Podcast: ESPN’s Seth Greenberg talks UVA, ACC hoops

ESPN college basketball analyst Seth Greenberg joins “The Jerry Ratcliffe Show” to talk UVA hoops, and offers thoughts on what the ‘Hoos need to do down the stretch to earn an invite to the 2022 NCAA Tournament.

A day with Al McGuire, and why it’s only important to win at war and surgery

By Jerry Ratcliffe

It was a frosty mid-January afternoon, thirty-nine years ago, when I was sitting in Terry Holland’s somewhat cramped office in University Hall. I was there to get the scoop from Holland on No. 2 Virginia’s clash with visiting No. 11 North Carolina and Dean Smith, a nationally-televised game by NBC the next day.

We were finishing up and out of nowhere, in walked Al McGuire, unannounced and full of questions to Holland about the experimental 3-point shot the ACC was using that season. McGuire was the quirky, eccentric former basketball coach at Marquette and arguably the top TV basketball analyst in the land.

Every basketball fan loved McGuire, who really wasn’t an X’s-and-O’s guy, but coached the game by “feel.” He once said, “I don’t know basketball. I feel basketball. Drop me in the middle of a game and I could manage it by the ebb and flow.”

The 3-point shot fascinated McGuire and he really wanted to gain more understanding that he could relay to his national-television audience the next day.

He quizzed Holland for quite some time, with Holland explaining that he had to adjust his team’s rebounding positioning because the shot was being taken from so far out (under 18 feet that season), so missed shots would bounce further away from the basket than normal.

When we were done, I was about to have my special Al McGuire moment, but didn’t know it until Holland asked me to give McGuire a ride to the Boar’s Head Inn. McGuire, I later found out in conversation, would show up in college towns and often hitch-hike wherever he was going so he could meet townspeople.

Al was so appreciative, he invited me in and we settled in at a table in a pretty empty dining room for a few beers and a lot of conversation. What a treat. McGuire had coached Marquette from 1964 to 1977, when he defeated Dean Smith and the Tar Heels for the national championship. Al walked away from coaching the next day.

He and his brothers (most notably older brother Dick, who played for St. John’s and the Knicks) lived over the family bar in Rockaway, N.Y.  Maybe that’s why Al loved spending some spare time in dives where he would drink and unwind to “good jukeboxes and sad country songs.”

None of that was available that day, so it was just conversation, and not a lot of it about basketball.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but McGuire owned some sporting-goods company out of Milwaukee and was a lot wealthier than casual fans listening to him on TV would have ever suspected. Yet, he didn’t splurge on material things. He once drove a Ford Falcon (no radio) for years.

He was a collector of things, and we talked about his love of toy soldiers. If he had spare time during basketball trips or business trips, he would almost always end up in antique shops or flea markets searching for toy soldiers. He had thousands of them, but liked a particular kind, and I don’t know what they were called, but they were heavy for their size and made from metal.

Was told he had a miniature battlefield of ‘em on his desk when he coached, but never stopped collecting them, and asked me if I ever ran across any to send them to him. I did a couple of times, and it was as if I had presented him with a bar of gold.

The first time I had encountered McGuire was at the 1974 NCAA Final Four in Greensboro, where as a young pup of a sportswriter, I had convinced ACC basketball “promoter” (for lack of a better word) Skeeter Francis to give me a credential.

McGuire’s Marquette team defeated Kansas in one semifinal, while NC State and David Thompson ended UCLA’s seven consecutive national titles in the greatest game I’ve ever seen.

McGuire lost to the Wolfpack in the championship when he tried to take the air out of the ball, and committed his own cardinal sin by getting whistled for a technical foul at a critical time, turning the game.

I was just a face in the media crowd that weekend, so sitting there at Boar’s Head was quite a treat to be talking to McGuire. During the ‘80s and I think into the early ‘90s, he and Dick Enberg and Billy Packer would team up to do telecasts, and it was heaven for basketball junkies.

While McGuire would play down his basketball knowledge, you didn’t want to get into a one-point game against him during his coaching days.

He was lively, unpredictable, and would often dance out on the court after a big win. He had a great sense of humor.

