Seminoles come back to stun Hoos, 64-63, as Cleveland makes buzzer-beating triple

By Scott Ratcliffe

Virginia guard Armaan Franklin sank what appeared to be the game-winning jumper with one second left Saturday, but Florida State spoiled the Cavaliers’ Senior Day with a buzzer-beating Matthew Cleveland 3-pointer to win, 64-63.

UVA led for the majority of the contest, but surrendered a 10-point lead with 3:26 to play and dropped to 17-12 on the season and 11-8 in ACC play, weakening its chances for an NCAA Tournament at-large bid in the process with just one game left in the regular season.

The Seminoles (15-13, 8-10), who were playing without four of their usual starters, had lost eight of their last nine and five of their last six at John Paul Jones Arena, but never threw in the towel and emerged with the win.

With Virginia leading by a point, fourth-year forward Kody Stattmann broke up a Seminole fast break with under 20 seconds to play after fellow senior Kihei Clark lost the ball around half court.

Franklin came up with the ball and split a pair of free throws with 14.7 ticks left, but Florida State tied it at 61-all with 6.3 seconds to go on a Cleveland shot high off the glass.

Franklin got the ball in the waning seconds and released from just past the free-throw line with not one, but two defenders’ hands in his face, and JPJ exploded with excitement.

After a Seminole timeout, however, Cleveland caught the long inbound pass from Harrison Prieto, then turned and fired just before the final horn sounded, and Wahoo Nation was stunned and shocked as the visitors began to celebrate after his shot swished through the net.

”I think that we kind of broke down on the defensive end the last three or so minutes of the game, they hit I think their last eight shots,” said Franklin. “Like Kody [Stattmann] said, that’s the time we need to lock in even more and fill in our gaps. At the same time they hit some tough shots.”

With the Wahoos ahead by three early in the second half, Reece Beekman — who laid one in on the previous possession — threw down a powerful one-hand jam from the baseline to bring the fans to their feet.

Franklin nailed one from way downtown (from the V-sabre logo at midcourt, to be exact) to beat the shot clock and put the Cavaliers ahead 44-36 with 15:30 on the clock.

Stattmann got the start on Senior Day and made his presence felt on the defensive end down the stretch, with a blocked shot and a steal that ultimately led to two Beekman free throws.

Clark fed Kadin Shedrick for a two-hand flush the next trip down to cap a 9-1 run, and Virginia’s lead grew to double digits, 48-37, forcing FSU coach Leonard Hamilton to call for a timeout with 10:46 to go. He had seen enough, as the Hoos took their largest lead of the day and meanwhile his Seminoles were 1 for 9 from the floor during that stretch.

Whatever Hamilton said seemed to have an effect, as State scored seven in a row out of the timeout. Conversely, Virginia had missed seven-straight shots until Clark converted a three-point play with 5:38 to play to make it 52-44.

Jayden Gardner’s bucket out of the final media break pushed the Cavalier lead back to 10, 56-46, before the Seminoles mounted one final rally.

FSU, which finished the contest on an 18-7 run from that point on, trimmed it to 60-56 as the game went under two minutes, and then Cleveland’s three-point play cut it to one with 45 seconds left, setting up the thrilling conclusion.

Virginia shot 39 percent from the field (22 for 56) and just 24 percent from downtown (4 for 17), but sank 15 of 19 (79 percent) from the charity stripe.

Gardner finished with a game-high 21 points and 6 rebounds, while Franklin added 13 points and three 3-pointers.

Beekman fouled out late, but posted 8 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks and a steal. Francisco Caffaro scored 7 points to go with his game-high 11 rebounds and 2 blocks.

As for the seniors, Clark struggled with his shot (3 for 16, 0 for 4 from deep), but finished with 7 points and a game-high 6 assists. Stattmann had 3 points, a rebound, 2 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals.

Cleveland scored 14 of his team-high 20 points in the second half to lead the Seminoles, including eight in the final 45 seconds. Prieto was the only other Florida State player in double figures with 14 points.

FIRST HALF

After a bit of a sloppy start, the Cavaliers cashed in on three-straight shots — capped by a 3-pointer from Stattmann with 15:14 showing — and led 9-4 at the first media timeout, as FSU missed nine of its first 11 attempts from the field.

The Hoos went nearly four minutes without scoring until Beekman sank a jumper to make it 11-6, and then Clark’s first bucket bounced in to push the lead to nine moments later.

The Seminoles answered with a 10-0 run to take a 16-15 advantage with 7:47 left, and it was a tightly contested battle for the remainder of the half.

After a Malachi Poindexter jumper fell, Gardner connected on three-consecutive baskets — the last of which wowed the crowd, a tough reverse layup through the teeth of the defense — to give UVA a 25-22 edge with 3:45 until halftime.

Tied at 27, Franklin nailed a deep 3 at the 2-minute mark on an assist from Clark, who followed with a jumper of his own the next trip down. Gardner sank a pair of free throws in the closing seconds, as the Hoos finished the half on a 7-2 run and took a 34-29 lead at the break.

Gardner led all scorers with 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting at the half, as UVA shot 54 percent (13 for 24) and scored eight points off of five FSU turnovers.

Box Score

Team Notes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

• Matthew Cleveland won the game with a long 3-pointer at the buzzer
• Armaan Franklin gave Virginia a 63-61 lead on a jumper with 1.0 second left in the game
• The Cavaliers fell to 17-12, 11-8 ACC
• UVA has lost back-to-back games for the first time in 2021-22
• UVA is 10-6 at John Paul Jones Arena (6-4 in ACC play)
• UVA forced two shot clock violations (31 in 2021-22)
• FSU went on a 10-0 run to gain a 16-15 lead
• UVA led 34-29 at the halftime, falling to 13-3 when leading after 20 minutes
• The Cavaliers honored Kihei Clark, Jayden Nixon and Kody Stattmann, and managers Chris McGahren and Shane Nelson in a pre-game Senior Day ceremony

Series Notes

• Virginia is 26-28 all-time vs. Florida State, including a 16-10 mark in Charlottesville, in a series that began in 1991-92
• UVA has limited Florida State to fewer than 70 points in 20 of the last 21 meetings
• Head coach Tony Bennett is 9-11 all-time vs. Florida State
• In the 54-game series with Florida State, 21 of the 54 games have been decided by 5 points or less

Player Notes

• Double Figure Scorers: Jayden Gardner (21), Armaan Franklin (13)
• Gardner reached double figures for the 24th time (97th career)
• Gardner recorded his 40th career 20-point game (7 at UVA)
• Gardner (1,912 points) surpassed 1,900 career points (1,891)
• Gardner has a 12-game double figure scoring streak
• Franklin reached double figures for the 18th time (32nd career)
• Francisco Caffaro and Beekman each matched career highs with two blocks
• Caffaro had a game-high 11 rebounds

UP NEXT

Virginia closes out the regular season in one week at Louisville (Saturday at 12 Noon on ESPN2) before beginning preparations for the ACC Tournament in Brooklyn.