Senior Day Heartbreak: Florida State Stuns Virginia 64-63 on Cleveland's Buzzer-Beater
The Cavaliers left the door open and the Seminoles made them pay.
Virginia led Florida State by nine points with just over two minutes remaining and it appeared that the Cavaliers were well on their way to a win on Senior Night. Matthew Cleveland had other ideas.
FSU put together a late comeback behind 10 points from Cleveland in the final two minutes of play. Cleveland got the Seminoles to within a point on an and-one and then tied the game at 61-61 with a driving lefty layup with 6.3 seconds remaining. Armaan Franklin raced up the floor and knocked down a clutch jumper from the free throw line that appeared to be the game-winner, as it put UVA back up by two points with just one second left on the clock.
Harrison Prieto threw a one-handed pass down the floor to Cleveland, who put up a deep fadeaway three-pointer over Franklin. The buzzer sounded as the ball arced through the air and went in the basket, touching all net. Florida State 64, Virginia 63.
Cleveland's shot stunned the JPJ crowd, which had erupted only moments before on Franklin's shot. It was a heartbreaking finish to a game the Cavaliers should have won.
Similar to the way the game ended, Florida State used a 10-0 run to erase a nine-point deficit in the first half. Virginia managed to close the half on a 7-2 run and took a 34-29 lead at halftime. Jayden Gardner scored 14 of his game-high 21 points in the first half.
Florida State got to within three points of Virginia early in the second half, but the Cavaliers then stepped up their defensive execution and held the Seminoles without a field goal for nearly seven minutes. UVA did not take full advantage of that drought, however, as the Cavaliers had their own scoring difficulties over the same period, so the margin stayed at just a few possessions' difference for most of the second half.
A Gardner layup made it 56-46 UVA with 3:26 to play. FSU cut it to six points, but Armaan Franklin hit a step-back three-pointer to push the lead back to 59-50 with 2:19 remaining. Then the wheels came off the bus.
Matthew Cleveland hit a pull-up jumper and Virginia turned it over in the back court, leading to another FSU score as Jalen Warley converted a jumper to get it back to a five-point game. Jayden Gardner was fouled, but made only one of his two free throws, and RayQuan Evans took only eight seconds to get to the basket for a layup to cut the deficit to four points with 1:25 remaining.
Gardner left a baseline jumper short and then Cleveland hit a shot in the paint plus a foul on Reece Beekman, fouling Beekman out of the game. Cleveland completed the three-point play to make it 60-59 with 45 seconds left. Kihei Clark turned the ball over at half court and FSU tried to get out on the fast break, but Kody Stattmann tipped the pass away and Franklin collected it before getting fouled by Butler with 14.7 seconds left on the clock.
Franklin made the first free throw, but missed the second to keep it a two-point game. Cleveland drove on Shedrick and made the tough contested layup off the glass to tie the game.
The Cavaliers thought they had escaped the late rally after Armaan Franklin's pull-up jumper fell to put the Hoos up by two with one second left on the clock, but Matthew Cleveland still had another clutch play left in the tank.
Cleveland's desperation three went through the net with a swish, leaving the Cavaliers and the JPJ crowd in disbelief as the Seminoles chased Cleveland around the court in celebration.
It was a brutal end to what could be Kihei Clark's final game at John Paul Jones Arena. The senior point guard, who has yet to make a decision on if he will return for a fifth season in Charlottesville, had seven points and six assists.
The loss likely ends any hopes Virginia (17-12, 11-8 ACC) had of earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Cavaliers will likely need to run the table and win the ACC Tournament in order to make March Madness. The Cavaliers will wrap up the regular season at Louisville next Saturday at 12pm.
See more Virginia sports news and content: Virginia Cavaliers on Sports Illustrated
See more Virginia men's basketball news and content: Virginia Men's Basketball on Sports Illustrated
Read more from Cavaliers Now
No. 2 Virginia Makes Statement with 20-11 Victory over No. 9 Syracuse in ACC Opener
No. 9 UVA Women's Tennis Opens ACC Play with 6-1 Win Over Boston College
Gelof Leads Virginia to Dominant 24-9 Victory over Cornell
College Basketball Bracketology: How Many ACC Teams Will Make the NCAA Tournament?
