Three takeaways from Virginia’s critical victory over Miami

Virginia only made 1 of its 8 first-half three-point attempts. So when Kihei Clark initiated his three-point shooting motion a minute into the second half, most Virginia fans expected the shot to miss. 

The Hoos were mired in a six-minute scoring drought at the time and were trailing by 10. Victory looked to be slipping out of reach, flitting elusively away and taking Virginia’s postseason hopes with it. Maybe it would have flown entirely out of reach, had Kihei’s shot not fallen.

But when it did, it breathed life back into Virginia and ignited a flame that would not be snuffed out. Virginia embarked on a 22-4 scoring run that ended with a 6-point lead.

Tony Bennett’s squad maintained at least a 2-point buffer for the rest of the game and won 74-71. The Hoos improved to 17-10 on the season and 11-6 in the ACC. They preserved their chances of making the NCAA Tournament.

Here are three takeaways.

Production from unexpected places

Jayden Gardner led Virginia in scoring, pouring in 23 points and 7 rebounds. That’s not even news at this point. Wahoo fans have come to expect superlative performances from the East Carolina transfer. 

What was surprising were the performances submitted by Kadin Shedrick and Kody Stattmann. 

Shedrick accounted for a double-double, corralling a career-high 13 rebounds and as many points. He played very good defense, and looks to have a better understanding of his place in the defense. He also knocked down 7 of 9 free throws.

Kody Stattmann was even more surprising. His numbers—8 points, 4 rebounds and a pair of blocks—may pale in comparison to Shedrick’s. But for a player who’s been the target of much criticism this season (including on this blog), this was an expectation-shattering performance.

Often described as unathletic and a liability on both sides of the floor, Stattmann was nearly flawless at everything he did. He made a huge three. He completed a dazzling spin move. And he never yielded on defense.

Masterclass by Bennett

The system Tony Bennett once devised is responsible for a lot of success. But it’s a pretty rigid system, and Bennett adheres to it almost without fail.

One staple of that system is taking out players who commit fouls. A player that gets whistled for a couple fouls early will spend the rest of the half on the bench. One who picks up a third a few minutes into the second half will stew on the sidelines for five minutes.

When Shedrick picked up a fourth foul with just under five minutes remaining, he looked to the sideline, expecting to see Francisco Caffaro next to the scorer’s table. Nope. Bennett, aware that Shedrick was having one of the best games of his life, decided to keep him in. Down the stretch, Shedrick grabbed a couple rebounds, played good defense and hit a free throw.

Giving Shedrick big minutes was only one big stroke Bennett made. He also elected to sit Armaan Franklin in favor of Kody Stattmann for nearly the entire second half. What resulted was the aforementioned huge night for Stattmann (UPDATE: it was later revealed that a minor toe injury contributed to Franklin’s limited playing time).

Bennett has already been praised for hauling a floundering Virginia team out of the deep sea; his crucial decisions against Miami got it closer to the shore.

A more cohesive performance

Virginia didn’t look like much more than a collection of disparate parts when it lost by 9 to Virginia Tech on Monday. The story reads differently now.

Every player built off what his teammates did against Miami. The Hoos had 17 assists on 25 made field goals, 7 of them by Reece Beekman and 5 by Clark. Each guy fulfilled his role and did exactly what was asked of him. 

The result was a massive victory in a game that was slipping away at halftime. 

For Virginia to claw its way through the outer shell of the bubble, it’ll need to beat Duke on Wednesday. That would be a fourth Quad 1 win, and would set Virginia up to (probably) play its way onto the bracket with wins over Florida State and Louisville to close the regular season.

The final couple weeks of the season could play out in many ways. Virginia is in a much better position to end those two weeks happy because of this victory over Miami.

Virginia is back in action on Wednesday with a home matchup with Duke. The game will tip at 7 pm and air on ESPN. 

Image – Virginia Athletics