Sharpened Virginia offense helps Cavaliers win back-to-back on road at Clemson

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Photo courtesy UVA Athletics.

Brad Brownell didn’t need any extra time to pinpoint what caused his Clemson team to lose to Virginia on Tuesday night. No need to look at the film and report back. His analysis was instantaneous.

Brownell’s Tigers came into Littlejohn with a four-game winning streak, although their last win came on Dec. 22 in a lopsided win that ended UVA’s 11-game winning streak in the series. Clemson was cautiously confident after drubbing the Cavaliers by 17 in Charlottesville.

The layoff may have caused some rust on the Tigers, particularly on offense, but that had nothing to do with a 75-65 loss to visiting UVA.

“It just comes down to defense,” Brownell said. “Our defense wasn’t good enough tonight. You can’t give them 75. You’re not gonna beat Virginia when they score 75. That numbers gotta be in the low 60s and we just didn’t do a good job. Give their kids credit. They played very well, executed very well and made shots.”

Brownell was correct. Virginia shot 54.3 percent overall, mostly because it connected on 66 percent of its 2-point attempts and 87 percent from the free throw line. The 3-point arc remains a problem for the Cavaliers, who made 29 percent of its attempts from there against the Tigers, although the timing of some of the triples made were impeccable, particularly by point guard Kihei Clark.

It was the second straight game where Clark delivered a dagger to UVA’s opponent.

In a tight contest at Syracuse last weekend, Clark drilled a deep 3 over the Orange zone for a 68-62 lead, giving the Cavaliers the separation needed to pull away in a 74-69 road win. Tuesday night at Clemson, Clark rode to the rescue again, making a 3-pointer that ended a 7-0 run and gave UVA a 67-59 cushion with four minutes to go. Syracuse made only two baskets the rest of the way.

Led by Jayden Gardner’s game-high 23 points on 7 of 11 shooting and 9 of 10 from the free throw line, the Cavaliers enjoyed a strong offensive performance, committed only one turnover the second half and did a better job on the boards while improving to 9-5 overall and 3-1 in the ACC (2-0 on the road in the league).

Virginia coach Tony Bennett noted that his team made adjustments since that last outing against the Tigers _ exactly what Cavaliers fans would expect from their coach _ and that spearheaded the road win.

Of course, UVA’s defense was solid, even though it gave up more than the preferred norm.

“Virginia’s hard to score against,” Brownell said. “We beat ‘em over there (Charlottesville), scoring 67 and we scored 65 tonight. You got to guard better to beat these guys. If you get 65, that’s pretty good against them.”

Bennett shortened his bench, playing eight, all of whom made a contribution, unlike the last meeting with Clemson when UVA’s bench was almost nonexistent. The coach also used his mover/blocker more against the Tigers and that paid dividends.

Not only that, but the Cavaliers answered Clemson’s physical presence down in the block, where the Tigers had dominated in Charlottesville.

“When UVA basketball has been good, we’ve had a ruggedness in us,” Bennett said afterward. “We played rugged tonight.”

Bennett wasn’t the only one who noticed that style of play. Brownell did, too.

“I thought they did a good job with P.J. (Hall). I know they doubled him some,” Brownell added. “They were very physical with him.”

While Hall scored 13 points, he made only 5 of 16 attempts.

Only one other Cavalier scored in double figures behind Gardner. Armaan Franklin put up 13, although he continued to struggled from the arc, making 1 of 6. Four other teammates scored eight points each: Clark, Kadin Shedrick, Reece Beekman and Francisco Caffaro, who gave Bennett some valuable minutes.

“When you’re walking such a fine line as we are, you don’t get discouraged when the results aren’t there,” Bennett said. “Syracuse was a big win and we needed that. Every game is a battle for us.”

Bennett also revealed that the Syracuse game was almost postponed because of the virus.

“We had about 10 people in our program in protocol,” Bennett said. “We almost didn’t play the game. It hurt our practices and preparation.”

After winning back-to-back on the ACC road, the coach was feeling better about his team.

“Hopefully we’re getting better,” Bennett said.

There are signs that’s the case. With the wins at Syracuse and Clemson, the Cavaliers rose from No. 70 to No. 55 in the Kenpom.com national analytics rankings. The Cavaliers are No. 52 in defensive efficiency, which is a long way from where UVA fans are accustomed to seeing their team.

