It wasn’t a smothering defensive performance. It wasn’t a clean and flawless offensive outing, particularly in the early going. It didn’t feature a knockout blow down the stretch to put the game away either. It was, however, exactly what Virginia needed.
After stumbling to back-to-back road losses last week, the UVA men’s basketball team snared a much-needed victory Tuesday night at the John Paul Jones Arena as the No. 13 Hoos slugged out a 66-58 win against No. 8 Miami. The Cavaliers have not lost three straight games since February 2011.
“It was a good win for us,” UVA senior Anthony Gill said. “Losing those last two games, we were not playing Virginia basketball, and that is not what we do. Just coming out there and really focusing in on moving them, making them work, and really trying to get back to what we do, it felt really good.”
“To be honest with you, we never took control,” Cavalier coach Tony Bennett said. “We took a step in the right directions in terms of our physicality, our mindset and our patience, but we have a lot of work to do. We have a ways to go, but we’ll just keep grinding away. That’s how we do it. [Angel] Rodriguez is as quick as they come. He got to the lane at will on us and we had no answer. We have to be better than that. But again, [Miami is a] good team that is very capable. I like how our guys responded with some physicality and we made plays, but we have work to do.”
Bennett’s frustrations stemmed from the defensive end naturally. The Hoos did clean up some issues from the two losses last week – 3-point shooting percentage defense and offensive rebounds allowed in particular. Miami managed 6 second chance points on 10 offensive rebounds after Georgia Tech scored 15 second chance points on 11 offensive rebounds over the weekend. The Hurricanes also made just 27.3% of their 3-pointers (6-22) after Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech shot 52.9% (9-17) and 53.3% (8-15) when they defeated the Hoos last week.
Still, Virginia didn’t have the continuity that Bennett craves as a coach. As he noted, Rodriguez sliced into the paint a little too easily at times and he tallied 6 of his team’s final 12 points on moves to the rim. Then there were some of those possessions where the Hoos just couldn’t finish off a stop. Miami took its final lead of the game on one such possession as an offensive rebound got tapped out to Rodriguez for a clean 3-point look that he made for a 43-41 lead. There were other open 3-point tries for Miami down the stretch as well, but the visitors couldn’t convert. Both Bennett and Miami coach Jim Larranaga thought the Canes missed some good looks that they often make in the second half.
Rodriguez finished with 17 points, 3 assists, and 0 turnovers. Sheldon McClellan (13 points) and Davon Reed (11) were in double figures as well, but UVA did stifle Tonye Jekiri as he had 5 points and 6 rebounds. Miami did shoot 42% (44.8% in the second half) and made just 10 of 17 free throws (58.8%).
Bennett wants his team to string together stops and to find the next level of consistency defensively.
“I thought we did an OK job,” Bennett said. “We just have to keep coming. We are a work in progress, and you always are defensively, but it’s a mindset and we have to keep working. Sheldon McClellan is very strong and very athletic. He can rise up and do some things. At times we kept him in front and bothered, but they got to the rim uncontested and off the ball screen we couldn’t choke. They missed sometimes more than we stopped them. But, we had enough stops and big plays. Again, I am very thankful for the win, please don’t mistake that because I know we needed it, but I know what’s looking us in the eye and I’m realistic.”
The Cavaliers did make enough big plays on offense to take care of any inconsistency issues on defense. They shot 51.1% (24-47), including a scorching 61.1% (11-18) after halftime. They also made 76.2% (16-21) of their free throws, including 88.2% (15-17) in the second half.
Most of the firepower came from four players. Malcolm Brogdon shook off a shaky start to score 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting. He also had 2 assists, including an alley-oop pass to Darius Thompson for a dunk that wound up No. 2 on ESPN SportsCenter’s top plays. Gill picked up the activity level on the glass again after posting just 2 rebounds against Georgia Tech. A more assertive approach against Miami led Gill to 15 points and 8 rebounds with 3 assists. London Perrantes did not score in the first half, but posted 13 points anyway with a strong second half. He added 4 rebounds and 2 assists. While Brogdon and Perrantes had it going in the second half with 27 points, Mike Tobey kept UVA on track in the first half when he scored 10 of his 12 points. Tobey ended up with 12 points and 7 rebounds.
After Rodriguez gave the Hurricanes their final lead at 43-41, it was Perrantes that had the answer. On UVA’s next possession, Perrantes nailed a 3-pointer in response to take the lead back. On the next trip, he scored on a tough drive where he banked a shot off the glass in the paint. Minutes later, he converted both free throws in a one-and-one situation for a 48-43 Cavalier advantage. That 7-0 surge from Perrantes sparked an 11-2 run for Virginia. Later, Perrantes helped preserve that lead with a high-arching floater that upped the Hoo lead to 5 points entering the final minute.
“I think he is just a terrific player who loves playing against Miami,” Larranaga said. “He has averaged 21 points per game against us in his career. I thought Angel Rodriguez did a fantastic job on him and yet he hit those two big shots, one right after the other. What was really crucial is he went to the foul line and made six out of six from the foul line. So he is very good.”
Perrantes joked that Miami’s beach roots reminded him of California as an explanation for this play against the Canes.
”They played me differently on defense [than last year] – Angel did a really good job of trying not to let me catch the ball, which was tough,” Perrantes said. ”I don’t know what it is playing well against them. I think they bring some sand and some water that I miss from L.A.”
The Wahoos improved to 8-0 at home with the win, but the next game is on the road where they are 1-3. Virginia faces Florida State on Sunday at 6:30 p.m.
