Kent State gives Virginia a scare in overtime

By Jerry Ratcliffe

A different shade of flashes pushed 15th-ranked Virginia to its limits Friday night before the Cavaliers regained their poise and escaped a real scare.

Kent State’s Golden Flashes put up much more of a fight than Saint Francis’ Red Flashes did on Tuesday night at John Paul Jones Arena. While the red ones had their doors blown off, the golden ones came to play.

Virginia actually trailed 56-52 with 4:13 to play in regulation before point guard Kihei Clark took over and helped the Cavaliers regain the lead prior to Kent State sending the game into overtime. The Flashes barraged the basket with four 3-point attempts in the final seconds of regulation.

All they needed was one to go in and that’s what the Flashes got at the buzzer on a Danny Pippen 3-pointer that knotted the score at 62-all.

Virginia went on to win it in the extra period, outscoring Kent State 9-2 in overtime for a 71-64, too close for comfort win, improving its record to 3-1. No shot was more important than Sam Hauser’s 3-pointer with 42 seconds to go in the extra period, giving the Cavaliers a cushion at 67-62.

While UVA suffered through another poor defensive effort in the second half, allowing Kent State to convert 55.6 percent of its shots (50 percent of its 3-pointers, 7 of 14), the Cavaliers managed to shut down the Flashes in overtime. For the third consecutive game, UVA’s opponent won the second half, erasing a 9-point Cavaliers bulge at the break and outscoring Virginia 40-33 over the second half.

Tony Bennett had to be scratching his head over another second half defensive letdown but encouraged that his team refocused and held Kent State to only one field goal (in 11 tries) in the extra period. That one bucket didn’t come until 20 seconds remained and UVA had essentially locked up the win.

“[Kent State] played very hard,” Bennett said of the 1-1 Flashes. “They went at us. They were quick and they were strong, and they exploited some things at times. They hit a couple of tough or fortunate shots that were kind of backbreakers and could have been the difference.

“But we stayed the course and came up with enough tough shots. We’ve just got to keep working and keep improving and chipping away.”

Bennett told his team after the thriller-diller that it needs to raise its effort, especially with longtime nemesis Michigan State coming to town next Wednesday for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

“I said, here’s the line of maximum effort that you think it is, and for the most part, there’s a line above it about being uncomfortable that we have to somehow, as a group, find a way to get to, especially defensively and all out lay it on the line for each other,” Bennett said.

The two teams spent much of the second half leap-frogging one another with 11 lead changes before Pippen forced the overtime.

Trailing 56-52 with just over four minutes remaining in regulation, the recently-maligned Clark, who has not started the past two games, rode to the Cavaliers rescue by taking over the remainder of the half.

Driving relentlessly to the rim, Clark scored six of his team’s final 10 points during that span and spoonfed a pass to giant teammate Jay Huff, who was fouled on his way up, leading to a pair of Huff free throws that put the Wahoos up 62-59 with 38 seconds to play.

Clark’s scoring spree started with a driving layup, followed by converting 4 of 6 free throws down that key stretch.

“[Clark] brought what he needed to bring, and he’s got to bring it nonstop,” Bennett said of his veteran point guard’s effort. “That was important. He’s quick and I thought he had a nice stretch for us for sure.”

Clark finished with 14 points, nine of which came from the free throw line (9 of 12). Hauser and Huff posted a team-high 18 points each.

Hauser delivered the dagger to the Flashes with that huge 3-pointer in overtime. He was 7 of 14 overall and 3 of 7 from beyond the arc (Virginia was 7 of 18 on it’s 3-point attempts). None were bigger than the death blow in OT.

“The three he made was huge,” Bennett said. “We needed that. He has that ability. You have to allow him to get those shots and take them with confidence and that was huge.”

Team Notes

• Virginia (3-1) is 6-9 in overtime games under head coach Tony Bennett
• UVA is 81-7 in nonconference action under Bennett at John Paul Jones Arena
• The game featured eight ties and 13 lead changes
• Sam Hauser’s 3-point shot with 42 second left in overtime gave UVA a 67-62 lead
• Kent State’s Danny Pippen’s sent the game to overtime with a 3-point shot at the end of regulation
• UVA has held each of its four opponents to under 40 percent field goal shooting
• UVA went on a 10-0 run in the first half to gain a 15-9 lead
• The Cavaliers led 29-22 at halftime
• Kent State re-gained a 38-37 second half lead
• UVA made a season-high 22 free throws (30 attempts)
• The ACC announced before the game that Virginia’s Dec. 16 game at Wake Forest is postponed following positive tests, subsequent quarantining, and contact tracing within the Demon Deacon’s men’s basketball team

Series Notes

• UVA is 2-0 all-time against Kent State and 3-3 against current Mid-American Conference opponents

Player Notes

• Double Figure Scorers: Sam Hauser (18), Jay Huff (18), Kihei Clark (14)
• Huff had a career-high 18 points and 11 rebounds for his fifth career double-double
• Huff has reached double figures in three games
• Hauser has reached double figures in all four games
• Hauser had a season-high four assists
• Clark had a season-high 14 points
• Clark came off the bench for the second straight game after starting 44 consecutive games over the past three seasons
• Huff blocked two shots to move into sole possession of eighth on UVA’s all-time list with 110
• Huff has multiple blocks in each of the first four games