It’s difficult to remember details of an interview from so long ago, but I do recall a few things he said:

“The world is run by C-plus students,” he mentioned out of nowhere. “It’s only important to win in war and surgery,” was another.

When I asked him why he decided to hang up his whistle after winning the natty over Dean Smith that year, his answer was simple, but complicated.

“I don’t fool around with things that have stopped quivering,” McGuire said.

In McGuire-ese, that meant the thrill was gone. He was ready to move on.

Years later, it was kinda cool to write about Al’s granddaughter, who played basketball at Virginia, and relate a couple of those stories with her.

He passed in 2001 at the age of 72, and had tons of people at his funeral, although he made it a practice to not attend funerals unless it was family. Al used to say, “I bought you a drink once upon a time and that’s good enough.”

Looking back at beating Duke: Heat of the moment and headaches, plus Kyle Guy

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Photo: UVA Athletics

Heat of the battle.

That’s how Tony Bennett described the near-skirmish at Cameron Indoor in the second half of Virginia’s 69-68 upset of No. 7 Duke on Monday night. Kadin Shedrick had been on the wrong end of several elbows, shoulders, etc., and after he was fouled at the 15:05 mark of the game, the fourth personal on Blue Devils big man Mark Williams, that was enough from Bennett’s point of view.

Bennett, who said later that he appreciated game officials allowing physical play in the game, believed Shedrick was taking too much abuse. The UVA coach approached the officials, barking for the refs to review the call for a flagrant foul.

Some members of the Duke bench, specifically assistant coach Nolan Smith, a former Blue Devil (2007-11), shouted something and UVA associate head coach Jason Williford apparently took exception. Players and staff from both benches began to approach midcourt before things settled down.

Officials called a double-technical, called the Williams foul on Shedrick a common foul, and the game progressed. It was a tense moment, but only a moment.

Bennett played down the situation during his radio show on Tuesday night.

“That was just heat-of-the-battle stuff,” Bennett said. “I was telling the ref, ‘Are you going to review that?’ Someone on [Duke’s] staff … some words were exchanged. One of their assistants said something.”

Once things settled, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski motioned Bennett over and asked Bennett, “We’re all good?” Bennett said good.

It was one of the more physical games that Virginia had played in this season, which was to Bennett’s liking. He said his team is at its best when playing “rugged.”

Asked about dealing with officials during games of that nature, Bennett had an interesting comment.

“I don’t want to be one of those coaches that whine non-stop,” Bennett said. “I told my wife (Laurel) that if I become a coach like that, to tell me.”

Probing further, show host and UVA play-by-play man John Freeman wanted to explore more about coaches that whine all the time. Reading into the question, Bennett went out of his way to comment that he was not referring to Krzyzewski.

Take two aspirin & call me in the morning

Bennett said he did something Monday night at Cameron that he had never done before.

“I took two Advil and two Tylenol before the game,” Bennett said, noting that it’s so loud in Cameron, he usually ends up with a headache afterward.

Bennett asked head trainer Ethan Saliba for a couple of tablets, and it worked.

“I didn’t have a headache,” Bennett said. “Maybe it’s because we won.”

Maybe not.

52 down under

How amazing was it that Virginia scored 52 points in the paint against the Blue Devils, considered the top defensive team in the ACC? In fact, the Cavaliers outscored the Devils, 52-28.

Who would have imagined early in the season that UVA would eventually be an inside-out team before the campaign ended? With experienced backcourt players, most believed the Cavaliers would be outside-in, but with the emergence of Shedrick and Francisco Caffaro, along with veteran Jayden Gardner, Virginia has transformed into a physically intimidating team down in the paint, and it has resulted in three consecutive wins.

Speaking of Gardner, his defensive performance against Duke’s Paolo Banchero was superb. Considering that Banchero is considered the No. 1 NBA prospect in the ACC (some even have projected him as the top pick in the draft), Gardner worked him over Monday night.

Banchero played 38 minutes, made 3 of 9 shots (1 of 3 from the arc), had two free throws, nine points, nine rebounds and had four turnovers. In fact, Banchero didn’t score a point in the second half, and had it not been for his lone 3-pointer of the night (with 42 seconds remaining in the first half), he would have gone over 32 minutes without a bucket.

