Florida State basketball coach Leonard Hamilton said he rarely thinks about previous games once they're over so he wasn't having flashbacks to last season's miracle finish at Virginia that delivered his team an unexpected win with a halfcourt heave. It's probably safe to say that Hoo fans were in a much different frame of mind late Saturday.
For the second straight matchup with FSU at John Paul Jones Arena, UVA built a 10-point lead in the final four minutes and then sweated out the push to the finish line. Last season, Matthew Cleveland stunned the Cavaliers 64-63 with a long buzzer-beater. This season, the lead dropped to 3 points in the final 10 seconds but the nervousness percolating through many Hoo fans subsided as Virginia closed the door on a 62-57 victory.
"We knew that it was going to be a typical hard fought game on both sides," Hamilton said. "I think where we faltered a little bit, I thought they did a better job of executing during critical parts of the game. They moved the ball. They wore us out with their ball movement, attacking off the dribble, and getting to the free throw line."
While the stretch run looked similar to last season's meeting in Charlottesville, the game as a whole resembled many of the matchups in this series. Physical. Shots contested at the rim. A hard time creating much separation. Late game nerves. At different points, Kadin Shedrick, Armaan Franklin, Ryan Dunn, and Isaac McKneely ended up flat on the floor after varying collisions.
Plus, the Wahoos played a first half that Bennett called "sluggish" and it all added up to a grind.
Just how sluggish was that first half? Virginia shot 23.1% from the field and scored just 21 points. Those are both season lows for a half. The Cavaliers made 6 of 26 shots with only Franklin hitting more than one as part of 2-6 shooting in the first 20 minutes. The rough half included 8-17 shooting on layups. The hosts also had 6 turnovers for a 21.4% turnover rate.
Fortunately for UVA (7-0), it didn't face a big deficit because Florida State (1-9) experienced similar issues and led just 22-21. FSU shot just 25.0% in the half by making 7 of 28 shots. That included 9-23 shooting on layups.
"Hard fought first half," Bennett said. "It's conference play and Florida State played Purdue really tough. ... Their defensive pressure bothered Purdue at times. You could see, forget about the record and we had to move past our last good win against Michigan and just get ready. The way they guard, that's what makes it very interesting. They switch everything one through five and they force you to make plays. And if you can't make plays or knock down a few shots, it's going to be really difficult to beat them."
Virginia produced a much better performance after intermission.
The first four minutes of the second half set that tone as the Hoos turned the 1-point deficit into a 7-point lead. Kihei Clark started it with a jumper to flip the lead, Jayden Gardner scored on an offensive rebound after his own miss, and Franklin added a 3-pointer in the first two minutes. During the rebounding action on that 3-pointer, Shedrick took a shot to the throat that was ruled a Flagrant 1 technical foul and Clark made both free throws. Finally, Reece Beekman and Ben Vander Plas scored in the paint to cap off a 13-5 run to start the half.
That advantage eventually grew to 12 points and remained at 10 entering the final three minutes before UVA had to hold on for the late win. The Cavaliers shot 48% in the second half by making 12 of 25 shots. They also converted 15 of 18 free throws, including 7 of 8 in the final minute to help prevent a successful Seminole rally.
Clark led the Wahoos with 18 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists. Gardner tallied 10 points to go with 7 rebounds, 2 blocked shots, and 2 steals. Franklin finished with 9 points, while Beekman and Vander Plas chipped in 7 each. Beekman had 5 assists and Vander Plas had 4 rebounds. Virginia also got 4 points and 5 rebounds from both McKneely and Dunn.
"In the second half, we opened it up a little more and said go make plays," Bennett said. "You're going to have to make some plays off the dribble, drive, kick, swing, and we ran a few actions to get some looks. ... Good second half for the most part. A little careless down the stretch. ... We weren't quite as sharp. I said but no excuses. No distractions. I said you've got to get after it and play and it's going to come down to that and it certainly did."
The victory lifted Virginia to 14-0 in ACC openers under Bennett. It also extended the program's high success rate at home. The Hoos are an ACC-leading 79-13 in conference home games over the past 11 seasons. The next chance to add to that total comes on Jan. 7 when Syracuse comes to the JPJ. Before then, UVA faces JMU, Houston, and Albany at home plus Miami, Georgia Tech, and Pittsburgh on the road.
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