Virginia’s “Assassins” Strike Again
Posted on Saturday, Feb. 16, 2019, 9:10 pm
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Kyle Guy takes it inside against Irish defender Prentiss Hubb.
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Mike Brey kind of figured that one of Virginia’s “assassins” was going to get him before the day was over.
The Notre Dame coach has seen way too much of UVA’s Kyle Guy and Ty Jerome over the last three seasons, so when his upset-minded Irish drew close down the stretch at John Paul Jones Arena on Saturday afternoon, Brey wasn’t surprised when Guy rose to the occasion.
After John Mooney’s bucket cut Virginia’s lead to 45-44 with 8:12 to play, the Cavaliers’ De’Andre Hunter answered, just prior to Guy nailing his fourth 3-pointer of the game for a 50-44 lead (6:38). Still, the Irish managed to remain within striking distance in the final minute, trailing by a bucket at 54-52 (34 seconds) and 56-54 (16.8 seconds), only to watch Guy and Jerome sink six consecutive clutch free throws to ice Virginia’s 22nd win.
“Kyle Guy’s such a winner, the utmost respect for Guy and Jerome,” Brey said after the 60-54 loss. “They know who they are and they play within themselves. They’re assassins and winners.”
It was the kind of game that often makes the splash on ESPN at day’s end when the list of upsets are rattled off, one after another. Somehow, Tony Bennett’s team hasn’t been susceptible thus far, avoiding shockers at NC State in overtime, at North Carolina only 48 hours after losing to Duke, and Saturday afternoon on their own court.
“You never apologize for a victory in a league like this,” Bennett said after another close call.
Nor should he. Ask Krzyzewski, whose team lost at home to Syracuse. Ask Ol’ Roy, whose Heels were embarrassed at home by Louisville. Ask around the country and all the old coaches will tell you that winning on a day when your team is off a bit, just thank your lucky stars and move on.
Oh, and while you’re at it, give the Irish a little credit, too.
Virginia humbled Notre Dame in South Bend in late January by an 82-55 count. A similar result Saturday would have been understandable, but Brey had his team braced for the challenge.
“That’s about as good as we got,” Brey said of his young team. “I think we were embarrassed — all of us — how they kind of took our spirit from us at home, and they do that to a lot of people. We just kind of hung our head.”
This time the Irish were focused and played hard on defense.
“I told our kids if we can compete like that down the stretch, that’s the way we need to finish the season,” said Brey of his 13-12/3-9 squad.
While Guy finished as the game’s high scorer with 22 points, and Jerome struggled with a 2-for-9 shooting performance and 8 points, it was Hunter who was most responsible for preventing the Cavaliers from getting upset.
Hunter simply took over the game in the second half, scoring 13 of his 20 points (10 rebounds) after the break. The redshirt sophomore relentlessly drove through Notre Dame’s changing defenses, often drawing fouls, or pulling up for jump shots.
“Hunter is really, really good … he just took over,” said Brey about Hunter’s personal 10-point blitz of the Irish during a six-minute span when UVA threatened to blow the game open, building its lead from 41-40 to 54-44.
Bennett may not have been satisfied with his team’s performance but he realized the Cavaliers played well less than expected and still managed to dodge a bullet.
“We did enough against a team that was playing very solidly,” Bennett said of his team, which secured its eighth consecutive winning record in conference play, extending its own program record.
It was Virginia’s worst shooting performance (19-52, 36.5 percent) since a 57-49 win over VCU (13-44, 29.5 percent) on Dec. 9.
Still it was good enough to allow the Cavaliers to continue their mastery over the Irish, who have never won in Charlottesville. Notre Dame is now 2-13 all-time against UVA and 0-5 in Charlottesville.
Guy heaped praise on Hunter, who kept the Cavaliers alive so that Guy could finish the job at the end.
“[Hunter] is so good and talented at one-on-one basketball, and there is not anybody in the country who can stop him,” Guy said. “So, when he gets going, people start helping out more and that gets Ty, myself and other guys open shots.”
Hunter said his plan was to be more aggressive in the second half, and he was effective both against Notre Dame’s zone and man-to-man defenses.
At the end of the day, Guy echoed Bennett’s thoughts about managing yet another escape from a shaky situation. Asked if there was any cause for concern for not being able to put the Irish away earlier, Guy didn’t flinch.
“No, absolutely not,” Guy said. “I think that we are never going to apologize for a win, no matter what it looks like. I think we are just happy that we got the win.”
Now, No. 4 Virginia braces for its second consecutive Saturday-Monday turnaround in two weeks, playing at rival Virginia Tech on Monday.
Even the optimistic Guy realizes another lackluster effort isn’t going to cut it in Blacksburg. Expect Bennett to make that a point of emphasis over the next 48 hours.
