NCAA Tournament Notes: More From Virginia, Purdue Thriller

Virginia is 33-3.
Virginia coach Tony Bennett celebrates his team’s win to get to the Final Four. ~ Photo Courtesy Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics Media Relations

The Virginia and Purdue thriller contained so many angles Saturday that there’s still a few things to unpack from UVA’s 80-75 overtime win. Here are a few leftovers from Louisville.

10-Year Anniversary

Virginia’s win came on the 10-year anniversary of the day it announced the hire of Tony Bennett and it sent him to his first Final Four as a coach. To add to the serendipitous vibe, UVA defeated Purdue to get there … the same team that Tony’s father Dick Bennett got past with Wisconsin to make his Final Four appearance in 2000. Does that mean John Cusack will be cast in the movie or something? The Hoos soaked in the connections after the victory.

“This story that continued today was unreal,” Ty Jerome said. “His dad, he got to the Final Four by beating Purdue. On his 10-year anniversary, he got to the Final Four by beating Purdue. His dad’s here. It’s unreal.”

“That’s a lot of crazy things that line up,” De’Andre Hunter said. It’s just a crazy feeling. I know he’s probably really happy right now. I’m really happy for him. I’m really happy for this team.”

“That’s wild,” Jay Huff said. “That’s crazy knowing it was to the day. That’s really cool.”

“Oh wow,” Braxton Key said. “History repeats itself. It’s great that it happened. I’m happy for coach. I know that’s something he wanted to accomplish. He wanted it for us and we wanted it for him. I think we’re all glad that we’re here, but we know the job’s not finished.”

Jack Salt’s Revival

Virginia senior Jack Salt played a grand total of 10 minutes in the Hoos’ first three NCAA Tournament games, logging 5 minutes against Gardner-Webb, 2 minutes against Oklahoma, and 3 minutes against Oregon. In that short time, he had 3 rebounds. Between rounds in Louisville, Salt pledged to be ready if needed against Purdue despite his diminished role of late.

While that could be lip service from some players in those press settings, that wasn’t the case with Salt. Not by a long shot.

Salt more than tripled his NCAA Tournament minutes against the Boilermakers with 34 minutes in the overtime event. And he wasn’t just out there taking up space either. Salt made 2 of 3 shot attempts and 1 of 2 free throws for 5 points. He snared 8 rebounds and notched 2 steals, including one to start overtime when he poked the ball away from Carsen Edwards. Those rebounds, by the way, were one of his season high set against South Carolina and Miami. He matched his 8 rebounds in games against Clemson and Wake Forest.

That’s a pretty sublime effort considering the stage.

“The staff, we were all talking in the coaches’ locker room and I said to them ‘definition of a true servant,’” Cavalier Associate Head Coach Jason Williford said. “I mean the kid didn’t play the game before. I don’t know how many minutes. He’s a selfless guy. He was rooting them on the previous game against Oregon and then when his number was called, he was ready. That’s leadership. That’s servanthood. He gave us everything. He was awesome. He was awesome.”

Welcome Back Mr. Guy, Your Table Is Ready

Kyle Guy re-emerged as a shooting sniper in Louisville too. After struggling through a 3-of-29 shooting stretch from 3-point range in the NCAA Tournament that carried through the first half of the Purdue game, Guy suddenly caught fire. He rained in 5 of 8 triples in the second half against the Boilermakers that included a stretch of four in a row. UVA, of course, needed all of them in a game where Carsen Edwards had it cooking offensively.

Coincidence or not, Guy shared all 20 minutes in the second half with Jack Salt on the floor. The Cavaliers were using their ‘sides’ motion offense as well and Guy coming off of Salt screens is often something that produces open looks.

With the big shooting night, Guy ended up at 25 points. It’s the 15th time he’s scored at least 20 in a game and he added a career-best 10 rebounds to boot. He moved into 28th on Virginia’s all-time scoring list at 1,274 points. He already had moved into second place on the single season 3-point list; he’s now up to 114 made 3’s this season, which is behind only Curtis Staples’ 130 in 1997-1998. He is the single season record holder at UVA as a sophomore (83) and junior (114 and counting). He’s third on the career 3-pointers list behind Staples (413) and Joe Harris (263). Guy is currently the career 3-point percentage leader at 42.6%, ahead of Keith Friel (42.1%).

For Guy, who doubled over in tears at the end of the UMBC loss last season in the Big Dance, making it to the Final Four this year provided a moment of joy. He took a moment to reflect in a similar posture to when photos captured him a year ago in Charlotte.

“I was definitely flashing back to when I was on my knees last year, and I did it again,” Guy said. “And that was just, you know, just overflowing with joy. So happy for my teammates and my coaches and for myself to be able to break through in the way that we did this year. Not only did we silence his critics, we silenced our own and we’re so grateful for our fans that traveled and have always believed in us.”

Here are some of Guy’s highlights from the game:

Worth Quoting

De’Andre Hunter on being in a game of trading big shots in the NCAA Tournament: “It was crazy. It was like playing a video game. It seemed like everyone was hitting everything. I mean, Carsen had a great game and Ty and Kyle really made big shots down the stretch.”