Pretty cool night for Gardner, who was actually born at Duke Hospital.

Malachi to the rescue

When starter Reece Beekman got into foul trouble both in the first half and early in the second half of the game, Bennett called on Malachi Poindexter, a Louisa kid who played at St. Anne’s-Belfield and was a preferred walk-on, who now owns a scholarship.

Poindexter clocked 13 minutes, 28 seconds of court time, essentially the minutes Beekman was on the bench. While he didn’t take a shot, he had two rebounds. Poindexter filled in adequately on defense and gave Bennett a chance to give both Beekman and Kihei Clark breathers.

“With the quickness of Duke offensively, I thought that maybe Malachi could slide better,” Bennett said of the move. “He gave us quality minutes.”

It’s part of Bennett’s mantra, in terms of his bench, to always be ready because they could be called upon at any moment.

Lunch with Guy

Virginia’s coaches got a surprise call Tuesday from former point guard Kyle Guy.

Guy’s Miami Heat team played against the Wizards on Monday, and before heading out on a near two-week road trip, Guy texted UVA basketball administrative guru Ronnie Wideman and said he’d love to see the coaches. So Guy came down to Charlottesville and had lunch with the coaching staff and later got up with a few Cavalier players.

Lunch with the MOP @kylejguy #Family 🔸⚔️🔹 #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/sHnSqHTPUa

— Virginia Men’s Basketball (@UVAMensHoops) February 8, 2022

“It was so good to see Kyle,” Bennett said. “I just love that young man.”

Bennett went on to say that whether or not his former players reach any level of professional basketball, he’s proud of the men they are becoming. That’s one of the reasons so many quality players keep signing with Virginia, because not only do their basketball skills improve, but they grow into good men.

Bennett mentioned something to Guy about whether he ever thought about coaching sometime down the road, and Guy told Bennett, “I think I could be a good coach.”

Super Bowl

Bennett was asked who he’s going with in the Super Bowl now that his Packers were no longer in the chase.

The coach said that because Guy was such a Bengals fan and because Bennett’s wife went to LSU (Joe Burrow), that he’s going with Cincinnati.

Dickie V loves Kihei

One of the viewers of Virginia’s win at Duke was none other than Dick Vitale, who made this observation on Twitter during the game:

“Kihei Clark may be 5-foot-7, but he is a giant with the ROCK in his hands. His penetration skills are superb.”

Clark had nine assists, some of them rather spectacular, including the final assist of the game, a pass to wide-open Reece Beekman for the buzzer-beating 3-pointer.

How it wasn’t a surprise that Virginia won at Duke

“The Jerry Ratcliffe Show” welcomes Chris Graham to discuss Virginia’s 69-68 win at #7 Duke on Big Monday.

Williford drew up winning play and for Beekman it was déjà vu all over again

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Photos: Matt Riley | UVA Athletics

Never mind that Tony Bennett had tasted victory only once at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Never mind that Big Monday was yet another celebration of Mike Krzyzewski’s final season as Duke’s coach. Never mind that pundits made Virginia a 12-point dog and that only a couple of its players had ever set foot in one of the most hellish atmospheres in all of sports.

Cameron is no place for the faint of heart. Better teams have completely unraveled and melted into a puddle of goo before the frenzied confines of the ACC’s oldest battlefield.

In the cramped, crusty visitors’ locker room before Virginia’s biggest game of the season, Bennett directed what his players would have to sacrifice to win this game over the No. 7 team in the nation in an arena where the Cavaliers had won only three times in nearly 40 years.

“We challenged them to play to win … don’t play not to lose,” Bennett said. “Make it physical and tough. We just said be laser-focused to start and play our game. Get it to our kind of game if we can, and battle. I thought our guys did that.”

Duke took its first lead at 10:48 of the first half and didn’t lead again until four minutes remained in the game, as a physical Virginia team established beachheads in the lane and dominated the gifted Blue Devils all night.

The Cavaliers were unruffled as they outscored Duke in the paint, 52-28, and beat the Devils at their own game, scoring 20 points off 15 Duke turnovers. UVA’s ability to keep its composure early and play the Blue Devils jaw-to-jaw the rest of the way was huge.

