The Virginia basketball team advanced to the ACC Tournament Championship Game with a win against Clemson, but fell in the final to Duke. The Cavaliers led most of the game against the Tigers, but trailed the whole way against the Blue Devils. The Double Bonus is back for a closer look.

Cross Screens For & Against Virginia

The games Friday and Saturday saw a simple basketball concept work both for and against the Hoos. Against Clemson, they scored at least twice on a play where a guard set a cross screen (setting the pick across the lane so a player can come to the ball) for a post. One night later, Duke ran the exact same look and got a bucket against UVA.

The first clip here came from the first half against Clemson. Kihei Clark dribbled to the right wing, while Armaan Franklin set the cross screen toward the left block for Jayden Gardner. The senior forward caught the ball and missed a shot on his initial move, but grabbed the offensive rebound for a putback bucket. Of note, if Gardner is not open, Reece Beekman was in place at the top of the key to then set a pin-down screen-the-screener pick for Franklin. That would create a shot at the top or allow the Cavaliers to flow into their 3-man motion scheme.

Note that PJ Hall was the Tigers’ defender on the play and he went over the screen, which exposed the baseline for Gardner to attack.

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