The Virginia basketball team has not been able to put together many winning streaks this season, but the Cavaliers have also avoided losing streaks. They kept that season storyline going Monday night at the John Paul Jones Arena. Just two days after a loss at NC State, the Hoos jumped ahead of Louisville early and brought home a 64-52 victory.
UVA is 12-8 on the season and 6-4 in the ACC. That includes a 9-1 mark when leading at the half and a fast start against the Cardinals helped get this one in the win column too.
“We talked about just what it would take and you always appreciate the opportunity and you got a chance to respond after a hard, hard game,” Cavalier coach Tony Bennett said. “And again, NC State played well, we didn’t play the way we needed to be in that game. So tonight, they touched on it and sustained it pretty well, how they have to play. There was some good Virginia basketball out there, hard offense, tough defense, didn’t give up easy looks and for the most part were connected again. Louisville was a little bit off their game but I hope we had something to do with it. I sure do. And you just be ready every time out in the league with how you know jammed up it is.”
The Cavaliers rocketed out of the gates and built a big lead in the first 14 minutes. It started with two free throws from Armaan Franklin on the first possession of the game and 3-pointer from Kihei Clark that quickly made it 5-0. Jumpers from Jayden Gardner pushed the lead to 11-3. An and-one play from Kadin Shedrick a few moments later moved it to 22-5. By the time Francisco Caffaro made two free throws with 6:25 to go in the first half, Virginia led by 19 points at 27-8. Six of the seven Hoos who played Monday night scored in the game-opening rush.
During that opening stretch, UVA made 6 of its first 9 shots and eventually 9 of 18 shots. Ball movement and some sharp passing helped fuel the offense’s success early as Virginia logged assists on 8 of the 9 buckets. The assists included Franklin and Reece Beekman hitting Clark for open shots, Beekman and Clark feeding Gardner’s jumpers, Clark setting up Caffaro for a layup and Stattmann for a 3-pointer, and Franklin finding Shedrick for a dunk.
That turned out to be a theme for the game as a whole. The Cavaliers registered 20 assists on 24 made shots, an 83.3% assist rate. They dished out assists on all 11 second-half buckets. That helped the hosts shoot 47.1% (24-51), a number that could have been higher if not for 31.3% (5-16) from 3-point range.
“Well, especially early on it always helps when you’re making some shots but I thought we were crisp, found different things, moved well without the ball screen pretty well,” Bennett said. “We had, we call them pocket passes, Kihei got us off to a good start. There was a nice synergy in terms of how they played and were connected in that way so that was good. Then they paired it with really good defense, with good ball pressure and just responded the right way from [a loss to NC State]. They responded, when you look at Reece’s stat line, just wow. Again, it was good. They slowed us up a little bit when they went with their 1-3-1 or 1-1-3 matchup zone, but we got some good looks from that, it was just a better effort all around tonight.”
Indeed, Beekman set the tone as the leader of the assist brigade. He piled up a career-high 11 in the win. It’s the first time this season that a player had double-digit assists in conference play. That included 8 helpers in the second half with a pair of key passes to Shedrick when Louisville had climbed within two possessions twice during a comeback attempt. The first came with UVA leading 45-41 near the halfway mark of the second half and the second came with UVA leading 52-47 with 4:12 to go in the game. The latter provided a giant spark as Shedrick soared down the lane and hammered home a dunk that brought roars from the JPJ crowd. That helped propel the hosts on a 12-5 run to finish out the win.
Beekman ended up with 2 points, 7 rebounds, 11 assists, 2 steals, 1 blocked shot, and just 2 turnovers. Clark got in on the passing action too and posted 15 points on 6-12 shooting with 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and only 2 turnovers. He moved past Harold Deane for seventh on the career assists list. Franklin handed out 2 assists and added 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals. Gardner and Shedrick were big beneficiaries of all the assists. Gardner tallied 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 assist, a beautiful touch pass that led to another Shedrick slam. Shedrick had 11 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots.
“That’s another guy that the box score doesn’t determine how Reece plays,” Gardner said. “Reece is a true point guard, he is always looking for his teammates and when he’s able to get them shots he takes them. Like in the last couple of games, he’s had wide open threes, he’s taking them and he’s making them. So Reece affects the game in different ways, not just scoring the basketball.”
While the offense was clicking thanks to the passing, the defense complemented the effort with a much better performance. The Cavaliers held the Cardinals to just 37.5% (21-56) shooting, including 32.1% (9-28) from 3-point range. The visitors had 8 offensive rebounds and 9 second chance points, but did not regularly create breakdowns from the Hoos on the glass or really anywhere else.
In fact, if you take out a strong outing from Jarrod West, it was a long night for almost everyone else. West made 5 of 10 shots (4 of 7 triples) for 14 points and 3 assists to lead his team. Matt Cross had 14 points and 6 rebounds, but it came on 5-14 shooting overall and 1-6 shooting from 3-point range. Malik Williams chipped in 10 points and 6 rebounds on 4-9 shooting. Starters Dre Davis (2-5), Noah Locke (1-8), and Mason Faulkner (1-4) combined to go 4-17 shooting for a total of 10 points.
The Cardinals got a little boost with 9 second chance points on 8 offensive rebounds, but scored only 2 fastbreak points and trailed the entire way after giving up those two Franklin free throws to start the game. They did make a push in the second half, but each time the Hoos needed a critical stop they seemed to get it. Beekman played a big role there too. When Louisville climbed within 6 at 43-37, Beekman blocked the driving shot attempt of Faulkner. When the lead was 45-41, Beekman snared a big steal. And finally when it was 52-47, Beekman pulled down the defensive rebound after Shedrick contested West on a drive.
It added up to the Virginia’s 12th win in the last 13 meetings with Louisville. The Hoos have held the Cards to 59 or fewer points in 11 of 15 matchups since they joined the ACC in 2014-15. Notre Dame is up next on the schedule.
“When it gets challenging like that in the game, when they start making runs, we really emphasize our defense, we have got to lock down,” Shedrick said. “That’s how we win games, stuff like that and then taking care of the ball on the offensive side. I feel like we probably let a few get away from us. But other than that, it’s really about the defense.”
Love this team, win or lose!