End of the Tournament, But Not the End of the Road

By Jerry Ratcliffe

CHARLOTTE — Tony Bennett sat in the very same spot Friday night that he occupied last March when his Virginia team — the top-seeded team in the NCAA Tournament — fell prey to the madness.

This time, the moment didn’t require the same grace and elegance as a year ago when the Cavaliers made history as the first No. 1 seed to be upset by a No. 16.

After UVA’s (69-59) loss to Florida State in the ACC Tournament semifinals, Bennett and his players’ comments weren’t accompanied by gloom and doom. Last March, the Cavaliers dreams were mercilessly crushed. Devastation was replaced by hope and looking ahead to next week’s NCAA Tournament.

Asked if he subscribed to the theory that taking a loss at this stage of the season might bring everything into focus for his team, Bennett responded immediately.

“I do now,” he quipped. “All right, we lost, we’ll get some extra rest for these guys, we’ll grow, learn from the tape, and you take the hand that’s dealt, and make the most of it.”

While UVA lost, the defeat is not expected to knock Bennett’s team out of one of the national No. 1 seeds.

The Cavaliers certainly would have liked to have won back-to-back ACC Tournament titles, but it wasn’t the end of the world.

“I wanted these guys so bad to get a chance at a title fight, but that didn’t happen,” Bennett said. “It wasn’t that their effort was poor or anything, but now we’ll use it to our advantage.”

Were the Cavaliers perfect against a very good FSU team? Not even close. Some of their warts were exposed, enough to give Bennett and his coaching staff points of emphasis for this week’s practice sessions.

Riding the Top 5 wave for most of the season, UVA discovered it is vulnerable, which could be a good thing heading into the tournament that fans remember.

Florida State, now 27-6, was a much different team than the one the Cavaliers virtually destroyed to begin the ACC season. The Seminoles, physical and long, took it to the Wahoos, landing an endless flurry of haymakers without a lot of counter punches.

Virginia trailed most of the first half, trailed for the sixth time this year at halftime (35-31), but managed to pull ahead twice with 14:25 to play on a De’Andre Hunter drive (43-42), and at 13:28 on a Kihei Clark jumper (45-44). From that point on, the Cavaliers fell behind as FSU went on a 13-1 run and left UVA in its wake.

Postgame was only a confirmation of what was unveiled on the court. The Seminoles are one of, if not the most improved teams in the country. They hobbled into Charlottesville, way less than full strength the first week in January. They’re now healthy, deep, and playing like they belong.

“They kind of stop the things you want to do,” said Kyle Guy, who scored all of his 11 points in the first half. “When I was trying to pass to De’Andre, and [RaiQuan] Gray stole the ball, it was a great defensive play. I didn’t think he’d be able to get there, but their length and athleticism is real.”

Both of those factors threw Virginia out of sync. The Cavaliers struggled to score — only Hunter (13), Guy (11), and Ty Jerome (10) — managed to get to double figures. Jerome was effective in the second half, Guy in the first. It was clear that FSU coach Leonard Hamilton was not going to let Guy dominate like he did against the Seminoles in January.

“They were just really keying on me the second half,” Guy said. “They did a great job at the beginning of the first half and the entire second half. I was trying to look for my shot, create for other people, and create for myself, so I kind of deferred to Ty and De’Andre. It was a matter of a game where we didn’t make our shots.”

In addition, it was a game where Bennett’s vaunted “Pack-Line” defense wasn’t nearly as effective as usual.

The Seminoles shot 56.5 percent, only the fifth time this season than an opponent shot 50 percent or better.

Because Virginia has been regarded as the nation’s best defensive team all season, Hamilton knew he couldn’t go with the status quo heading into the ACC semifinal. He had to throw the Cavaliers a curve.

FSU put in a couple of different sets than Virginia expected in order to get more movement in its offense and to get the ball inside.

That’s exactly what the Seminoles did. They scored 26 points in the paint and used their depth, getting 28 points from their bench, completely opposite of UVA, which virtually got nothing from its bench (eight points).

All of that was never more evident than during Florida State’s second-half run when it left the Cavaliers in the rear view.

“We needed to score,” said Jack Salt. “We were down by a decent amount. Shots just weren’t falling.

That wasn’t all.

“[FSU] was getting in the lane, they were burying our guys deep and getting our boards, and that’s something we can’t afford to happen with any team, especially a team like them,” Salt added. “A team that’s extremely physical.”

FSU dominated the glass, 35-20, the largest margin by a UVA opponent this season.

While it was a loss, it was only that. It wasn’t monumental like the last time the Cavaliers were in Charlotte.

“I don’t think this is anything to hang our head about,” Guy said. “We got three losses on the entire year, six in the last two years, so I’m nothing but excited for next week.”

Bennett had to like what he heard from one of his leaders.

“Now we go into another tournament,” Bennett said. “We always talk about that it’s 40-minute territory. If you’re not sharp for the majority of those minutes or possessions, you get beat, and then you’re out of that tournament.”

With a cold slap of reality that they’re not invincible, Virginia will return to Charlottesville on Sunday, watch the selection show like the rest of us and get ready for the next 40 minutes.

Forty minutes it won’t take for granted.