When it comes to close games this season, the Virginia basketball team continues to show its resilience. It needed every drop of it in the ACC Tournament Quarterfinals on Thursday night in Washington D.C. as Boston College made UVA chase a comeback throughout the game. The Hoos finally came through in overtime and advanced with a 66-60 win.
That pushed UVA into the ACC Tournament Semifinals for the 8th time in the last 10 events. It also gave Virginia its seventh victory this season in games decided either in overtime or by 4 points or fewer in regulation. Those includes a pair of wins against BC over the last two weeks as the Wahoos won 72-68 in Chestnut Hill on Feb. 28. The Cavaliers also outlasted NC State, it’s opponent for the semis, 59-53 in overtime on Jan. 24.
“Just obviously a hard-fought game. Had to overcome a lot,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. “I thought Taine [Murray] got us [going after a slow start]. We were struggling a little bit, and he really was tough and got us going with some hard plays. Jordan Minor’s defense down the stretch. It was a little bit of every man when they were called upon had to do it, and we had to fight to get that one.”
To get to victory lane on Thursday, the Hoos indeed had to overcome several challenges. That included a 10-point deficit out of the gates, a big game from Boston College center Quinten Post, a Mason Madsen buzzer-beater to send it to OT, nerve-inducing free throw shooting down the stretch, and a rough shooting night from the starting backcourt duo of Reece Beekman and Isaac McKneely.
Overcome them they did.
First, the Cavaliers had to steady themselves in the face of an early deficit, something they have not done at times away from home this season. The Eagles jumped out to a 14-4 lead by the 15:11 mark of the first half thanks to a hot start from 3-point range. Claudell Harris Jr. knocked down his first 3 triples to open his team’s scoring on the way to a 9-2 lead. Post, in a sign of things to come, followed with 5 points on a layup and a trey for that quick 10-point lead.
Virginia still trailed 18-8 at the second media timeout, but then got itself on track thanks to an Andrew Rohde 3-pointer, a Taine Murray jumper, and a Ryan Dunn dunk in a span of 1:16. By the 4:06 mark before halftime, UVA had climbed all the way a 23-22 lead on consecutive triples from Rohde and Jake Groves. That didn’t stick as BC led by 6 at intermission, but the score never really separated again.
“I think the way they’re tough-minded, Post as an inside-outside attack, Harris has played so well, and you could tell they were sort of used to playing,” Bennett said. “We’ve got 20 minutes to warm up, it felt a little off for us, they got some transition buckets and some offensive rebounds, and I just thought they hit us in the mouth first, but we stayed the course, got some stops, and then got to it.”
While the Hoos did right the ship, they never really got wind in their sails until overtime. Boston College and specifically Post had a lot to do with that.
When Virginia tied the game at 37-37 early in the second half, Post drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key to quell the rally. After Dunn made it a 1-point game at 44-43 a few minutes later, Post earned and made 2 free throws to answer. When UVA took the lead at 47-46 on another Rohde 3, Post responded with another big triple and a layup to seesaw the score in his team’s favor again at 51-47. That theme continued again after the Hoos pushed back for a 53-53 tie as Post scored another layup with 5:20 to go.
At that moment, Dunn had 4 fouls, Blake Buchanan had struggled with the assignment all night, and Jordan Minor’s previous minutes had lost track of Post as a shooter on several occasions too. Post had 23 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocked shots, and 1 steal, but that layup that made it 55-53 proved to be his last basket of the game. That’s because Minor reversed his defensive fortunes and began to give Post fits. The UVA senior blocked Post one-on-one in the post with 1:21 to go and then added 3 steals in overtime to help seal the win.
“He did a great job on me, especially at the end,” Post said. “I think I played 41 minutes, and at the end I was feeling it a lot in my legs, and Jordan came in fresh, and I think he did a really good job on me. He made it hard for me. Good job to him.”
The game wouldn’t have made it to OT without Minor’s defense, but it also wouldn’t have gone to extra time without some Wahoo free throw struggles and a clutch shot from Madsen. The Cavaliers went 8-18 at the stripe for 44.4% shooting, which included 6 misses in the final 4:16 of regulation. A season-long issue, that cranked up the nerves for the UVA heavy crowd at the Capital One Arena.
McKneely did make 2 of 3 to tie the game at 55-55 and Groves finally hit 2 free throws with 29 seconds left for a 57-55 lead as well. Boston College decided to go for the win with the shot clock off. Harris Jr. missed a 3-pointer from the top of the key, but Jaeden Zackery got an offensive rebound and then an assist when Madsen hit a contested jumper just inside the arc to tie the game. Harris tallied 14 points, while Zackery had 5 points and 5 assists and Madsen had 9 points on 4-14 shooting.
Despite Madsen’s huge shot, Virginia did not waver.
“I think a lot of it was, obviously, you said it, we didn’t get the rebound. I think a lot of the reason it was that close, some missed shots, but one thing that never changed towards the end was our defense,” Groves said. “I thought guys were really gritty, especially like Coach said Jordan coming in, and that was a huge lift, huge help. And then guys just playing team defense around him. I know we didn’t clean up that one rebound, but coming back into the huddle, we were optimistic about overtime.”
With the stage set for overtime, McKneely and Beekman both hit a 3-pointer for a 63-57 lead. Beekman’s came after an airball from that range moments earlier and gave his team a cushion. Harris Jr. made a triple for BC’s only points of the period before Beekman helped put the game away with an assist to Minor on a screen-and-roll play in the middle of the floor.
Beekman recorded a double-double of 11 points and 11 assists to go along with 7 rebounds. He converted just 4 of 17 shots with that late 3-pointer being his only make on a 1-5 shooting night from downtown. McKneely, who missed multiple days of practice with a sprained ankle, had a similar experience as his 3 to open overtime turned out to be his only successful shot of the night too. He had 5 points on 1-8 shooting (1-6 from 3).
Fortunately for the Wahoos, they got a lot of contributions elsewhere. Groves matched Beekman with a double-double, the first of his career. He led the team with 15 points on 3-7 shooting from 3 and added 11 boards. Murray followed up his strong showing in the regular season finale with 11 points on 5-6 shooting. Rohde, who did not play against Georgia Tech to end the regular season, added 8 points and 2 assists with a pair of triples. Dunn chipped in 7 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block. The Hoos shot 40.3% overall (25-62) and 32.0% from 3 (8-25). They had 18 assists, won the rebounding category 45-38, and outscored the Eagles 26-2 in bench points.
It all added up to a victory that moved Virginia to a 23-9 record, the 10th time the program has reached that 23-win mark under Bennett. The Hoos have won at least one game in 9 straight ACC Tournaments
“We had a couple guys get injured on Monday or Tuesday that couldn’t practice, so they were really hobbling, and I could see that, and I thought we were going to have to use everybody,” Bennett said. “But it was just a game where Ryan fought his heart out to guard Post. Obviously then we had Blake doing it, Jordan early, and then I went back to him and he did a great job. Again, it really was [Dante Harris’] on-ball D was good. So it really was that. This team this year I think that’s really been [part of the story]. Reece and I-Mac were a little out of sorts early, but they made big plays when they had to as well.”
Obviously the Monday & Tuesday practices were too intense. Ankle sprains are brutal late in the season.
Sprains happen…