When two teams battle in a can’t miss display of offense, it’s often called a shootout. The Virginia and Notre Dame basketball teams waged the opposite of that Saturday afternoon at the John Paul Jones Arena.
The two teams combined to miss 64 shots and they missed two or more consecutive shots 20 different times in the game. Neither finished above 40% shooting, but in the end UVA pulled out a 57-55 win to remain undefeated in ACC play at home.
“I know we’re close to that line and all you’ve got to do is watch us,” Cavalier coach Tony Bennett said. “So many of our games, we’ve won close, which is a credit to the young men but you’ve got to come ready and be as right as you can and your defense has to hold you in there when your offense is struggling a little bit.”
To escape with a narrow victory for the second time this week, the Hoos needed one more shot to miss its target. The Irish trailed 57-54 with 3.9 seconds to go when Trey Wertz earned a trip to the free throw line with Virginia choosing to foul with the 3-point lead. Wertz made the front end of the one-and-one situation, but purposefully missed the second after a ND timeout.
That made the next 3.9 seconds feel like forever for fans in the building.
Wertz lofted a high-arching attempt toward the basket and the rebound bounced high above a scrum of players. Reece Beekman and Armaan Franklin both seemed to have a shot at the board, but the two collided a bit and the ball landed back with Wertz. He immediately pinged the ball out to Dane Goodwin waiting behind the 3-point line on the left wing. He let it fly while everyone essentially waited for the result.
The shot appeared on line, but hit the back of the rim and UVA hung on to win.
“We knew they were going to miss. … It was the perfect miss. He hit it and it bounded up and we’ve been fortunate with a perfect miss before in the history of our program where a guy can run one down,” Bennett said smiling. “But it was a perfect miss and you had those two guys at the three – if you match up with them, you’re probably going to give up one on one rebounding so you’re trying to pinch and take your chances. They got the look and he just missed it.”
Virginia senior Kihei Clark, who flew out at Goodwin in a last-ditch effort to influence the open shot, said Goodwin’s shooting ability flashed in his mind. The Irish senior shot 50% from the floor last season and 46% from 3-point range so while those numbers have dipped to 45% and 39% this season, it was still a hold your breath and hope moment.
“I was just thinking last year he was shooting like 50% so I thought it was green, I thought it was going in,” Clark said. “We got lucky and it just feels good to get a win, especially this late in the season. You appreciate those and you always just go back to film and try to learn from them.”
Clark, as often is the case, had a lot to do with the outcome tilting in the Hoos’ direction. He led his team with 15 points from 4-of-7 shooting on day where many others struggled to hit shots consistently. Those points included a critical layup with 3:22 remaining that made it 55-50 and two free throws in a one-and-one moment with 22 seconds to go that made it 57-54 and set up the drama from above.
Clark also added two more milestones to his career accomplishments list. He dished out 4 assists in the win with the third of the afternoon moving him past John Crotty for the program’s all-time record. Clark now has 685 in his career. He also recorded his 133rd start to pass London Perrantes in that category.
The rest of the backcourt came through with similar production to help get this one to the win column. Franklin posted 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists, while Beekman added 11 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists. Fellow starters Ben Vander Plas and Jayden Gardner added 8 points each. Vander Plas had a big 3-pointer on a Gardner assist with 6:09 remaining, while Gardner hit several mid-range jumpers to help counter Notre Dame’s move to zone defense for part of the second half. Gardner also grabbed 12 rebounds to set his season high in that category.
Still, none of that production came easily. The Hoos shot 36.5% from the floor overall (19-52) and 29.2% from 3-point range (7-24). They closed the game missing 7 of their final 8 shots, which put some pressure into the equation late. Virginia did make 12 of 16 free throws (75%) with Clark’s two late ones proving critical.
“That’s not going to usually cut shooting the percentage we did for the game. 36%. You could just feel it. We made a timely shot here or there, but not enough,” Bennett said.
Notre Dame didn’t find the sledding any easier. In fact, the stat line looks almost exactly the same. The Irish shot 39.2% overall (20-51) and 26.9% from 3-point range (7-26). They missed 5 of their final 6 shots, but did make 8 of 10 free throws (80%) with one of those being the intentional miss.
The visitors hung in there thanks to Nate Laszewski, Marcus Hammond, and Goodwin getting to double figures. Laszewski led all scorers with 18 points and snared 8 rebounds too. Hammond had 10 points and 2 assists, while Goodwin had 12 points and 4 rebounds. Cormac Ryan chipped in 8 points and Wertz had 5 assists.
As a result, Notre Dame coach Mike Brey nearly had his team pull off an upset in his final trip to JPJ in charge of the Irish. Instead, UVA remained a perfect 8-0 in the series at home. That includes four victories during the career of Clark in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2023.
“You’ve got to give credit to Virginia,” Brey said. “They’ve got a confidence about them to go ahead and finish. I told Clark – hopefully it’s the last time I see him, I really don’t want to see him anymore [smiling] – he’s the ultimate winner, man. I said you’re a big-time winner man. Just so impressed with his career. We had our shots. It’s disappointing. That’s kind of been our season. We’ve gotten there, but Virginia made some big-time plays when they had to and they’re a very confident group.”
The ability to pull out some close wins and make key plays has pushed Virginia to 21-4, the 11th time in the last 12 seasons with at least that many wins. The Hoos are also 13-3 in the ACC, which marks the eighth time with at least that many league wins in the Bennett era. Coupled with Pittsburgh’s loss Saturday, that mark currently places UVA alone atop the ACC standings.
Despite the tight wins against teams with losing records this week in Louisville and Notre Dame, the Cavaliers feel like they’re not too far off as March approaches.
“I feel like we’re close. We preach the little things at practice and it kind of shows up in the games in certain moments,” Beekman said. “I feel like if we continue to work on those little things, I feel like that will take us a long way. Over time, teams go through stretches where you’re just not at your best, but I feel like we’ve got time and with the last five games, I feel like we can continue to get better and make a run.”
