Second-Half Meltdown Dooms Virginia in 68-65 Loss at Pitt
Tony Bennett has fashioned a legendary head coaching career behind his lockdown defensive system. But on the night that Bennett had his first chance to surpass Terry Holland as Virginia's all-time winningest coach, it was his defense that let him down in the second half.
After smothering Pitt's offense in the first half and building a 10-point halftime advantage, the Cavaliers were burned consistently by the Panthers to the tune of a 45-point second half that allowed Pittsburgh to overtake and defeat Virginia 68-65 on Tuesday night at Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh.
It was a tale of two halves for Virginia.
After the Cavaliers' defense helped them secure a 33-23 lead at halftime, the Panthers opened the second half with a 23-11 run to roar back and take their first lead of the night. Virginia struggled to find a rhythm in the second half and was unable to respond to Pitt's second half surge, frequently settling for low-percentage shots. Sophomore Federiko Federiko produced three offensive rebounds in the second half which helped bolster the Pittsburgh offense. To add, senior Nike Sibande produced ten second half points, finishing the game with 16.
As for Virginia it was graduate student Kihei Clark leading the charge with 17 points and eight assists. Second half performances which included only five points from senior Armaan Franklin and two from fifth-year Jayden Gardner dampened UVA's offensive production.
Virginia started the game shooting 3/3 from the floor to give the Cavaliers a 6-0 lead before entering a four-minute scoring drought which allowed Pittsburgh to comeback and tie the game at six. Lengthy scoring droughts plagued UVA's offense throughout the game, but they became even more costly in the second half when Virginia's defense began to struggle too.
The Cavaliers then jumped out to a 15-9 lead, helped by senior Armaan Franklin who shot 4/5 from the floor for nine points during that stretch. Those points would be Franklin’s only points of the first half. Despite the early lead, Virginia entered another scoring drought, which lasted over three minutes.
Virginia then came alive towards the end of the half, producing a 12-2 scoring run that included threes from Clark and junior Reece Beekman, who is starting to look more and more like his healthy self, finishing the game with 12 points, including 3 of 5 from three-point land.
Then, similar to the last game against Georgia Tech, freshman Isaac McNeely drained a corner three with seconds to go in the first half. The three lifted the Hoos to a 33-23 lead at halftime. Defensively, the Cavaliers frustrated the Panthers by producing seven steals in the first half. Pitt struggled to get good looks against Virginia's set defense, with more than half of the team's first-half points coming via offensive rebounds or fast-break opportunities.
Both teams began the second half hot with Virginia starting 4/4 from the floor and Pittsburgh responding with a few baskets to keep the lead at ten. The Panthers made a push with a three from Sibande, his second of the half, before junior Blake Hinson cut the lead to eight.
Graduate guard Nelly Cummings, who helped fuel Pitt's surge with six assists in the second half alone, scored a no-look jumper to tie the game at 44-44 before the Panthers took their first lead of the night, capping a game-changing 14-0 run. Clark then responded with a miraculous and-one play to finally stop the bleeding.
The Panthers responded by scoring the next five points and Virginia answered back with buckets from Clark and Beekman, but Pittsburgh once again found uncharacteristically easy baskets against the UVA defense, putting together a crucial 7-0 run to make the score 60-55. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers endured yet another three-minute scoring drought.
To their credit, the Cavaliers did not roll over even after going down by five points and the hostile road environment at the Oakland Zoo making as much noise as it has in the last several years. Virginia stormed back with under two minutes to go, tying the game at 60 after a layup by Kadin Shedrick and a key three from Isaac McNeely.
Federiko scored on the inside again to give Pittsburgh the lead and Kadin Shedrick nearly had an answer on the other end, but his shot was called off due to a shot-clock violation with less than 30 seconds left in the game. Virginia attempted to crawl back into the game by fouling, but the Panthers closed out the game going 6/6 on free throws. Pitt dominated the free throw battle, getting to the line 17 times and making 15 of those attempts, while UVA went 4/4 from the charity stripe.
Reece Beekman banked in a three-pointer at the buzzer that did not change the outcome of the game, but made the final score 68-65. The significance of Beekman's three-pointer to make the final spread three points was recognized by more than a few Pitt fans after the game. The number 3 is the jersey number of Buffalo Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin, a former Pitt Panther who collapsed on the field during the Bills-Bengals game on Monday night. Hamlin remains in critical condition as the sports world continues to send its support and prayers. Many fans brought posters supporting Hamlin to Pitt's game against Virginia and there was also a supportive message shown on the jumbotron early in the game. Pitt certainly played inspired basketball in its win over Virginia on Tuesday night.
Pittsburgh snapped an eight-game losing streak to Virginia, defeating the Cavaliers for the first time since 2017 and just the second time since the Panthers joined the ACC a decade ago.
Virginia (10-3, 2-2 ACC) will return to action on Saturday at 7pm, looking to bounce back against Syracuse back at home at John Paul Jones Arena.
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