“They carved us up,” Krzyzewski said afterward.

“We came out a little sluggish, and UVA punched us in the mouth,” Trevor Keels said. “We fought at the end but you’ve got to give props to UVA. They came into Cameron and put on a fight. So you’ve got to give them credit.”

For all the bruising style of play that nearly resulted in a skirmish at one point, it all came down to the final minute, and eventually the final second.

Duke led 68-66 with 1:26 to play. Virginia point guard Kihei Clark, who played all but 93 seconds of the game and dished nine assists (only two turnovers), missed a reverse layup with 1:17 showing, but the Cavaliers kept possession. Fourteen seconds later, Clark missed a 3-point attempt and it was Duke ball. At that point of the game, Virginia had made only one of 11 3-point attempts.

Duke called time out with 50 seconds to play, but turned it over. Armaan Franklin missed a shot, but UVA kept possession on a jump ball and Bennett called time out with 7.2 seconds to play.

Beekman inbounded the ball, which ended up in Clark’s hands outside the arc. He quickly spotted a wide-open Beekman on the left side of the floor and launched the death blow.

BOOM!

It was déjà vu all over again for Beekman, just like his 3-point dagger at the buzzer that defeated Syracuse in last March’s ACC Tournament.

Beekman said afterward the shot made him immediately think back to the buzzer-beater over Syracuse.

“Another big shot and I hit it,” Beekman said.

Beekman delivered Virginia its first road win against a top-10 team since a 2019 win over No. 8 North Carolina. It was Duke’s fourth loss of the season, third in the ACC, and only its second at home (Miami won the other).

Only 1.1 seconds remained on the clock as Beekman’s shot swished through the net, a play that was designed during that last time out.

“The end of the game, that wasn’t complicated,” Krzyzewski said.

His sophomore center Mark Williams accepted the blame for the final seconds letdown.

“It was on me,” Williams said. “I lost Beekman. I should’ve stayed with him off the inbounds, and he got an open look and he knocked it down. There’s not much more to it. I take full responsibility for it. I let my teammates down.”

Bennett was elated with the victory, which gave the Cavaliers a desperately needed Quad-1 win in the NET rankings.

“I’m glad we were 2-12 from three instead of 1-12,” Bennett cracked afterward. “Perhaps Duke was flat coming off a big game (the Devils had destroyed rival North Carolina two nights previous in Chapel Hill). I don’t know, but I think we certainly had a real solid game and we’re just trying to continue to improve and got a lift from everyone (See related game story and boxscore for player breakdowns).

Bennett gave credit to associate head coach Jason Williford for drawing up the inbounds play for the final shot of the game.

“[Duke] put Mark Williams on the ball and that’s tough for anybody, and we weren’t sure,” Bennett said about the last play. “We had a zone call and a man call, and Coach Williford, he’s our underneath out-of-bounds coach. I learned a long time ago when I started, when there’s an underneath out-of-bounds, it’s a way to give your coaches ownership and it’s something that had we lost, it would’ve been his fault, not mine. No, just kidding.

“But [Williford] studies the other team and that’s kind of what he specializes in, among other things, so he drew it up. We called the time out. He gave them two actions, and of course we talk about stuff, but then he changed it. Obviously for Reece to get that shot at the end and just have the composure to knock it down a la Syracuse in the ACC tournament.”

Beekman became only the third visiting player to knock down the game-winning field goal with two seconds or less at Cameron in the past 20 years.

“They were hungrier and tougher than we were,” Krzyzewski said.

That’s exactly what Bennett wanted to hear. He’s been demanding his team play more rugged basketball of late, and it has paid off. The Cavaliers have won six of their last eight games, including wins over the ACC’s upper echelon, Miami and Duke back-to-back.

Bennett, whose team is now 15-9 overall and 9-5 in the ACC, received a text message from his father, former coach Dick Bennett, before the game that said, “Lace ‘em up, do it again.”

The Cavaliers are among the six teams now within a game of first place and will have several opportunities down the home stretch to shake things up even more, with return engagements with Duke and Miami, along with games against Florida State and Virginia Tech.

