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Sean Singletary hit a seemingly impossible shot in overtime to win the game. |
For the second time in two games, the Virginia basketball team needed a go-ahead shot in the final seconds to get an ACC victory. And just like the Clemson comeback on Sunday, the Cavaliers cashed in when it mattered most. In that game, Jason Cain tipped in a missed shot to lift Virginia into the lead. This time, it was Sean Singletary ‘s turn.
Singletary, who drained a clutch jumper near the end of regulation too, hit a mind-blowing shot over two Duke defenders with just 1 second to play to send the Blue Devils packing in a 68-66 overtime win by the Hoos. It gave UVa its fifth straight league victory for the first time since the 1994-95 season.
Singletary jokingly agreed that the game-winning shot was a “high percentage shot.”
“Yeah,” Singletary said. “Very high.”
“Actually, I got bumped. To catch my balance, I just had to get off my feet and try to keep my balance,” he said of the final shot. “I was able to keep my balance and get the shot off before I fell.”
After the rainbow fade-away floater found the bottom of the net, Duke had one final chance. A long baseball pass found Greg Paulus on the left wing and he got a good look at a long jumper. However, his final 3-point attempt sailed long and it was enough to give the Hoos the win.
When asked about Duke’s final attempt, J.R. Reynolds joked that he was “just glad they got the time right” in the postgame interviews. Certainly, Reynolds was just happy to get the last laugh for once. The Blue Devils had defeated the Cavaliers 9 straight times and Reynolds, along with fellow senior Jason Cain, had never beaten Duke.
“It feels real good. I don’t have to worry about anyone else. I don’t have anybody else on my hit list,” Reynolds said with a wry smile. “I was so pumped and when Sean made that shot, I didn’t know what to do. It feels real good to beat a great Duke team.”
Reynolds had a lot to do with crossing the final ACC team off his defeated list. With the Cavs floundering offensively for the entire first half (37.9% shooting), Reynolds once again shouldered the scoring load after intermission despite his own first-half struggles. He shot just 2 of 7 in the first half and missed a free throw to boot, giving him just 5 points in the first 20 minutes.
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J.R. Reynolds scored 20 points in the second half. |
The second half was a different story altogether. Reynolds made 5 of 7 shots in the second half and 9 of 9 free throws. Those 20 points (he finished with 25 on 7-of-14 shooting) kept the Cavaliers within shouting distance for most of the second half and his final four points – all free throws – brought the Hoos to within 61-59 in the final 1:15.
Singletary’s two clock-beating shots led to overtime and victory after that.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski thought the free throws down the stretch were the difference. Indeed, the freebies helped the Cavs close from 61-56 deficit in the final 2:50 with the clock stopped.
“There was a critical play when we had a four-point lead and Reynolds drove baseline and we didn’t get there in time for the charge. I thought that was the biggest play of the regulation,” Krzyzewski said. “He went up and hit two free throws. We’ve got to get there quicker. We played pretty good D and we had him going, but we didn’t get there in time. That might have been the ball game right there. Just plays like that … in a game like this, you’re going to look at one play, a lot of one plays and that could do it.”
Singletary, meanwhile, shrugged off his late-game heroics and heaped praise on Reynolds’ effort in the second half. Both guards, along with Cain, were battling cramps down the stretch.
“J.R. basically carried us through the whole game. After he cramped up and went down, I knew I had to step up and make a big play,” Singletary said before adding more later. “Like I said before, the best player in the game was J.R. He had 25 points against a top-notch defensive team. He carried us through … and without J.R.’s point production, and energy, and leadership, we wouldn’t have won this game.”
Of course, UVa coach Dave Leitao was impressed with his team’s defense as much as anything else over the final 4:29. After all, DeMarcus Nelson’s 3-pointer at that time marker had just given Duke a 57-51 edge – the Devils scored just four points the rest of regulation.
“The grit the guys showed toward the end of the game was something I was most proud about, because that’s what I want from a program, that’s what I want from the team before we do anything else – that we’re tough physically and tough mentally on the defensive end and that’s exactly what they were when it counted most,” Leitao said.
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Solomon Tat ‘s lock-down defense on Duke’s Jon Scheyer gave the Hoos the chance for a go-ahead shot in the final seconds. |
All in all, it took a lot of components to pull out the win. The team’s defense in regulation and overtime on critical possessions was key – take Solomon Tat ‘s defense on John Scheyer in OT for example. Cain’s 10 rebounds before fouling out, which gave Ryan Pettinella and Lars Mikalauskas a chance to provide some solid overtime defense.
Mamadi Diane ‘s one-handed offensive rebound and strong putback late in the action.
Singletary’s shots. Reynolds’ second-half offense.
All of those things mattered. All were necessary. After all, the Cavs managed to knock off the No. 8 team in the country despite the fact that Duke controlled the tempo and dictated much of the action defensively.
So perhaps freshman Will Harris summed it up best with his thoughts moments after the game. Sitting in the meeting room just outside of the Cavalier locker room, Harris flashed a broad smile and said:
“This is the most exciting day of my life right now. At the moment at least.”
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