Fittingly on the day when Auld Lang Syne popularly rings in a New Year, the Virginia basketball team paid homage to many of the program’s best days with a convincing 74-56 win at Georgia Tech. The Hoos head into 2023 with a 10-2 record as a result.
A few nuggets from the victory saluted classic Virginia play or players. UVA uncorked a 25-0 run to break open the game, a Cavalanche style outburst that became familiar during the program’s rise into the national elite over the past decade. During the win, senior guard Kihei Clark moved past Jimmy Miller on the Wahoos’ all-time scoring list – the current color analyst on the radio broadcast had 1,218 points from 1982-85. The victory also moved Tony Bennett into a tie with Terry Holland as the program’s all-time wins leader with 326. Part of that total is Bennett’s 17-2 mark against GT in his tenure.
With Evan Nolte and De’Andre Hunter among the Hoos in attendance, it all added up to a good way to close out the year.
“That’s not why I got into it and it means that I have just really good people around me,” Bennett said on the Virginia Sports Radio Network. “De’Andre Hunter was sitting behind our bench, Evan Nolte, those guys have helped us win a lot of games. Then those guys on the sidelines with me and these current players. Sometimes, you just get out of the way. You know, I’m pretty simple with the things I know and try to do them to the best of my abilities but it’s never been about trying to get a record. It’s just can we influence these guys and then on the court can we get them play as well as they can and see how far it can take us each season? Amount of wins and all of that stuff, again people make a bigger deal of it than they should. I just want to certainly honor Coach Holland and his family how I run this program and conduct myself.”
The 326th win hinged on the big burst that bridged the halves. After the first 17:02 waffled back and forth between the teams, the score stood at 27-25 in UVA’s favor. The Hoos committed back-to-back turnovers, but the Yellow Jackets’ Miles Kelly missed a 3-pointer on the first and they gave the ball right back on the second. That miscue proved costly.
Clark picked off the attempted transition pass and moved the ball ahead to Armaan Franklin on the right wing. He set his feet and canned an open 3-pointer to spark a half-ending surge. That’s because Clark and Isaac McKneely followed with their own 3-pointers during the final minute on assists to each other and that 9-0 advantage on three shots created a double-digit halftime lead. The two helpers on those late 3’s matched most of the first half for the Hoos as they had assists on 12 of 13 buckets.
Virginia didn’t lose the momentum during intermission. It built on it.
Kadin Shedrick opened the half with an offensive rebound, dunk, and free throw. Clark then notched another steal and layup in what’s become a theme over the last two weeks. He’s done that in three of the last four games, including twice against Albany in a recent home win. Two minutes later, Reece Beekman made a 3-pointer before Jayden Gardner ripped off three straight baskets and Shedrick added two more free throws. What had been a two-point game just before halftime suddenly became a 52-25 run-away for the Wahoos.
“We were locked in on defense, not giving them good looks, making them struggle for every shot and then on the offensive end, we were getting some good looks and knocking down shots,” Franklin said on the Virginia Sports Radio Network. “When we’re able to do that, that’s what happens, you go on a 25-0 run.”
UVA fueled the second half start, in part, with defense. Georgia Tech committed turnovers on 7 of its first 9 possessions after intermission. The Clark steal and layup was part of it, but steals preceded two of Gardner’s buckets during the run too. That included a Beekman steal and pass that led to a Gardner dunk.
Overall, the Yellow Jackets finished with 23 turnovers. That more than doubled their season average coming in (10.1) and meant the hosts had more turnovers than 20 made buckets. That’s certainly not a formula to upset a top 15 team in your own building. UVA had 14 steals and scored 30 points off of turnovers in the game. Franklin led the way with 5 steals. Clark added 3, Beekman and Ben Vander Plas chipped in 2 each, and Gardner and Shedrick both had 1.
“Give Virginia credit – they’re a really good basketball team,” Tech coach Josh Pastner said. “Biggest glaring thing obviously was our turnovers, points off turnovers. They had 30 points off of our turnovers and we came into the game and I was bragging to everybody about how great our ball security, taking care of the ball [had been]. Unfortunately, that did not prevail this afternoon. … The turnovers were just, no other word to describe it than atrocious.”
The Cavaliers’ sharp 3-point shooting joined that defensive effort to turn the outcome into a laugher. With Georgia Tech spending much of the game in its 1-1-3 matchup zone, Virginia often broke it down to end up with wide open looks from behind the line. The Hoos made 10 of 22 attempts from downtown as Franklin, Clark, McKneely, and Beekman all made multiple 3’s.
The balanced effort from 3-point range mirrored the overall box score. Clark led the way with 15 points and 8 assists. Gardner posted 14 points as the second-leading scorer. Franklin tallied 11 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, and those 5 previously mentioned steals. Shedrick recorded 11 points too along with 4 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. McKneely had 9 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists, while Beekman had 8 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists.
“They had 23 turnovers so whenever you can get some of those different kinds of points, whether points off turnovers, a steal for two or three layups, or transition plays, that’s huge for us,” Bennett said. “We made some 3’s. It obviously was great to have Reece back out there. … We were, for the most part, making them earn and stingy defensively. Guys played well. They just seemed a little freer to take rhythm shots. … Guys played hard and responded.”
As a result, Virginia left Atlanta with a 2-1 record in the ACC to set up a showdown at Pittsburgh on Tuesday. The Panthers have opened conference play at 3-0.