Lace ‘em up, do it again.

Beekman does it again; Virginia stuns No. 7 Duke at Cameron, 69-68

By Scott Ratcliffe

Photo: UVA Athletics

Virginia rolled into Duke’s famed Cameron Indoor Stadium Monday night as a double-digit underdog, but walked out with its most significant road victory in years over the first-place, seventh-ranked Blue Devils.

Sitting with foul trouble for most of the game, UVA sophomore guard Reece Beekman sank the biggest 3-pointer of his career with one second remaining to give his team a 69-68 win, as the Cavaliers fought off a late Duke rally to move to 15-9 on the season and 9-5 in conference play, while keeping their postseason hopes alive in the process.

Virginia was facing the Blue Devils (19-4, 9-3) for the final time in Durham with the legendary Mike Krzyzewski as Duke head coach, and the Wahoos didn’t seem to be fazed by the Cameron Crazies, despite the majority of the UVA players having never played there.

Duke held a 68-66 edge with under a minute to play, but star freshman Paolo Banchero lost the ball into the arms of Armaan Franklin with 36 ticks showing, giving the ball back to the Cavaliers.

Franklin couldn’t get the tying basket to fall with 10 seconds left, but the Hoos forced a held ball and had one last crack at it with seven seconds left, inbounding under their own basket.

Beekman inbounded to Kihei Clark, who kicked it back to his backcourt mate on the wing, and Beekman sank the game-winning dagger.

“🧅 𝙊𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨” – @reece_beekman

🔶⚔️🔷#GoHoos pic.twitter.com/WkviT1Q0p3

— Virginia Men’s Basketball (@UVAMensHoops) February 8, 2022

Banchero caught the ensuing Hail-Mary pass and hoisted a shot at the buzzer that hit the top of the backboard, and the Cavaliers began to celebrate just the program’s 12th win all time at Duke in 71 tries.

Beekman picked up his third foul just 48 seconds into the second half as Duke cut the Virginia lead to 36-33, but Jayden Gardner answered with a pump fake and three-point play that again made it a two-possession game.

With 15:05 to go, Duke center Mark Williams was whistled for his fourth foul after delivering an elbow into the grill of Kadin Shedrick.

Clark did a tremendous job of driving the lane and drawing defenders before dishing to teammates for easy buckets, most notably a wrap-around drop-off assist to Shedrick for a power dunk that gave Virginia a 51-47 advantage with 11:49 left.

Trevor Keels, who ultimately chose Duke over Virginia in his recruiting decision, sank a 3-pointer on the other end to cut it to one, but another Shedrick jam and a Clark floater pushed the UVA lead to 55-50 midway through the second half.

As the clock went under eight minutes, Clark delivered the highlight of the night with an alley-oop feed to Shedrick from the half-court stripe, and the Virginia lead held steady at 57-52 going into the TV timeout with 7:28 to play.

Duke chipped away from the foul line and took a 64-63 lead — its first since it was 17-15 — on a Jeremy Roach jumper with four minutes to play. Keels followed his own miss to give the Devils their biggest lead of the game, 66-63, with 2:49 to go.

Down by two, Virginia forced a shot-clock violation at the 2:05 mark, and Beekman initially missed, but stole the ball back and tied it up at 66-all with 1:47 to play. Keels put Duke back in front with a pair of free throws with 1:28 left, and Clark’s would-be, go-ahead 3-point attempt rimmed out with just over a minute remaining, setting up the nail-biting conclusion.

It was Virginia’s first road win over a top-10 squad since beating No. 8 North Carolina in Chapel Hill nearly three years ago (Feb. 11, 2019). Monday’s win was also Virginia’s third in a row and sixth in the last eight.

UVA shot 48 percent on the evening (31 for 65), including just 17 percent (2 for 12) from 3-point land, but one of those season-low two makes was obviously the difference.

The Hoos dominated the paint, 52-28, and forced 15 Duke turnovers which translated into 20 points on the opposite end of the floor, while committing just five giveaways of their own. Virginia recorded 10 steals and led for 30 minutes and 59 seconds of the contest.

