Beekman rides to rescue with a buzzer-beater to lift Virginia over Syracuse

By Jerry Ratcliffe

A tsunami of emotions flooded Reece Beekman’s mind as he bolted down the Greensboro Coliseum floor Thursday afternoon, adrenaline overload as he left teammates in his celebratory wake.

The freshman, yeah, the guy that Syracuse dared to shoot the ball all day long, delivered the coup de grace, a buzzer-beating, 3-pointer that lifted top-seeded Virginia to a 72-69 win over the upset-minded Orange in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals.

Knotted at 69-all, the Cavaliers had trouble inbounding the ball against Syracuse’s smothering press, forcing Sam Hauser to call a time out for the second time with 28 seconds remaining.

During that break, Tony Bennett instructed point guard Kihei Clark to attack the basket and make something happen. Clark came off a screen, raced toward the lane as time was ticking down. He spotted Beekman – alone as usual – lurking outside the 3-point arc to his right, zipped it to his backcourt mate and prayed.

Prayers answered.

Beekman was wide open as his Syracuse defender, Quincey Guerrier, had sloughed off him to help double team Virginia’s seven-footer, Jay Huff, in case there was a lob from Clark.

Beekman didn’t blink. He had missed all five shots he had taken on the day, but it didn’t matter.

BAM! He delivered the dagger as the buzzer sounded and took off running toward the other end of the floor where he was swarmed by teammates, high-fived and hugged by Bennett.

It was so Virginia.

Wahoo fans had been hanging onto their last postseason dreams when UVA strung together three improbable cliffhangers to claim the 2019 national championship. Thursday was just a continuation of that rainbow.

“I was just thinking, it’s a big shot,” Beekman said afterward when asked about his thoughts as Clark’s pass was darting into his hands. “My coaches, everybody believed in me, so they wouldn’t have me out there for no reason. I just had to — it was a big shot I had to make, and I had to step up.”

Talk about trust. Beekman hadn’t made a 3-point shot since Feb. 10 against Georgia Tech. He has 29.6 percent accuray from behind the arc.

He was exactly who legendary Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim wanted to take the shot.

“Beekman is the one we want to shoot it there,” Boeheim said. “We don’t want to give anybody a shot, but he’s the one guy we would want to shoot it.

“He hasn’t made a three, he’s not a good 3-point shooter. But that’s the way it goes. He knocked it down and that’s to his credit.”

Beekman said his coaches and teammates encouraged him throughout the game to stay positive, to keep shooting. The freshman from Baton Rouge, La., but who grew up in Milwaukee, Wisc., had taken note of Notre Dame’s buzzer-beating shot against Wake Forest in an earlier round of the tournament.

“We were thinking, ‘What if you were in that situation?’” Beekman said. “It was just crazy that it happened in the same tournament.”

As storied as Beekman’s high school career was back in Baton Rouge, where he won four consecutive state championships, he had never hit a game-winner until Thursday.

It was only fitting that his mom, Julie Jackson, was sitting in the stands to see her son’s big moment. Good fortune was overdue for her family after older son, Bryce, a football player at Washington State, had died unexpectedly.

“It meant a lot,” Beekman said about his mother attending the game. “She tries to be at every game I have. I know she works a lot, so just her being here meant a lot for me because she’s supported me through and through since the beginning. Just to see her there in person meant a lot.”

During that run of titles at Scotlandville Magnet School back home, the closest thing Beekman had ever done to Thursday’s heroics was making a layup against his rival that sent the game into overtime.

Prior to Beekman saving Virginia’s bacon, senior teammate Sam Hauser had been the Cavaliers star of the day. Coming off a season-high 24 points at Louisville last weekend, Hauser continued on a tear, putting up 21 against the Syracuse zone on an 8 of 15 shooting performance, including 3 of 10 from the arc. Even with Syracuse focusing on chasing Virginia off the 3-point line, the Cavaliers attempted a season-high 35 3-pointers.

Fellow senior Huff added 13 points and 12 rebounds, along with four blocked shots, while Trey Murphy III added 15 points, including a key stretch late in the game when he drilled back-to-back 3-pointers and a pair of free throws to keep UVA ahead.

Clark, who was also given an uncomfortable amount of open looks by the Orange, scored 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, while dealing out six assists, turning it over only twice, and playing in-your-grill defense.

It took all of that to overcome another brilliant offensive performance by Boeheim’s son, Buddy, who scored a career-high 31 points (10 of 17). Beekman and Murphy turned in a yeoman’s performance in trying to stop Boeheim, but it was too much to ask.

There were a couple of times that Beekman had the Syracuse shooter buttoned up, but Boeheim still managed to make the shot.

“Buddy made some of the toughest shots that I’ve seen him make all year,” Boeheim said. “He was going in the lane against 6-4, 6-5 guys, 6-6 guys. It was incredible what he did today.

“I can’t even describe Buddy’s play. They had a guy all over him the whole game. They were holding him and pushing him the whole game, and he was tremendous.”

For Hauser, it was his first ACC Tournament experience, having transferred from Marquette. It was everything he imagined.

“That’s what March is,” Hauser grinned. “I think once you hit March in tournament time, you never know what can happen. Both teams were playing for a lot and Reece made a huge shot at the end.”

Huge indeed.

Virginia, 18-6,  moves on to the ACC Tournament semifinals for the sixth time in eight years, and will face Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets defeated Miami in a quarterfinals game. UVA swept its series with Tech this season.

Team Notes

• Virginia (18-6) advances to the ACC semifinals for the sixth time in eight years
• Reece Beekman made the game-winning 3-pointer as time expired
• UVA has 18 or more wins for the 10th straight season
• UVA has a three-game winning streak
• UVA recorded its 26th win in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals
• UVA improved to 2-1 on neutral courts in 2020-21
• The Cavaliers are 43-63 all-time in the ACC Tournament and 18-24 in Greensboro including the 2014 tournament title
• UVA has posted a 10-3 mark as the top seed in the ACC Tournament  (1-1 in 1981, 3-0 in 2014, 1-1 in 2015, 3-0 in 2018, 1-1 in 2019 and 1-0 in 2021)
• Bennett is 12-8 all-time in the ACC Tournament
• Virginia gained its first lead of the game (42-39) at 17:49 of the second half
• Syracuse started the game on a 7-0 run
• Syracuse led 39-36 at the half behind six offensive rebounds and 12 second chance points
• UVA attempted a season-high 35 3-pointers

Series Notes

• UVA is 10-6 all-time against Syracuse in the series that dates back to 1983-84
• Virginia defeated the Orange 81-58 on Jan. 25 at John Paul Jones Arena
• UVA is 1-0 vs. the Orange in the ACC Tournament and 2-2 vs. Syracuse in neutral-site contests
• UVA has held the Orange to 69 or fewer points in each of the last 13 meetings between the teams
• Head coach Tony Bennett is 9-3 all-time against Syracuse

Player Notes

• Double Figure Scorers: Sam Hauser (21), Trey Murphy II (15), Jay Huff (13), Kihei Clark (10)
• Hauser had his sixth 20-point game of 2020-21
• Huff matched a career high with 12 rebounds for his 10th career double-double
• Beekman had a team-high two steals
• Hauser has reached double figures in 22 games
• Huff has reached double figures in 18 games
• Huff (4 blocked shots) recorded his 18th multi-block game (45th career)
• Murphy III matched a season high with two blocked shots
• Murphy III reached double figures for the 16th time
• Clark chipped in a game-high six assists