Virginia Adds To Road Thrillers Under Tony Bennett With Game-Winner At UNC

Virginia has 17 wins.
Tomas Woldetensae hit a game-winning shot at North Carolina. ~ Mike Ingalls

The Tony Bennett era at Virginia has been a glorious time for Wahoo basketball fans. The Cavaliers won the 2019 National Championship and have enjoyed ongoing success at the top of the ACC with regular season and tournament titles too.

The UVA basketball team also has provided quite a few road thrills for its fans. The most recent example came just this past Saturday when Virginia stunned North Carolina in Chapel Hill with a buzzer-beating 64-62 win. Guard Tomas Woldetensae became the famous shooter this time around with a one-dribble 3-pointer from the corner in the final second that lifted his team to victory.

Here’s the play from different angles.

Tar Heel fans are just the latest group to see the Hoos make a big shot on the road. Virginia has pulled off some crushing late-game shots on the road at North Carolina, Louisville, Wake Forest, and Pittsburgh to win games. The Hoos have also hit some critical shots late in games that weren’t game winners at Duke, NC State, and Miami.

(Editor’s Note: Virginia added another one to the count at Virginia Tech less than two weeks later when Kihei Clark nailed a 3-pointer with 2.6 seconds to go to win 56-53. Here it is:

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For the buzzer-beaters, the most famous from the Wahoos in an ACC regular season game probably came on the road at Louisville. Trailing by two with just 0.9 seconds to go, UVA forced an inbounds violation defensively and then got one final chance to save its No. 1 ranking in the national polls. De’Andre Hunter delivered with a game-winner off the glass.

One good bank shot deserves another. No one can forget the Darius Thompson banked buzzer-beater at Wake Forest in 2016 either. That miracle shot, which also came following a crazy late-game rally, broke some hearts in Winston-Salem.

Before the bank was open on those two trips, Malcolm Brogdon hit a game-winning jumper at Pittsburgh that brought out a giant smile. That one gave UVA 48-45 win in the final second.

Of course, not every late road silencer has been a game-winner. Look no further than Ty Jerome at Duke for a shot that’s etched into Virginia lore. Jerome faked a pass to no one, squared up a long 3-pointer, and nailed it to help UVA seal a 65-63 win with 37.6 seconds remaining.

In 2019, Kyle Guy drained a corner 3-pointer at NC State with 2:00 to go that broke a 61-61 tie in overtime and UVA went on to win 66-65.

In 2015, Justin Anderson did it at Miami by sinking an overtime 3-pointer with 12.1 seconds to go that tied the game at 71-71. UVA won in double overtime 89-80.