As Bennett said, it remains a work in progress. That progress continues this Saturday at the end of this three-game road swing in Chapel Hill.

Virginia continues road swing at Clemson

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Photo courtesy UVA Athletics.

Virginia (8-5, 2-1 ACC) travels to Clemson (9-4, 1-1) for an ACC contest on Tuesday, Jan. 4. Tipoff at Littlejohn Coliseum is set for 9 p.m. on Regional Sports Networks.

For Openers

• Virginia (8-5, 2-1 ACC) continues its three-game road swing at Clemson.
• UVA is 1-2 on the road this season and has a five-game road winning streak at Clemson.

Broadcast Information

• The Virginia-Clemson game will be televised on Regional Sports Networks.
• The game will also be broadcast on Virginia Sports Radio Network, VirginiaSports.com and Virginia Sports app.
• Live statistics will be available on VirginiaSports.com and Virginia Sports app.

The Head Coach

• Dean and Markel Families Head Men’s Basketball Coach Tony Bennett has a 303-108 (.737) mark in 13 seasons at UVA and 372-141 (.727) career mark in 16 seasons as a head coach.
• Bennett won his 300th game at Virginia with the 61-43 victory against Lehigh on Nov. 26, 2021.
• The three-time National (2007, 2015 and 2018) and four-time ACC Coach of the Year (2014, 2015, 2018 and 2019) guided the Cavaliers to their 10th ACC regular-season championship in 2020-21.
• In 2018-19, Bennett led the Cavaliers to their first NCAA national championship, a share of their ninth ACC regular-season title and a school-record 35 wins.
• Bennett has led UVA to 10 consecutive postseason appearances (2012-21) and seven consecutive NCAA tournaments (2014-21).
• UVA is 151-63 (.706) in ACC play (85-22 at home & 66-41 away), 171-33 (.838) at home and 152-45 (.772) in non-conference action (86-9 at JPJ) under Bennett.
• Bennett ranks third all-time in winning percentage (.706) among ACC head coaches with 100 or more ACC wins.

Hoo Are These Cavaliers?

• UVA is led by its returning backcourt of Kihei Clark (10.1 ppg & 4.4 apg) and Reece Beekman (6.8 ppg, 4.4 apg & 2.2 spg), and the additions of transfers Jayden Gardner (14.8 ppg & 7.8 rpg) and Armaan Franklin (11.9 ppg).
• Clark has played 106 games at UVA and is averaging career-highs in field goal percentage (44.3%) and 3-point percentage (42.3%).
• The Cavaliers added transfers Gardner (East Carolina) and Franklin (Indiana) to fill the void left by standouts Sam Hauser (16 ppg), Jay Huff (13 ppg) and Trey Murphy III (11.3 ppg).
• Gardner averaged 18.5 points and 8.9 rebounds in 79 career games at East Carolina, while Franklin averaged 11.4 points and shot 42.5 percent from 3-point range in 2020-21.
• Kadin Shedrick (6.7 ppg, 5.5 rpg & 2.77 bpg) and Francisco Caffaro (3.2 rpg) anchor the paint, while Taine Murray (44.4% 3FGs), Igor Miliĉić Jr. (38.1% 3FGs), Carson McCorkle (33.3% 3FGs), Malachi Poindexter and Kody Stattmann provide perimeter depth.

Virginia All-Time vs. Clemson

• Virginia is 79-53 all-time vs. Clemson, including a 26-35 road mark, in a series that dates back to 1935-36.
• Clemson ended UVA’s 11-game winning streak in the series with its 67-50 win at Virginia on Dec. 22, 2021.
• UVA defeated the Tigers 85-50 in its last trip to Clemson last season.
• The Cavaliers own a five-game winning streak against the Tigers in South Carolina, including a 64-57 win in Greenville on March 1, 2016.
• UVA is 13-3 in its last 16 meetings against the Tigers.
• Head coach Tony Bennett is 13-4 all-time vs. Clemson.

Last Time vs. The Tigers

• Hunter Tyson had 17 points to lead Clemson to a 57-40 win over Virginia on Dec. 22 at John Paul Jones Arena.
• The home loss was UVA’s largest since Feb. 26, 2011, when Boston College defeated the Cavaliers, 63-44.
• Reece Beekman led Virginia with a career-high 20 points.
• Clemson held a 17-0 advantage in bench points and scored 24 points off 14 UVA turnovers.
• UVA was 6 of 22 from 3-point range and was outrebounded 35-26 by the Tigers.

