Survive and Advance: Virginia Wins Defensive Battle Against Louisville 51-50 at ACC Tourney
On an exciting day of second round action at the ACC Tournament that featured a massive upset and a buzzer-beating game winner, the nightcap between Virginia and Louisville delivered another thrilling finish.
Jayden Gardner scored 17 points, including a pair of free throws with four seconds remaining that proved pivotal as Louisville's El Ellis knocked down a half-court three-pointer to cut it to one with just one-tenth of a second left on the clock. UVA inbounded the ball quickly and the Cavaliers escaped with a hard-fought 51-50 victory over the Cardinals late on Wednesday night at the Barclays Center.
With their NCAA Tournament hopes on the line, the Hoos faced the difficult challenge of defeating a team three times in one season, which included a 71-61 victory over the Cardinals less than a week ago in Louisville.
The Cavaliers came out of the gate cold, making just two of their first 18 shots and falling behind 13-4 early in the game. While UVA eventually found some semblance of footing on the offensive end, both teams struggled to shoot the ball throughout the game, which ultimately became a race to 50 points.
After Virginia's abysmal 2/18 start, the Cavaliers made seven of their final nine shots of the half to close the gap. Kihei Clark and Jayden Gardner each tallied seven points in the first half. Those two players carried the bulk of Virginia's offensive production in the game, combining to score 32 of UVA's 51 points. Samuell Williamson paced the Cardinals with seven points in the first half and Louisville led 24-20 at halftime.
Virginia opened the second half on a 7-0 run as the Cavaliers took their first lead of the game on a turnaround jumper from Gardner. Louisville quickly tied the game at 27-27 on a three-pointer by Noah Locke, beginning a stretch of nearly 15-consecutive minutes in which a maximum of two points separated the two teams on the scoreboard. Neither team led by more than four points in the second half.
Both Virginia and Louisville played solid defense, forcing difficult looks, and neither team shot the ball particularly well from three-point range. The Cardinals shot 5/22 (22.7%) from three and the Cavaliers did not make any of their six three-point attempts in the game. Virginia became the first team to win an ACC Tournament game without making a three-pointer since the implementation of the three-point line in the mid-1980s.
"I don't apologize for how we play," said Virginia head coach Tony Bennett. "I want our guys when they have shots to take them. Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don't. But you have to - when you know you're struggling in certain areas, do you have the wherewithal and the identity to say - we're going to rely on stops and squeeze out a few points here and there, and then try to go win a game, and that's what happened. I'd take that win over an 85-82 loss."
Noah Locke knocked down a three-pointer to tie the game at 45-45 with less than two minutes remaining, but Virginia responded with a bucket as Reece Beekman found Gardner for a jumper from his sweet spot on the baseline.
Jarrod West missed a three-pointer and then Virginia executed a brilliant play at a clutch moment in the game. With Reece Beekman dribbling down the clock near half-court, Virginia overloaded the right side of the floor and began to set some screens, drawing the attention of the Louisville defense. Just as UVA started to run that action, Reece Beekman began a quick drive to his left, blowing past his defender and cruising to the basket for an easy layup to put the Cavaliers up by four points with 40 seconds remaining.
Malik Williams got a second chance layup to cut it to two with 4.7 seconds remaining. UVA inbounded the ball to Gardner, who was fouled and crucially made both free throws, as the second foul shot ended up being the difference.
El Ellis drained a incredible three-pointer from just inside half court, but there was only one-tenth of a second left on the clock and Virginia quickly inbounded the ball to seal the 51-50 victory.
Jayden Gardner led UVA with 17 points and four rebounds and Kihei Clark was right behind him with 15 points and four rebounds. Reece Beekman recorded eight points, nine assists, five rebounds, one block, and one steal.
"We call it a knuckle buster game," Bennett said. "That was a knuckle buster and that's all you could do. Sometime that's how it gets in tournaments, so again, we get to play tomorrow, and that's a good thing."
With the win, the Cavaliers keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive as they move on to face No. 3 seed North Carolina in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament on Thursday at 9:30pm.
Read a full preview of Virginia's ACC Tournament quarterfinal game against North Carolina here: Preview: Virginia Cavaliers vs. North Carolina Tar Heels | ACC Men's Basketball Tournament
Stay up to date on all the scores at the 2022 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament here: ACC Men's Basketball Tournament Score Updates and Schedule
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