Franklin Drops 23, Virginia Locks Down Georgia Late for 65-55 Victory in the Legends Classic
Armaan Franklin had another off-shooting night, making just one three-pointer on seven attempts. Fortunately, Franklin showed his versatility and found other ways to score, tying a career-high 23 points to lead Virginia to a 65-55 victory over Georgia in the Roman Legends Classic on Monday night at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Franklin’s strong performance began as soon as the game started, as he scored Virginia’s first nine points of the game and 11 of UVA’s first 13 points. A couple of Franklin’s early buckets came on floaters, including one which capped off an 11-0 UVA run as the Hoos opened up a 15-8 lead.
Jailyn Ingram hit back-to-back threes to help Georgia weather the Virginia run. Ingram finished with a double-double, recording 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Virginia led for most of the first half until a 6-0 Georgia run, capped off by a layup from Braelen Bridges, gave the Bulldogs a 26-25 lead. Bridges led Georgia with 14 points, 12 of which came in the first half. The two teams would exchange the lead three more times in the first half.
Two Kihei Clark free throws made it a one point game with just two seconds left in the first half, but Francisco Caffaro was called for a foul for making contact with Jaxon Etter after he released his buzzer-beating half-court attempt that came up well-short of the basket. Etter was awarded three free throws with no time on the clock and made two of them to give Georgia a 34-31 lead at the half.
Virginia had an excellent start to the second half, with Kihei Clark sinking a three-pointer and Armaan Franklin making a mid-range jumper as part of a 6-0 run, which also included a Georgia shot-clock violation. The perfect start was marred by a couple of detrimental fouls, as Kadin Shedrick and Francisco Caffaro were both called for their fourth fouls on back-to-back plays with over 10 minutes remaining in the game.
With Shedrick and Caffaro out, Igor Milicic Jr. played at center for the next few minutes. But, it was Carson McCorkle who gave the Cavaliers a lift by making an impressive contested catch-and-shoot three-pointer on the right wing. Kadin Shedrick came back into the game and was a difference-maker on defense and with his rebounding. Shedrick recorded only three points in the game, but he collected seven rebounds and blocked four shots, three of which came in the second half.
After Georgia took a 48-47 lead on a Tyron McMillan dunk, Virginia responded with a brilliant stretch of basketball on both ends of the floor, outscoring the Bulldogs 10-3 over the next five minutes of play. Jayden Gardner gave the Hoos the lead for good with a fantastic combo-move, coming to a jump-stop on the baseline, pump-faking, and then laying it in with his right hand. Gardner finished with six rebounds and 11 points on 5/9 shooting.
Virginia did not shoot well from the perimeter, making five threes on 25% three-point shooting. But, the Hoos figured out other ways to score the ball, including at the free throw line, where they made 18 of 25 free throw attempts. Ball security has been an issue for the Cavaliers so far this season, but Virginia was much improved in that area against Georgia, turning the ball over only four times in the entire game.
After free throws from Franklin and Clark extended the UVA lead to five, Georgia cut the deficit to just two points at 53-51 on a corner three-pointer in transition by Kario Oquendo. Armaan Franklin responded with back-to-back clutch baskets. The first was a crafty finish in the paint with his left hand. After Kadin Shedrick blocked another shot, Franklin hit a jump shot from the right baseline to put UVA up by six with two and a half minutes remaining.
Braelen Bridges led all scorers with 12 points in the first half and committed no fouls, but he scored just two points in the second half and fouled out of the game with two minutes left as Kadin Shedrick drew his fifth foul in the post. On Georgia’s next possession, Shedrick rejected Jailyn Ingram’s layup at the rim, before grabbing an offensive rebound on the other end and drawing a foul. Shedrick made both free throws to give Virginia a 60-53 lead with 59 seconds remaining.
The Cavaliers finally looked like one of Tony Bennett’s classic shutdown defenses down the stretch of the game, holding the Bulldogs to just four points in the final four minutes of the game. Georgia shot 14.3% from three and 37.0% from the field in the game.
Armaan Franklin had a great game on both sides of the floor with a final stat line of 23 points, seven rebounds, and three steals.
Kihei Clark joined Franklin and Gardner in double figures with 12 points, including two three-pointers, and three assists.
With the victory, Virginia improves to 3-2 on the season and the Cavaliers will play in the championship game of the Legends Classic on Tuesday night against Providence, who defeated Northwestern 77-72 in the other semifinal. The game will begin at 7:30pm and will be broadcast on ESPN2.
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