Are the Cardiac Cavaliers back again? Just like last year, the Virginia men’s basketball team is showing a knack for late-season, late-game heroics.
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Devin Smith drains this shot to win the game for Virginia. |
On Wednesday night the hero was Devin Smith, whose 3-pointer with 5.2 seconds left gave the Cavs a 56-55 victory over Florida State at University Hall. His shot from the right wing capped off a comeback from a 14-point deficit in the second half and gave UVa its only lead of the night. It also provided the second straight dramatic win for Virginia, which beat N.C. State four days earlier on a putback by Sean Singletary with 2.2 seconds remaining.
“That’s the bounce of the ball sometimes,” Smith said. “We’ve played a lot of close games and we have guys who are confident to take those shots at the end of games.”
Last year Todd Billet made game-winning shots three times near the end of the season, putting Virginia in the NIT and probably saving Pete Gillen’s job. That’s unlikely to happen this year. At 3-7 in the ACC and 12-9 overall, the Cavaliers still have a long way to go to salvage their season. But at least they can take pride in their clutch play at the end of close games. They are 7-1 in games decided by four points or less.
“I think that just shows the character of our team,” said freshman guard Sean Singletary . “Everyone’s tired of losing. No one wanted to lose tonight. We just came together and found a way to win.”
For most of the night, it seemed Virginia would find a way to lose against the Seminoles (11-12, 3-7 ACC), who had won just one ACC road game in the past four years. FSU scored the game’s first nine points as Gillen started the same small lineup (Singletary, T.J. Bannister, J.R. Reynolds, Jason Cain and Smith) that had been effective against the Wolfpack. The Cavs also used the spread offense in halfcourt situations that worked well four days earlier, but this time the result was some dreadful basketball.
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Elton Brown played well coming off the bench. |
Virginia shot 40% from the field, 21% from 3-point range and 56% from the foul line. Smith, Reynolds and Singletary went 4 for 20 behind the arc. The Cavs trailed 31-23 at the half and fell behind 41-27 with 14:39 left in the game. But remarkably they held Florida State to three field goals the rest of the way, including none in the final eight minutes.
“We were very fortunate to win the game tonight,” Gillen said. “We shot poorly from 3-point land. We shot poorly from the free-throw line. We had too many turnovers. But we defended, and I think that was the reason that we won.”
Von Wafer scored a game-high 16 points for the Seminoles, including four 3-pointers, but he missed four shots and committed a turnover down the stretch.
Elton Brown gave the Cavs a lift off the bench with 13 points and six rebounds, both team highs. Brown played just four minutes against N.C. State but played 28 minutes Wednesday and scored nine key points in the second half.
“I just want to win, bottom line,” Brown said. “I’ll play four minutes or I’ll play three minutes. If we get a ‘W’, it doesn’t matter to me.”
Virginia still trailed by eight points with about five minutes remaining before making the big plays at the end. Defensively, the Cavs shut out FSU over the final 3:54. Offensively, Smith drained a 3-pointer and Reynolds hit an acrobatic layup in transition. A free throw by Smith made it 55-53 and helped set up the final sequence.
After Wafer travelled with 31 seconds left, Smith penetrated and passed the ball out to Singletary for an open 3-pointer. The shot rimmed out and Bannister fought three Seminoles for the long rebound. The ball caromed to Reynolds, who drove and made a perfect pass to Smith, who had time to set his feet and swish the shot. Before that, Smith had gone 3 for 10 from the field and 1 for 6 on 3-pointers.
“Shooters have to keep shooting,” Smith said. “I’m always going to have confidence in my shot, even when I’m missing.”
The Seminoles had one last chance but Wafer’s 30-footer just before the buzzer wasn’t close.
“It wasn’t pretty,” Gillen said, “but I thought our kids showed a lot of courage and tenacity.”
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