Gardner, who was born in Durham, dropped a game-high 17 points and a team-best 8 rebounds to lead the charge, while Shedrick set a career high with 16 points on another perfect shooting night, converting all eight of his shot attempts (he was 3 for 3 last time out against Miami), adding 6 rebounds.

Franklin stuffed the stat sheet with 11 points, 3 boards, 3 assists and a game-high four steals. Clark finished with 8 points, a game-best 9 assists, 2 rebounds and 2 steals, while Beekman had 7 points, 3 assists and a pair of steals in just 25 minutes, as he picked up his fourth foul with 7:28 left. Francisco Caffaro chipped in with 8 points and 6 rebounds.

Duke shot 42 percent from the field (22 of 52) and 35 percent (6 of 17) from long range, winning the rebounding battle, 39-32.

Williams led the Blue Devils with 16 points and 3 blocks, while Keels added 12.

Banchero, who many have as an NBA lottery pick, was held scoreless after halftime and finished with a career-low 9 points, his first collegiate game in which he failed to post double digits. Wendell Moore added 9 points and Roach had 7 in the losing effort.

Duke travels to face the Cavaliers on Feb. 23 in the regular-season rematch at John Paul Jones Arena.

FIRST HALF

A Beekman steal on Duke’s opening possession led to a layup on the other end by Franklin, who followed that up with a jumper to give the Hoos a quick 4-0 lead.

Virginia led 8-2 after a Clark steal resulted in a Caffaro putback, and Coach K had to call an early 30-second timeout with 16:40 on the clock. Duke responded with a 7-0 run over the following two minutes to take its first lead.

The teams traded blows over the next few minutes, with neither side leading by more than two points. The Cavaliers were efficient in the paint, scoring their first 10 field goals from inside the key while attempting just one shot from 3-point land.

Gardner’s first basket gave the Hoos a two-point edge on one end and then he took a charge from Banchero on the other to spark some momentum. The East Carolina transfer then scored two more buckets to cap an 8-0 UVA run, as Duke went over four minutes without a point and Virginia led 23-17 with 6:40 left in the period.

Bates Jones hit a corner 3 to end Duke’s drought with 5:45 remaining, but Virginia answered with another Gardner bucket and a finish by Caffaro on a sweet no-look lob from Clark, and the Hoos took their largest lead up to that point, 27-20, into the final media timeout.

Shedrick extended it to nine with a putback out of the break, and then a Franklin triple stretched it to double digits, 32-20, with 2:18 left before Moore converted a three-point play on the other end.

Across one stretch, Duke misfired on 10 of 11 field-goal attempts, including a few from point-blank range. The Blue Devils were able to trim it to five, 34-29, by halftime after knocking down two more from downtown, marking their largest deficit of the season through the opening 20 minutes.

Virginia led for 14:58 of the half, shooting 47 percent (15 for 32) while limiting Duke to 37 percent (10 for 27). The Hoos outscored the Devils in the paint, 26-12, and 11-0 off turnovers (Duke gave it away six times) in the first half.

Box Score

Team Notes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

• Reece Beekman’s game-winning 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds left won it for the Cavaliers
• Virginia improved to 15-9, 9-5 ACC
• UVA is 4-5 on the road
• UVA forced one shot clock violation (26 in 2021-22)
• Virginia is 1-1 vs. ranked foes in 2021-22
• UVA’s last top-10 road win was a 69-61 decision at then-No. 8 North Carolina on Feb. 11, 2019.
• Duke gained its first lead (17-15 ) at 10:48 of the first half
• Duke gained its second lead of the game at 64-63
• UVA went on an 8-0 run to gain a 23-17 lead and 9-0 run to lead 32-20
• UVA led 34-29 at the half
• Duke’s 29 first half-points were its second lowest in a first half this season (27 vs. Notre Dame)
• Duke’s 29 first half-points ties for its third-fewest in a half this season
• UVA had a season low three turnovers (4 season low)
• UVA had a 52-28 advantage in points in the paint
• UVA had 20 points off 15 Duke turnovers

