 Pittsburgh 46
Game 2 — No. 10 Clemson 70, No. 15 NC State 64
Game 3 — No. 11 Louisville 84, No. 14 Georgia Tech 74

Wednesday
Second Round
Game 4 — No. 9 Syracuse 96, No. 8 Florida State 57
Game 5 — No. 13 Boston College 82, No. 5 Wake Forest 77 (OT)
Game 6 — No. 10 Clemson vs. No. 7 Virginia Tech, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
Game 7 — No. 11 Louisville vs. No. 6 Virginia, 9:30 p.m. (ESPN2)

Thursday
Quarterfinals
Game 8 — Game 4 winner vs. No. 1 Duke, Noon (ESPN)
Game 9 — Game 5 winner vs. No. 4 Miami, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
Game 10 — Game 6 winner vs. No. 2 Notre Dame, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
Game 11 — Game 7 winner vs. No. 3 North Carolina, 9:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Friday
Semifinals
Game 12 — Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner, 7 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN2)
Game 13 — Game 10 winner vs. Game 11 winner, 9:30 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN2)

Saturday
Championship
Game 14 — Semifinal winners, 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)