Franklin’s 22 points lift Hoos to convincing win over Miami, 71-58

By Scott Ratcliffe

For the first time in over a month, the Virginia men’s basketball team is on a winning streak. On Saturday, the Cavaliers put together an impressive all-around performance on both ends of the floor and knocked off visiting Miami, 71-58, at John Paul Jones Arena.

UVA junior guard Armaan Franklin was just one point shy of matching a career high in scoring, finishing with a game-high 22 points as the Cavaliers improved to 14-9 on the season (8-5 in the conference) and remained in the conversation for a top-four ACC Tournament seed with still some huge games left on the regular-season schedule.

It was Virginia’s fifth win in a row against the Hurricanes (16-7, 8-4), who have lost three of their last five games after sitting in first place in the conference standings.

The last time the Cavaliers won back-to-back games came in early January when they defeated Syracuse and Clemson on the road.

Leading by nine at halftime Saturday, the Wahoos came out scorching to start the second half, connecting on five-straight shot attempts and six of their first nine, as senior forward Jayden Gardner’s mid-range jumper extended the UVA lead to 14, 48-34, prompting a Jim Larrañaga timeout with 14:09 to play.

Kihei Clark sank a wide-open, second-chance 3-pointer, prior to a Franklin pull-up basket and a Kadin Shedrick jam, all part of a 7-0 run to push the advantage to 57-40, just as Miami threatened to make it a single-digit affair.

Reece Beekman delivered a beautiful assist to Francisco Caffaro for a ferocious, two-hand dunk, his eighth dime of the contest, to make it 63-44 as the clock went under six minutes.

Clark extended it to 20, 66-46, after his teammates grabbed a few offensive rebounds to keep the possession alive, allowing Clark to drill another open triple with 4:33 left. The starters left the game to a roaring, well-deserved ovation with 1:35 to play.

UVA shot 60 percent from the field in the win (30 for 50), connecting on 8 of 15 (53 percent) from 3-point land.

Franklin was 8 for 16 overall and 3 for 8 from long range, adding 4 assists, 3 rebounds and a team-best 4 steals. Gardner got off to a slow start but scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half, to go along with a game-high 7 rebounds and 4 assists.

Beekman had 9 points, a game-high 10 assists and a pair of steals, while Clark added 11 points, 3 assists and 3 steals.

Virginia forced Miami — one of the nation’s best teams when it comes to not turning the ball over — into 13 giveaways, which translated into a dozen Cavalier points.

Kameron McGusty led the Hurricanes with 21 points, while Charlie Moore added 17, as Miami shot 65 percent in the second half (15 for 23), but it wasn’t enough. The Hoos and Canes will meet again in two weeks for a rematch in Coral Gables.

FIRST HALF

Clark picked up where he left off against Boston College, knocking down a baseline jumper and a 3-pointer that beat the shot clock and gave the Hoos their first lead, 7-6, with 15:43 left in the half.

Virginia uncharacteristically gave the ball away numerous times in the opening minutes, but the Cavaliers were fortunate that Miami only converted those turnovers into two points.

Franklin exploded out of the game’s first media timeout, scoring seven-straight points to turn a three-point UVA deficit into a four-point lead, 14-10.

Beekman scored on a strong left-hand take, his first basket since last weekend against Notre Dame, and then Franklin followed with his second triple of the half, giving him a quick 10 points and the Cavaliers a five-point advantage, 19-14, midway through the half. The Indiana transfer has now scored in double figures in 11 of his first 13 ACC contests.

Miami missed five-straight shots and went nearly five minutes without scoring until Isaiah Wong scored in transition to trim the Virginia lead to 21-16 with 5:43 remaining until halftime.

Kody Stattmann gave the Hoos their largest lead of the half — up to that point — with a 3-ball, 26-18. Beekman matched that a few moments later after a near-turnover and frantic sequence at midcourt led to an alley-oop feed (one of his five first-half assists) for Shedrick at the two-minute mark, much to the delight of the JPJ crowd.

The Canes missed their first 10 attempts from beyond the arc until a pair of 3-pointers fell in the final two minutes, one by McGusty, one by Moore from way downtown, to get them back within four points.

Shedrick threw another easy one down in the final minute, and then Franklin, who led all scorers with 15 in the opening 20 minutes, capped one of his best halves as a Cavalier with a buzzer-beating 3, his third, to give his team a 35-26 lead and a boatload of confidence heading into the locker room.

Virginia shot 63 percent in the half (15 for 24), including 71 percent (5 of 7) from long range, limiting Miami to 44 percent from the field (12 for 27) and just 17 percent (2 of 12) from deep.

Box Score

Team Notes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

• Virginia improved to 14-9, 8-5 ACC
• UVA is 9-4 at John Paul Jones Arena
• UVA shot an ACC season-high 60 percent (30 of 50)
• UVA is 5-1 when shooting 50 percent or better
• UVA had a season-high 23 assists and ACC-high 11 steals
• UVA held Miami to a season-low 58 points
• Miami missed its first 10 3-point attempt and finished 4 of 17 (23.5 percent)
• UVA outrebounded Miami 24-19
• UVA led 35-26 at the half
• A 7-0 run (all seven points by Armaan Franklin) gave the Cavaliers a 14-10 lead

Series Notes

• Virginia has a five-game winning streak vs. Miami
• UVA is 14-12 all-time vs. Miami in the series that began in 1965-66
• The Cavaliers are 9-4 against the Hurricanes in Charlottesville
• Head coach Tony Bennett is 11-6 all-time against Miami

Player Notes

• Double Figure Scorers: Armaan Franklin (22), Jayden Gardner (12), Kihei Clark (11)
• Franklin reached double figures for the 16th time (30th career)
• Franklin scored 15 of his 22 points in the first half
• Franklin matched a career high with four steals and added a season-high four assists
• Gardner reached double figures for the 18th time (92nd career)
• Gardner has a six-game double-figure scoring streak
• Clark reached double figures for the 12th time (46th career)
• Clark has a four-game double-figure scoring streak
• Beekman (2 steals) extended his steal streak to 13 games
• Beekman (10 assists) registered his second game with 10 or more assists

UP NEXT

The Hoos make the trip to Durham for the program’s last contest at Duke with Mike Krzyzewski as head coach of the Blue Devils in a primetime, Monday-night affair (7 p.m., ESPN).