The Virginia basketball team pulled out a 54-52 victory against Virginia Tech on Wednesday night at the John Paul Jones Arena. The Hoos held the Hokies to a single basket in the final 4:55 and got clutch baskets or free throws from four different players over the same span to secure the win. The Double Bonus is back for a closer look.

Unlikely Star

The story of the game turned out to be redshirt junior Francisco Caffaro, who led the team with 16 points and 9 rebounds on 5-7 shooting and 6-10 free throws. Every single one of those numbers represent a new career high for the big man. He also physically battled Tech star Keve Aluma and that may have contributed to a 9-20 shooting night with 3 turnovers, though Aluma did put up 22 points and 3 assists too.

A lot of the game recap focused on Caffaro so check that out for more, but here is a Tony Bennett quote on the Argentina native that didn’t make that article:

“He’s physical. He’s coming and getting extra time and he’s purposeful,” Bennett said. “He’s one of the most fun, loving young men, I was going to say kid but young men, on our team; he really is and he always plays hard. It’s new to him. He has not played a lot. So now he’s getting to play more. We need our interiors Kadin [Shedrick] and Papi, and even Jayden [Gardner] to just, and I know it’s not maybe sexy or appealing to say, but you got to be great screeners for us. You have to be as good of a screener, as good of a rebounder, as good of a defender, and then play off of opportunities. As your game improves, then there’ll be some opportunities for scoring. Just to challenge them to serve the team in that role; and there’s nothing wrong with that. I coached Aron Baynes at Washington State and last I checked, well, he was pretty special and has some NBA Finals rings and some pretty fat contracts. But that’s important for those guys, to embrace that role and keep getting better. Again, that’s when our team’s at its best. So I just have seen him understanding more. He moves a little better than you think, at times, he’s a little unorthodox perhaps but he can move and he is strong.”

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