Virginia saw a late-game lead wither down the stretch for the third straight Saturday at the John Paul Jones Arena, but it avoided the Valentine’s Day heartbreaker against Wake Forest thanks to one final stop on defense. UVa’s Malcolm Brogdon smothered Codi Miller-McIntyre on the last possession and ended the upset threat with a steal that sealed a 61-60 win.
“He really spread out and road-blocked [Miller-McIntyre]. That was the very good individual defensive possession that we needed,” Wahoo coach Tony Bennett said. “We were just fortunate to make one stop at the end to come away with a tough win against a team that has really improved.”
The No. 2 Cavaliers improved to 23-1 and 11-1 in the ACC with the victory, but they had to survive a tense final four minutes. Virginia took a 55-48 lead with 4:06 remaining when Anthony Gill drove from the left side and dunked with two hands, but Wake Forest put together one final surge. Cornelius Hudson made two free throws and a 3-pointer from the left wing, while Konstantinos Mitoglou nailed two triples of his own as well. While UVa answered with two layups and 2 of 4 free throws, the lead dwindled in the exchange.
Miller-McIntyre got to the line with 17 seconds to play and made just 1 of 2 free throws, but he grabbed his own rebound on the second one to set up the final possession drama. After a ball screen action didn’t work, the trip ended with Miller-McIntyre isolated above the free throw line against Brogdon. When the Wake point guard went right, Brogdon was there. When he spun back left, Brogdon was there. And when he went to a step-back dribble for a potential pull-up shot in the final three seconds, Brogdon was there too. Miller-McIntyre lost the grip on the ball and it fell into Brogdon’s hands for the clinching steal.
“I was just trying to pressure him and make him uncomfortable,” Brogdon said. “He was trying to get in the lane all game and it worked some of the time. I figured I’d give him some space once he put it on the ground and started coming at me. He was trying to get to the left side of me with his right hand. I tried to cut him off and he spun back, and lost control of the ball.”
“They did a good job of hedging the ball screen. It made me focus on the man in front of me and it resulted in a turnover. I lost the ball a little bit before [Malcolm Brogdon] got to it and then he knocked it away,” Miller-McIntyre said. “If the hedge wasn’t there I would’ve either had a layup or [Mitoglou] right there with me. It was a tough hedge. I probably should’ve told my big to take the slip a little bit to open up the driving lane. That’s something I need to work on as a guard.”
While that moment sealed the win, there were some concerns for the Pack-Line defense. UVa allowed 48% shooting in the first half (12 of 25) before it reeled things in a bit for a 43.2% shooting day overall (19 of 44) for the Deacs. The biggest issue, however, came around the 3-point line where Wake Forest made 10 of 24 attempts (41.7%). Hudson (3 of 5) and Mitoglou (6 of 12) did the most damage as they combined for 27 points from 3-point range.
Mitoglou, in particular, proved to be a match-up nightmare since he could pick and pop against the Pack-Line. Of course, the 6’10” freshman has been a match-up issue for everyone lately. Over the last five games, he’s 21 of 36 from downtown (3-7 vs. VT, 3-5 vs. NC State, 3-5 vs. Georgia Tech, 6-7 vs. Miami, and 6-12 vs. Virginia). That’s a blistering 58.3%.
“We weren’t quick on our rotations. I thought we were just a half a step too slow and not alert,” Bennett said. “If [Mitoglou] gets the ball and you’re not there on the catch and he gets his rhythm going, you’re in big trouble.”
Fortunately, the Cavaliers found enough offense in the second half to overcome that hot shooting. After making just 8 of 22 shots (36.4%) in the first half, Virginia hit 16 of 31 shots (51.6%) after intermission. That helped erase the largest halftime deficit of the season as UVa trailed 31-24.
Gill spear-headed the effort in the second half as the Hoos regularly fed him the ball. He responded in a huge way as he made 5 of 5 shots after intermission. Gill finished with 19 points, 6 rebounds, 1 blocked shot, and 1 steal. That continued a recent streak of strong play for Gill, who has been in double figures in three of the last four games (and he had 9 points at NC State too). He has averaged 12.75 points per game in this four-game stretch.
“We’re getting him the ball in good spots. He’s turning, facing, driving hard and finishing,” Bennett said. “They have a forward who can stretch and shoot, and we have one who can step outside the lane and really attack you off the dribble. That puts pressure on the defense. He’s been able to get to the spots he needs to and drop those shots in. We needed all of that, without a doubt.”
Virginia’s perimeter players picked it up after halftime too. The starting trio of Evan Nolte, Brogdon, and Perrantes combined for 19 points in the second half. Nolte hit 2 of 4 triples for 6 points, while Brogdon and Perrantes attacked in different ways for 13 more.
Brogdon finished with 11 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals, and 1 blocked shot. Perrantes added 11 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists. Throw in 8 points from Mike Tobey and 6 from Darion Atkins and it was enough to pull out the 61-60 win.
The narrow victory was just another reminder for the Cavaliers, that they’re getting everyone’s best shot as the reigning ACC Champions. Pitt is up next on Monday night at 7 p.m.
“It’s close to the end of the season. Everybody is stepping up and everybody is playing a lot better. They’ve got 20-something games under their belt and they know how to play with each other. I don’t think their record shows how good they were. They were a really good team, especially having a 6’10” forward that shoots the three really well,” Perrantes said. “I see Pitt beat North Carolina today. Everybody is stepping up. The ACC is not bad from down low. There’s top teams, but the lower teams are real good as well. We just have to play our game and hope for the best.”
