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Jason Clark scored a career-high 16 points, two on a goaltending call to force OT. |
It was wild, wacky, entertaining and exhausting. Most importantly, it was a win for the Virginia men’s basketball team, one that could loom large down the road if the Cavaliers find themselves on the NCAA tournament bubble.
T.J. Bannister’s shot in the lane with 2.6 seconds left in double overtime gave UVa an 80-79 victory over Western Kentucky late Wednesday night at University Hall. That capped off a frenetic final sequence that, given everything that came before it, provided a fitting end to what senior forward Jason Clark called “one of the craziest games since I’ve been here.”
How crazy? Clark’s basket on a goaltending call with 0.2 seconds left in regulation allowed Virginia to force overtime after trailing nearly the entire game. The Cavs then managed to blow a five-point lead in the last 30 seconds of the first OT before overcoming a three-point deficit in the second extra session.
Down 79-78, the Wahoos worked for a final shot but had a pass tipped away. Players from both teams dove on the floor after the loose ball but no one could gain possession until Gary Forbes came up with it near midcourt and passed to Bannister on the left wing. With time running down, the sophomore guard – on the court because Sean Singletary fouled out – drove into the lane and dropped in a short shot for his first game-winning basket since high school.
“I feel like we were meant to win,” said Bannister, though it didn’t look that way for most of the night.
The Cavaliers, who improved to 9-2 with their fourth win by four points or fewer, were coming off a 19-point loss to Wake Forest and were far from healthy. Leading scorer Devin Smith missed his second straight game with a sprained ankle. J.R. Reynolds almost didn’t play because of illness. (“He had the runs and was throwing up all day,” Coach GIllen offered helpfully if graphically.) Clark hadn’t practiced in two days because of a strained Achilles tendon.
Then, as they did against Wake Forest, Singletary and Elton Brown struggled on offense, combining to miss 18 of 24 shots. That almost doomed Virginia against the Hilltoppers (10-2), who were led by hard-nosed guard Anthony Winchester. The 6-4 junior finished with 30 points and 11 rebounds in 48 minutes. His 3-pointer with three minutes left in the first half gave Western Kentucky its largest lead at 30-20, and he helped his team hold off several UVa runs with tough jumpers and putbacks.
“Anthony brings it every night,” said WKU coach Darrin Horn. “He epitomizes what our program is all about.”
But the Cavs had a couple of unlikely heroes of their own in Clark and Reynolds. Clark finished with 16 points (a career high), nine rebounds, three blocks and two assists. He scored six straight points during one stretch, including a fast-break dunk that tied the game at 43 with 12:41 left in regulation.
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J.R. Reynolds scored 20 despite being “sick as a dog.” |
After the Hilltoppers again surged ahead by nine points, Reynolds brought Virginia back. He scored eight points down the stretch, including a pair of 3-pointers that knotted the score at 60. The sophomore guard finished with 20 points and six rebounds despite missing the start of the game while receiving two bags of intravenous fluids in the locker room. He also sat out the first nine minutes of the second half after throwing up at halftime.
Asked if he’d ever felt worse on the court, Reynolds said, “Nah, that was the worst.”
“He was sick as a dog,” Gillen said. “How he gets 20 points is beyond belief.”
That description – beyond belief – also applies to much of what occurred at the end of regulation and in the overtimes. With Virginia down 65-63, Forbes drew a foul with 11.1 seconds left in regulation. He missed the first free throw, then, under instructions from Gillen, intentionally missed the second and helped the Cavs keep possession by crashing into Western Kentucky’s Antonio Haynes, who lost the ball out of bounds.
Reynolds had an open look at a 3-pointer off the ensuing inbounds pass, but his shot rimmed out. Singletary came up with the ball and shoveled it through a double team to Clark, who bobbled it before laying it off the backboard just before the final horn. WKU’s Elgrace Wilborn slapped the ball away – a clear case of goaltending that was promptly called – and the game went to overtime.
In the first OT, the Hilltoppers missed seven of their first eight shots as Virginia took a 72-67 lead on two free throws by Reynolds with 33.6 seconds left. Safe, right? Wrong.
Winchester made a foul shot, then got the ball back after missing the second free throw and drained a 3-pointer to make it 72-71. Reynolds again hit two foul shots to put the Cavs up by three before Gillen ordered Forbes to foul Haynes with 15.5 seconds left. The strategy backfired when Haynes made one of two free throws and Forbes bricked a pair of foul shots three seconds later. Western Kentucky guard Courtney Lee (20 points) drove into the lane and hit a runner with 0.8 seconds to tie the game and stun the crowd of 6,675, some of whom had already left the arena as the clock approached midnight.
Those fans missed a wild finish. The Cavs failed to score on their first five possessions of the second OT. Singletary fouled out on a charging call, Reynolds missed two shots and Bannister had a turnover and a miss. The Hilltoppers weren’t much better, but they led 77-74 before Reynolds made a layup in transition and Forbes powered inside for a layup with 38 seconds left, giving Virginia a 78-77 lead.
Forbes then tried to steal the inbounds pass but fouled Lee, who made both free throws to put Western Kentucky in front, setting up the desperate final possession for Virginia. After a crosscourt pass was deflected, Brown and Clark were among the players who hit the deck in a mad scramble for the ball. Forbes came out of the scrum near midcourt and got the ball to Bannister, who provided the final heroics.
“I told the guys we were going to win. I said it two or three times during the game,” Gillen said. “A couple times I had my doubts.”
(For complete coverage of the Cavaliers, please sign up for Sabre Edge. Edge subscribers can listen to postgame audio of Coach Gillen, Western Kentucky coach Darrin Horn, J.R. Reynolds and T.J. Bannister.)
