Virginia Grabs NIT Win Against Mississippi State

Virginia won its NIT opener.
Jayden Gardner posted 16 points for Virginia. ~ Photo By Kris Wright/TheSabre.com

Many of the Virginia basketball team’s games at the John Paul Jones Arena this season have gone down to the wire so there was no reason for an NIT game to be any different in the postseason. The Cavaliers took control early, shook off a shaky start to the second half, and held on late to capture a 60-57 win against Mississippi State on Wednesday night.

The 3-point difference became the sixth game at the JPJ this season to be decided by 4 points or less and four other games had a 5-point margin or less with 5 minutes to go as well. UVA owns a 5-5 record in those games, but the most recent victory extended the season.

“I said ‘The reward for this season wasn’t an NCAA Tournament, but the reward was being in the next best 32 teams selected.’ That was the reward for them,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. “I think how we got beat by North Carolina was challenging. They took it to us and we didn’t play well, credit to them. So I think that was tough, especially as we’ve been playing better basketball. So the ability to regroup and build for this year, next year; this was important. I told them, ‘Whether you win or lose this game, this to me is a statement game for us not for anyone else. What are we made of? What kind of fight will we have? How will we approach this?’ And I said, ‘This is about us.’ I thought again, we came out in the first half and played real hard, those are two teams that aren’t terrific shooting teams but physical teams that try to play hard.”

An even battle unfolded between the Wahoos and Bulldogs. In fact, the statistics looked almost identical in the end. Both teams shot 23-46 (50%) from the field and both had five players with 5 points or more. MSU had a small advantage in 3’s (4 to 2) and rebounds (27 to 24), while UVA edged ahead in free throws (12 to 7), assists (17 to 12), and steals (4 to 3). The biggest difference may have been turnovers where the Cavaliers had 9, while the Bulldogs had 14.

It’s not hard to see from those numbers how the game came down to critical plays in the final five minutes. Virginia had just enough answers to get to the winner’s circle.

State senior Garrison Brooks pulled his team to a 50-47 deficit on a 3-pointer with 4:29 to go, but UVA’s Jayden Gardner responded with a mid-range jumper at 3:59. Brooks hit another 3-pointer just 19 seconds later, but Reece Beekman got to the rim for bucket that left the lead at 54-50. Brooks wasn’t done, though, and hit a third triple to cut it to one at the 2:44 mark. This time, Armaan Franklin stepped up and nailed a corner 3-pointer in front of the Virginia bench to answer with 1:55 remaining.

“Huge three,” Bennett said. “I told him I thought you passed up a couple open, rhythm ones. I said ‘if it’s open, room, and rhythm, be freed up to take it.’ So guys moved the ball and he hit that huge 3. He had sat for a little bit – Taine [Murray] was playing – [but] put him in there and I was so happy for him. I know how important it is to him. He just wants to be able to contribute and help the team and he did that. We just keep challenging him and encouraging him, take the open shots and keep being a good defender. He’s given us, when we’ve won, he’s given us some great lifts and I’m hopeful he can get some confidence from this and keep it going.”

Franklin’s shot let the Cavaliers control the final two minutes, but they missed 3 free throws (Kihei Clark missed the front end of a 1 and 1, while Gardner missed both free throws) in the final 20 seconds. That meant Mississippi State had a chance to tie with the score at 60-57, but a final jumper from All-SEC guard Iverson Molinar missed the mark.

Until missing the free throws late, however, Gardner had a monster second half. After he went 1 of 4 for 2 points in the first half, Gardner knocked down 6 of 9 shots after halftime to finish with a team-best 16 points. He added 3 rebounds and 1 assist too. He kept coming up with shots in big moments too. After Mississippi State started the second half on a 17-7 surge to take a 36-34 lead, Gardner scored 10 straight points to put UVA back in front for good.

That was a clutch response from a player in his first win or go home postseason game in college.

“He brought it in the second half, we came alive and we found him in some of those soft spots and the things you’ve seen him do,” Bennett said. “I think the guys that have never played in the postseason before and Armaan and Jayden who are getting a lot of minutes and then those guys who really haven’t played a whole lot. Obviously Reece [Beekman] played last year, it was real fluky the way our postseason [went], but all those other guys should be like, ‘This is something I haven’t experienced before.’ No, it’s not the NCAA Tournament, but it’s still the NIT. To me, I hope they’re chomping at the bit to continue on and get as ready as we can for our next game.”

Virginia won its NIT opener.
Reece Beekman became Virginia’s all-time single season steals leader with 70. ~ Photo By Kris Wright/TheSabre.com

Mississippi State had some strong individual outings too. Tolu Smith recorded a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Brooks had 13 points and 5 rebounds. Molinar had 13 points too, while Shakeel Moore added 6.

The Cavaliers countered with a balanced attack around Gardner. Franklin finished with 6 points on a pair of 3-pointers. Francisco Caffaro chipped in 8 points mostly on dunks and 5 rebounds. Clark posted 8 points and 9 assists with only 2 turnovers.

Beekman, meanwhile, stuffed the stat sheet again with 14 points on 5-7 shooting to go with 3 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 steals. He had only 1 turnover. Those take-aways also gave him a Virginia program record. He passed Othell Wilson for first place on UVA’s single season steals list with 70 this season. Wilson had 69 steals in the 1983-84 season.

“I would just say I’ve put in a lot of work,” Beekman said when asked about the record. “From the start when I came here to now, I feel like my defense has grown a lot, and I’ve learned a lot from Kihei. Kihei has taught me a lot of different techniques and things I’ve picked up that he uses on me. I’m glad that I broke the record. It’s a great feeling, but I’ve got to just keep playing.”

Beekman and the Hoos get a chance to do just that this weekend. They earned a trip to North Texas on Sunday at 6 p.m. with a spot in the NIT Quarterfinals on the line.

Virginia Basketball Final Stats