The Virginia men’s basketball bounced back from back-to-back losses with a 72-68 win Wednesday on the road at Boston College. The Eagles made it difficult, but Tony Bennett’s team held on for a big ACC victory thanks to strong perimeter defense and a solid night shooting.
The Cavaliers sit third in the ACC with a 21-8 overall record and 12-6 record in conference play. Clemson and Wake Forest loom close behind, but with just 2 games left in the regular season, Virginia has a strong chance of landing a top 4 seed in ACC Tournament, giving it a coveted double bye. The road test at BC also carried significant NCAA Tournament implications for UVA with bracketologists projecting it as a win to stay in game for the Wahoos.
With that swirling in the pregame air, Virginia coach Tony Bennett said he got a little text message from his dad that said not to put too much pressure on the game, but to create pressure within the game.
“Every game’s meaningful, but I think these guys are smart, they know whatever the magic number is to get in, you’re just fighting and you’re still pursuing the right stuff,” Bennett said. “I like that idea about not pressure on, but pressure in the game with your passion and how you’re going to play and do the hard things well and not yield.”
UVA’s guards led the way on offense early in the contest as Reece Beekman and Isaac McKneely scored the team’s first 11 points. After both teams started 0-3 shooting, McKneely got the scoring started with a mid-range jumper. Beekman started 3-5 from the floor and helped the Cavaliers build an early 11-2 lead.
After about 10 minutes, Beekman and McKneely both headed to the bench. The Virginia offense continued to rely on running through the guards. Dante Harris broke out a silky left-to-right crossover before finishing at the rim to score his first bucket of the game. A couple minutes later, Taine Murray and Andrew Rohde hit jumpshots on back-to-back possessions to push the lead to 22-17. Rohde came off the bench on Wednesday night, with Jacob Groves getting the start.
Boston College got out to a slow start offensively, shooting 1-11 (0-5 from three) over the first 8 minutes. The Eagles crawled back into the game thanks in part to Mason Madsen. The senior guard averaged 16.3 points per game over the last 6 games, shooting 50% (20-40) from 3-point range. His made 3-pointer at the 12:09 mark helped get his team going in this matchup too. After finding themselves down 9 early, the Eagles cut it to 22-21 with 5 minutes left in the half.
Virginia responded defensively, not allowing Boston College to score for the next 4 minutes. The Cavaliers took a 27-23 lead to the break in a low-scoring, defensive-focused first half. Neither team shot the ball particularly well, with Virginia going 2-9 (22.2%) and BC 2-11 (18.2%) from 3- point range.
Boston College started the second half strong on the offensive end. Junior guard Jaedan Zackery led the way for his team. Just as it felt like Virginia might begin to pull away, jumping out to a 36-28 lead, Zackery hit an and-one jumper to make it a 5-point game again. Following a UVA turnover, he threw a lob from halfcourt to Devin McGlockton who finished at the rim to make it a 39-38 game. After another stop and score from the Eagles, Boston College took its first lead of the night, which forced a timeout from Coach Bennett. Zackery finished with 12 points on 5-9 shooting to go along with 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals.
The play of Zackery helped open things up for Quentin Post. Boston College’s leading scorer scored 24 points on the night, 18 coming in the second half. He did a good job of forcing contact and getting to the line. The big Dutchman shot 11-11 from the free throw line. Blake Buchanan guarded him a lot off the bench and eventually fouled out with 29.2 seconds left, in large part because of the fouls Post drew against him. Post also had 10 boards.
The Virginia offense kept up with the Eagles, though. McKneely built upon his strong first half. After Boston College went out to a 51-48 lead, Coach Bennett called a timeout to try and draw up some plays offensively. McKneely made 3-pointers on back-to-back Virginia possessions out of the timeout to restore a 3-point lead for the Cavaliers. He finished with 14 points, shooting 4-8 (50.0%) from the field and 3-6 (50.0%) from beyond the arc.
Groves got in on the scoring action in the second half too. He made it three straight possessions with a 3-pointer when Beekman found him in the corner. After scoring just 2 points in the game’s opening 20 minutes, Groves finished with 13. He shot 5-11 (45.5%) from the field and 3-6 (50.0%) from downtown. The shooting of McKneely and Groves helped the Cavaliers go on a 11-0 run and made it a 59-51 game.
Beekman played a big role in getting everyone involved in the second half. He recorded 7 of his 8 assists in the second half. Like we’ve seen many times before this season, he used his early scoring success to generate looks for others. The senior made it a focus on the opening possessions to drive to the paint and create scoring chances for himself. This resulted in open looks for teammates later in the game. He totaled 18 points, shooting 62.5% (5-8), as well as 5 rebounds. Beekman shot 8-10 from the free throw line.
“Some of those things he did, 18 and 8 with the pressure that’s on him are next level things,” Bennett said. “But that’s for another time. It’s about him making plays for this team and being as tough-minded defensively and as sound as he can be. I thought he was really a difference maker with those iso switches and plays.”
Despite the strong start to the second half from Boston College, Virginia pulled out the win thanks to a strong defensive response and good shooting offensively. The Eagles came into the game shooting 46.3% from 3-point range over the last 4 games. On Wednesday night, Boston College shot just 5-22 (22.7%) from behind the line. The Hoos made it particularly hard for Post, McGlockton, and Madsen, who shot a combined 3-18 (16.7%) from 3.
The Cavaliers shot the ball well in the second half. They finished the night 24-54 (44.4%) from the field and 8-21 (38.1%) from 3-point range. While free throws continued to be a struggle for Virginia, Tony Bennett’s team had a better night at the line, shooting 16-22 (72.7%). Virginia’s bench provided a solid boost, scoring 15 points. Rohde and Buchanan each had 5.
Ryan Dunn had a strong game after struggling the past couple games. He grabbed 13 rebounds (3 offensive), making it his first double-digit rebound game since Feb. 3 against Clemson. Dunn also added 8 points on 3-9 (33.3%) shooting to go along with a block and a steal. Virginia fans are still waiting on an offensive outburst from Dunn like they saw against Louisville or NC State, but the sophomore was certainly more assertive on Wednesday night.
Given that UVA had scored less than 50 points in three straight games, the collective resurgence to 72 points helped the Hoos get the win.
“I thought offensively not perfect, but from the last couple of games we played, it would be probably perfect if you did a comparison in terms of how we played and [making] some shots and doing things,” Bennett said. “Again, made the free throws when we needed to. … If you watched us this year, we squeak some of them out and we’re far from perfect, but the kids do battle and it was good to be able to come in here [and win].”
Virginia has just two regular season games left with a road game at Duke this Saturday before finishing the season at home against Georgia Tech. The Blue Devils will be a tough task for the Wahoos, but a win would go a long way in terms of the Cavaliers’ NCAA Tournament chances. The last time UVA traveled to Cameron Indoor, the Hoos came out on top thanks to a last-second 3-pointer from Beekman.
Nice summary! UVA certainly must find more scoring from its roster. Last night’s road win could spark a resurgence for the Cavs.
Life is better after wins!