Last Time Out

• Kihei lark scored 17 points and handed out eight assists as Virginia topped Syracuse at Carrier Dome on New Year’s Day at Carrier Dome.
• Armaan Franklin added 17 points and Jayden Gardner had 15 points and Kadin Shedrick chipped in 12 points and career-high 11 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who improved to 8-5, 2-1 ACC.
• Buddy Boeheim led the Orange with a game-high 27 points.
• Virginia shot 52.6 percent and scored 40 points in the paint.
• The Cavaliers scored 14 points off 11 Syracuse turnovers.
• Syracuse outrebounded UVA 37-33.

On The Horizon

• Virginia travels to North Carolina on Saturday, Jan. 8. Tipoff at Smith Center is set for 1 p.m. on ESPN.

Virginia dissects Syracuse’s 2-3 zone, continues domination of the Orange

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Photo: UVA Athletics

Virginia arrived in Syracuse with a 7-5 record, its worst start since the final year of the Dave Leitao era, and coming off a 10-day holiday break since getting obliterated on its home floor by Clemson.

Some of the fan base had already written off the season as an “all good things must come to an end” category and were looking ahead to next season when a bevy of 4-star prospects will report to Charlottesville.

After the blowout loss to Clemson, which ended the Cavaliers’ 11-straight wins in the series, scribes were asking Tony Bennett if this team could be fixed, if the pieces were in place to salvage the season. Bennett couldn’t guarantee it, but believed it could be done.

On New Year’s night at the fabled Carrier Dome, Bennett and his Cavaliers gave themselves and their followers hope.

If anyone has ever broken the code on Jim Boeheim’s patented 2-3 zone defense, it has been Bennett. Escaping the Dome with a 74-69 upset win has really become ordinary for Virginia basketball.

Since the Orange joined the ACC, Virginia has owned them for the most part, winning 9 of the 11 meetings, including a 6-2 record at the Dome.

Perhaps Boeheim’s zone ain’t what it used to be, but even when it was, Bennett seemed to have picked the lock.

He has a formula, putting certain personnel in the high post, where they can either shoot, pass to the corner or dish it underneath. Seems to work almost every time. This time, it was Jayden Gardner or Reese Beekman.

“I’ve run seven different zone offenses against Syracuse over the years,” Bennett said after watching his team go to 2-1 in the ACC. “Jayden is pretty good in that spot. He made some shots.”

Most of the Wahoos got in on the scoring act, much to the dismay of Boeheim, who changed the formation of the zone from the 2-3 to the 1-3-1 for about 10 to 12 possessions.

Virginia, which hasn’t enjoyed very many good shooting nights this season, connected on 30 of 57 shots from the floor (52.6 percent). Part of the Cavaliers’ strategy was to overload one side of the zone, which led to some unopposed dunks, allowing them to dominate the paint (40-24).

“We’re not talking about great, we’re talking about a little better,” Boeheim said when questioned about the team’s defense. “We can be a little better defensively. I think that’s the key. Virginia’s not a great shooting team and they shot 52 percent. Obviously our defense is not good enough.”

The Cavaliers shot a whopping 63 percent in the second half (17 of 27).

Over the years, Boeheim’s 2-3 has been the team’s strength, but this season, the Orange ranked its worst in defensive efficiency (No. 189) since statistics analyst Ken Pomeroy began compiling rankings in 2001.

While Syracuse stayed close because of effective offense from Boeheim’s two sons, Buddy and Jimmy, there wasn’t much contribution outside of the family. The Brothers Boeheim pumped in 45 of the Orange’s 69 points, none of their teammates making it to double figures.

Even Buddy, a pure shooter, recognized that pop’s famed defense had some holes in it that Virginia exploited.

“Coach Bennett is the best at drawing up his own offense against the zone,” Buddy Boeheim said. “I’ve seen four different looks the last four years I’ve played them. They’ve done different things with different personnel.”

Regardless of personnel, Bennett always finds one or two players to pick the zone apart from the inside out. This time it was mostly Gardner, who only played seven minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, but made up for it after the break.