Series Notes

• UVA is 53-122 all-time vs. Duke, including a 12-59 road mark.
• UVA is 10-54 all-time at Cameron Indoor Stadium
• Six of the last eight meetings have been decided by two points or less
• Head coach Tony Bennett is 5-12 all-time against Duke at UVA

Player Notes

• Double Figure Scorers: Jayden Gardner (17), Kadin Shedrick (16), Armaan Franklin (11)
• Shedrick had a career-high 16 points on 8 of 8 field goals
• Gardner reached double figures for the 19th time (93rd career)
• Gardner has 1,809 career points
• Shedrick reached double figures for the seventh time (9th career)
• Beekman (2 steals) extended his steal streak to 14 games
• Franklin reached double figures for the 17th time (31st career)
• Franklin tied a career high with four steals

UP NEXT

UVA hosts Georgia Tech Saturday afternoon (ESPN2). Tipoff at JPJ is set for 4 p.m.

Underdog Virginia trying to overcome Cameron curse on Big Monday

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Photo by Matt Riley, UVA Athletics

When Ralph Sampson and No. 2 Virginia demolished Duke, 109-66, in the first round of the 1983 ACC Tournament, a young Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski vowed never to forget.

In fact, at the Duke team dinner, someone raised a glass to “forgetting the thrashing by Virginia,” only to have Krzyzewski interrupt and raise another glass to, “Here’s never forgetting.”

Tonight (7 p.m. Big Monday, ESPN), Virginia ventures into Cameron Indoor Stadium, where the Cavaliers will face Krzyzewski for the last time in Durham (Duke has a return engagement at UVA on the 23rd). While Virginia has won five of its last seven games and seems to have gathered both chemistry and confidence, tonight’s challenge may be too great.

The Cavaliers are around a 12-point underdog in a hostile arena where they’ve experienced mostly bitter defeats in the near four decades since. UVA has won nine times in 54 visits to Cameron, and only three times since that ACC Tournament blowout in 1983 (1993 and 1995 under Jeff Jones, and 2018 under Tony Bennett).

Bennett is well aware of what it takes against teams of Duke’s magnitude.

“We have to be as sound and tough defensively and you’re going to have to take care of the ball,” UVA’s coach said after a convincing win over Miami last Saturday night. “You have to play to win in those settings. When you go against teams like Miami, like Duke, like most of the rest of our schedule, you’ve got to beat those teams. They don’t lose. That will be our mindset.”

The Cavaliers have exhibited stronger defensive efforts the past two weeks and more balanced scoring. They need a strong effort down the home stretch in order to continue their string of NCAA tournament appearances.

Presently, the NET rankings (the new RPI) has UVA rated No. 88 in the land. A win over Duke tonight would greatly enhance the Cavaliers’ status.

Kryzewski, who is retiring after this season, has guided the Blue Devils to the top of the ACC (9-2, 19-3 overall, and 13-1 at Cameron). They are coming off an emotional 20-point rout of rival North Carolina two nights ago. Virginia (8-5, 14-9, 3-5 on the road) is alone in sixth place as five teams are bunched within two-games reach of Duke.

“[Duke’s] athleticism and the way they play defensively, they’re kind of a mix of their young superstars with some guys who’ve been in the program and how they’re getting after it and improving,” Bennett said. “You have to be right. You’re going to have to be sound. Not perfect, but you’re going to have to be right. They do some things defensively that are challenging and they have guys who can go get baskets. Right now, they’re the best in our league, so to beat the best, you have to play at a high level. We understand that.”

None of the present Cavaliers players were on that 2018 team that stunned the Devils at Cameron, a game where Ty Jerome delivered a deep, 3-point dagger that allowed Virginia to score a monumental upset.

Point guard Kihei Clark arrived the following year. Clark, fellow backcourt mate Reece Beekman and big man Francisco Caffaro are the only players on UVA’s roster that have played at Cameron.

Armaan Franklin, who transferred to Virginia this season from Indiana, where he played in a legendary venue (Assembly Hall), has heard a lot about Cameron. Playing in that environment, one of the most chaotic and loud home courts in the game, is something else.

“As a kid, you want to be in those types of venues and legendary gyms, playing against a legendary coach in his last year,” Franklin said. “I’m looking forward to it.”