Reece Beekman’s last made three came on February 10th during an away game at Georgia Tech. He came into Virginia’s quarterfinal matchup with Syracuse having gone six games in a row without hitting a shot from beyond the arc. And it looked very much like another game would be added to that tally.
That is, until he caught the ball on the wing with two seconds left and the game knotted at 69. The ball left his hands with under a second left to play, the buzzer sounding just as it hit the top of its parabola. The bench stood up, the players looked on, and Beekman held his pose as the ball approached the net.
And then it dropped. And the bench erupted. And Tony Bennett gave a small but powerful air-punch. And Beekman led his teammates on a sprint around the court as UVA fans rejoiced and celebrated their unlikely hero.
It was the clutchest of clutch shots, and it came from a player who had just eight collegiate three-pointers to his name and a streak of missed triples dating back over a month.
There was no indicator that it was going to come, no reason to believe that Beekman, who had missed all six of his shot attempts, would be the one to sink the decisive shot. In fact, Syracuse dared him to shoot all game, continually leaving the first year wide open. Smart as Beekman’s recent stats may make Syracuse’s strategy seem, it ultimately came back to bite them in the biggest possible way.
But Beekman wasn’t the only Wahoo to save their contribution until late. Trey Murphy and Sam Hauser were a collective 3-16 from three at one point early in the second half. They ended up scoring 25 of Virginia’s 36 second-half points, including a stretch where Murphy hit back-to-back threes and Hauser knocked down a fadeaway midrange jumper on the next possession.
Kihei Clark also had a quiet but massive game. His most important moment was finding Beekman for the game-winner, yet Clark also had 10 points and six assists of his own. Guard play has been lacking for Virginia all season, but the backcourt duo stepped up in a big way to seal the victory.
The improved guard play was an essential step towards the eventual victory, as Virginia needed some added inspiration on offense. They were unable to follow the blueprint set by their first game against Syracuse, wherein they recorded six dunks and 14 threes.
This meeting went much differently, Virginia only slamming it home once and shooting just 31% from deep. Nevertheless, they found a way to win, relying on solid performances from the trio of forwards plus eight points out of Tomas Woldetensae.
The fortitude they displayed in pulling out the victory was made even more impressive by some iffy refereeing. Jamie Lucky has long been on Virginia basketball’s blacklist, and he moved a few spots towards the top by calling an infuriatingly inconsistent game. Credit to Buddy Boeheim and Syracuse for hitting shots down the stretch, but the men in stripes blew their whistles in some very questionable situations to give the Orange free opportunities to close the gap late in the game.
Syracuse eagerly seized those opportunities, Boeheim knocking down four free throws in the last 80 seconds to tie the game. He kept his team in it, going for 31 points on 10-17 shooting as helpless Virginia defenders tried and failed to prevent his shots from falling.
It’s tough to fault the Wahoo defense for not stopping Boeheim, but they left a lot to be desired elsewhere. Syracuse had their way inside and outside the arc, and Virginia also gave up 11 offensive boards.
This was in spite of a big game for Jay Huff, who had a double-double with 13 points and 12 boards. Huff also racked up four blocks and a pair of assists, twice finding Sam Hauser on cuts to the basket for easy buckets against the Syracuse zone.
The Hoos never executed their offense in the way that might have been expected. Bennett has now won six out of seven against Jim Boeheim, having clearly figured out how to break the classic 2-3 zone. The formula for doing so was slightly altered in a wild game, but in the end it worked out just the same.
A semifinal now awaits on Friday at 6:30 against the winner of the Miami-Georgia Tech game. The Hoos will need to refocus for that one, even if the dramatic victory deserves some time for celebration.
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