Four of the Cavaliers reached double figures, including point guard Kihei Clark (17), Armaan Franklin (17), Gardner (15) and Kadin Shedrick (12), who posted a double-double with a career-high 11 rebounds.

Bennett was proud of how his team executed the game plan and responded well to the beating it took by Clemson more than a week ago.

“I think there were opportunities where we could have gotten rattled,” Bennett said. “I think we kept our composure and played well against the zone. It was a good step for sure.”

One of those times the Cavaliers could have been rattled came with 3:52 to play. UVA had gone on 7-0 and 9-0 runs to build a 61-52 lead with 6:29 to play, but Buddy Boeheim buried a pull-up 3-pointer to cut Syracuse’s deficit to 65-62.

Instead of panicking, Clark, who played a brilliant game on both ends of the floor, drilled a deep triple to push Virginia to a 68-62 lead with 3:29 remaining. The Orange never threatened until the 1:14 mark when another Buddy bomb made it a one-possession game at 72-69.

Over the final stretch, Buddy, Jimmy and Cole Swider all missed 3-point attempts under duress, while Clark wrapped it up at the free-throw line, nailing both ends of a one-and-one with 21 seconds to go.

“Kihei’s [3-pointer] was huge, and it was deep,” Bennett said. “You’ve got to stretch that zone and we made just enough big plays. Kihei’s in his fourth year playing against it. No one else on our team has played in the Carrier Dome.”

Both Clark and Franklin agreed that Virginia had been well prepared to face the Syracuse zone and how to attack it during four days of practices during their break between games.

Now it’s on to Clemson in this three-game road trip, to a place where the Cavaliers will have to develop a case of amnesia about how they were manhandled by the Tigers 10 days ago.

“We’ll watch film, get back to the drawing board and see if we can get one back at their house,” Clark said.

Cavaliers hang on to win fourth straight in Syracuse, 74-69

By Scott Ratcliffe

Photo: UVA Athletics

Virginia started the new year on the right foot Saturday, as the Cavaliers held on to defeat Syracuse, 74-69, winning in the Carrier Dome for the fourth straight time. Seniors Kihei Clark and Jayden Gardner each sank huge shots in the final three minutes to move the Cavaliers to 8-5 on the season and 2-1 in the ACC.

Clark’s aggressive take amongst the trees with 2:50 to go gave Virginia a 70-64 lead. On the next trip down, Gardner turned and nailed a jumper from the heart of the Syracuse 2-3 zone to make it 72-66, and then Gardner poked the ball away from Buddy Boeheim, who committed a foul and allowed UVA to drain another 20-plus crucial seconds off the clock. Buddy nailed his fifth 3-pointer of the night with 1:19 remaining, cutting it to three, 72-69.

As the clock went under a minute to play, Gardner missed a jumper late in the shot clock, but Syracuse’s Cole Swider couldn’t get his would-be tying 3 to drop, and the Orange (7-6, 1-1) had to foul. The Hoos played keepaway and Clark buried a pair from the line with 22 ticks left to seal the victory.

Clark, along with Armaan Franklin, led the Cavaliers with 17 points, while Gardner added 15 and Kadin Shedrick recorded a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds — both career highs — as UVA moved its all-time record in Syracuse to 5-2.

Reece Beekman picked up his third foul with 17:24 to play, with the Wahoos leading by four, 39-35, after squandering a 10-point lead in the first half.

Syracuse briefly grabbed the lead on a Jimmy Boeheim three-point play with 13:27 on the clock, but the Hoos responded with a 7-0 run — Clark found Shedrick for an easy two to tie it up at 47-apiece, then Beekman put the Cavaliers in front with a steal and score. After an Orange miss, Shedrick converted a 3-point play, and Virginia led 52-47 with 12:23 remaining.

Syracuse answered with five straight points over the next three minutes to knot it up at 52-52, but Clark sank a triple and then Gardner knocked down a jumper, and UVA was back on top, 57-52, with 8:26 left.

Gardner delivered a perfect assist to Shedrick out of the ensuing TV timeout for a two-hand flush, extending the UVA lead to seven, 59-52.

Orange big man Jesse Edwards, one of the conference’s top shot-blockers, was called for his fourth foul with 10:57 left, and Gardner picked up his fourth with just under six minutes to play, limiting both teams in the interior down the stretch.

