UVA Visits Cards For First Time Since 0.9 Miracle

By Jerry Ratcliffe

LOUISVILLE — The last time Virginia’s basketball team visited this river city last March, it pulled off a miracle that sent shockwaves throughout the sporting world.

With a mere two seconds remaining in the game, Louisville was up by four points. According to statistical guru Ken Pomeroy’s “Win Probability Meter,” the Cavaliers’ chances at that point was only 1.8 percent.

Nobody told Virginia.

“That was about as improbable as it gets,” Tony Bennett said, reflecting back on the stunning comeback.

With nine-tenths of a second showing on the Yum Center clock, Ty Jerome lasered an inbound pass from the baseline to wide-open De’Andre Hunter positioned well beyond the 3-point line. Jerome told him during the time out to be ready.

There wasn’t any time to think, just shoot, and the then-UVA freshman let go with a prayer as 20,000 pairs of eyes followed the ball’s path.

“It was a prayer, it was a prayer from 30 feet,” said then-Louisville coach David Padgett. “The stars weren’t aligned for us tonight.”

They were, however, aligned just right for Hunter and the Cavaliers as his shot banked off the backboard and through the net as the buzzer sounded.

Virginia 67, Louisville 66.

The shot brought Louisville’s players to their knees in disbelief, silenced the crowd that came hoping to see UVA’s dominance over their team come to a close. Instead, they watched the Cavaliers’ wild celebration that smothered Hunter underneath a human dogpile on the court.

“I couldn’t breathe,” Hunter told writers later. “It was a blur, a blank. I can’t really remember too much.”

Unbelievably, Louisville’s Deng Adel had committed a mindless turnover on the Cardinals’ inbounds play (he wasn’t permitted to move off the spot, but did so), giving the Cavaliers a last gasp with 0.9 seconds to play.

Hunter would not be the first option. Kyle Guy was and Louisville covered him perfectly, which caused a chain reaction. The Cardinals’ Ray Spalding followed Guy, which forced teammate Adel to guard two Cavaliers. UVA’s Isaiah Wilkins made a cut and shouted to Hunter to back up.

Jerome spotted him and zipped the ball to Hunter’s hands.

“When [Hunter] shot it, it looked so far left, I was like, ‘Oh, Dre’, hit the rim as least,” Jerome said afterward. “And all of a sudden, ohhhhh.”

All of a sudden, all hell broke loose.

Louisville’s Ryan McMahon was in total disbelief.

“I’ve never seen anything like that and I’ve watched a lot of basketball,” McMahon said. “I’m still in shock.”

He’s probably still in shock.

At high noon Saturday, on the banks of the Ohio River, Virginia will attempt to continue its mastery over the Cardinals. UVA has a seven-game winning streak over Louisville, including the last three at the Yum Center.

It got so bad while Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino guided the Cardinals that he threw up his hands in frustration and said that Virginia was his kryptonite.

He was right.

This time around, Louisville is coached by Chris Mack, who came home from Xavier to try to save the program. After his Cardinals experienced a 23-point meltdown and lost to Duke, then were blown out at Syracuse over the weekend, Louisville’s team called a “players only” meeting.

Mack said his biggest concern, other than facing the No. 1 defensive team in the country in Virginia, was his own team’s energy level.

In the last nine meetings with the Cavaliers, Louisville has averaged only 55 points per game. Virginia, ranked No. 1 in the nation in scoring defense, is allowing an average of only 54.6 per game this season.

Hmmm.