Edwards re-entered and made two free throws, trimming it to 61-57 with 5:30 to go, but Wahoo freshman Taine Murray scored on a tough runner to kill the Syracuse momentum.

Buddy Boeheim drilled a 3 off a Cavalier turnover to make it a one-possession game, 65-62, with 3:51 remaining, but Clark answered right back with his third 3 of the night, and the Hoos took a 6-point edge into the final media timeout with 3:18 on the clock.

FIRST HALF

After Gardner swished in the game’s first two baskets, Franklin’s first 3-pointer, just over two minutes in, gave the Cavaliers a quick 7-0 lead. Another Franklin triple made it 10-3, as the Orange misfired on 4 of its first 6 attempts.

Clark buried a 3 out of the first media timeout to stretch it to 13-6, but Joe Girard answered with a long ball of his own and neither team could gain much separation on the scoreboard.

Later, Franklin found some space in the Syracuse zone and drove from the baseline and laid one in, giving the Hoos a 17-12 advantage, then Murray sank a 3-ball from the corner to make it 20-13 at the 10-minute mark.

Following a Syracuse shot-clock violation, a Stattmann jumper pushed the lead to double digits, 23-13, with just under 8 minutes left in the half.

Murray’s floater in the lane with 6:08 left temporarily silenced the crowd, 27-17, after back-to-back Orange buckets, including leading scorer Buddy Boeheim’s first two points of the contest.

Boeheim added a pair of free throws and then his first 3-pointer, trimming the UVA lead back to five, 27-22, by the final TV break.

With Syracuse in the bonus, the Hoos were whistled for a pair of fouls in the closing minutes, which translated into four more Boeheim freebies. Boeheim missed a long 3 that would have tied it as the clock went under one minute, but his brother Jimmy was there for the rebound and the putback, cutting it to 31-30.

Franklin scored on a spin and slam with 38 seconds to go, 33-30, but Jimmy Boeheim split a pair of foul shots with 7 ticks left and the Orange were awarded possession as the second caromed out of bounds. Edwards then beat the buzzer to tie it at 33-all at the half.

Virginia shot 43 percent (13 for 30) across the opening 20 minutes, including 29 percent from downtown (4 for 14). Syracuse made just 9 field goals (9 for 25; 36 percent), but 5 of 15 of them were from behind the 3-point line. The Orange also sank 10 of 14 from the charity stripe (UVA was 3 of 4). Each team committed five turnovers.

Gardner played just 7 minutes in the first half, as he and Beekman each picked up a pair of fouls.

Box Score

Team Notes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

• Virginia improved to 8-5, 2-1 ACC
• UVA forced two shot clock violations (16 in 2021-22)
• UVA had 40 points in the paint
• UVA and Syracuse were tied 33-33 at halftime
• UVA led 23-13 but the Orange closed the half on 20-10 run
• UVA matched a season high with four players in double figures (Armaan Franklin, Jayden Gardner, Kadin Shedrick and Kihei Clark)
• UVA shot 52.6 percent and had 14 points off 11 Syracuse turnovers

Series Notes

• UVA is 11-6 all-time against Syracuse, including a 9-2 mark in ACC action, in the series that dates back to 1983-84
• UVA is 5-2 at Syracuse
• Head coach Tony Bennett is 10-3 all-time against Syracuse

Player Notes

• Double Figure Scorers: Kihei Clark (17), Armaan Franklin (17), Jayden Gardner (15), Kadin Shedrick (12)
• Shedrick matched a career high with 12 points and had a career-high 11 rebounds
• Shedrick had his second career double-double
• Shedrick (2 blocks) had his 10th multi-block game
• Clark had season highs in points (17) and assists (8)

UP NEXT

UVA travels to Clemson for a rematch with the Tigers Tuesday at 9 p.m. (ACCNX).

Sunday’s Virginia women’s basketball game against Miami postponed

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The Atlantic Coast Conference announced today that the Miami at Virginia women’s basketball game scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 2, has been postponed.

Virginia is adhering to the outlined COVID protocols within the ACC Medical Advisory Group report, which is available on theACC.com (full report).

Following the ACC’s modified 2021-22 COVID-19 Game Rescheduling Policy, the ACC will look to reschedule the Miami at Virginia game.

The full 2021-22 ACC women’s basketball schedule can be found on theACC.com.

The UVA Athletic Ticket Office will contact ticket holders directly with options under the Fans First program.