Kihei Clark with the ball. Time running out. Virginia desperately needing a bucket. You’ve heard this story before.
It had already come to pass three times in Virginia’s seven-game winning streak. And for the most part, the fourth time followed the narrative that had been laid down by its predecessors.
Kihei calmly took the ball down the floor, stopped, and delivered the game-winning three, much like the other times in which he had done the same. But this one was different.
It wasn’t the play that was different. No, that was almost identical to the one that took place in the win over Virginia Tech. And it wasn’t the steely confidence. We saw that as he sank two free throws to down Miami on Wednesday.
In fact, it wasn’t anything that Clark, nor any of the other players on the floor did. Rather, what defined this newest clutch play was the reaction that came from the fans.
It was pure, unbridled emotion from the 14,629 that packed JPJ to its capacity. It was joy, joy that raced around the arena as fans thrust fists and bodies skyward in celebration. But maybe most profound, it was disbelief. Disbelief that this team had won eight straight. Disbelief that they had gone from the pits of the ACC to very nearly on top of it.
The atmosphere inside of JPJ was similar to the one of last year’s game against Louisville. The Hoos had the lead, but Louisville took it for a lot of the second half. But the fans rallied behind their team and spurred them on to victory.
And the feeling inside after it was all over was of pure elation. Nobody had wanted Jack Salt to go out with a loss. Well, he definitely didn’t. But he didn’t get that many minutes in that game, and had little to no impact. The same cannot be said for Braxton Key and Mamadi Diakite.
Seniors end their JPJ career on a high
From the very beginning, it was clear that Mamadi Diakite was not going to spend his last game inside his home arena simply going through the motions. This was assertive Mamadi at its finest. He took 14 shots, and made half of them, tallying 17 points. The redshirt senior also collected eight boards.
It was his 12th straight game scoring in double figures, a stretch in which the Hoos have lost only once. That loss came in the KFC Yum! Center to Louisville. He played a big role in avenging that loss.
In this game, Mamadi took it at the opponent, going strong to the basket. His level of confidence was almost jarring, given how often he would be found passing up looks in the early season. It just goes to show how far this team has come since the beginning of the season.
Braxton Key did not have as good of a game as his fellow Senior. Braxton was a mere 2-5 from the field, only scoring 6 points. But he stayed true to who he’s always been, grabbing 7 rebounds. He also did something not as common, dishing out an impressive 4 assists.
It wasn’t a performance to the level of Mamadi’s. It wasn’t even a good performance, by prior standards. But when a bad outing consists of 6 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists, it’s a good sign. So while Key didn’t exactly have the senior night of his dreams, he also showed how much he’s developed as a player this year.
Kihei had a fantastic game
Some complain about his tendency to stand, ball on his hip, and drain precious seconds off of the shot clock. Others question his few bad passes or ill-advised drives to the rim. But all applaud the efforts that led to an eighth-straight win.
His 18 points on 5-12 shooting, added to his 5 rebounds and 5 assists, combined for an all-around game. Kihei ran the offense nearly flawlessly, played great defense, and of course hit that monumental game-winning three.
And the scary thing? He’s only a Sophomore. That means two more years of ripping through opposing defenses, of dishing out dimes, and of hitting cold-blooded threes.
The little dude even posted up his defender at one point. The nice move and finish drew praise from all around, including Cory Alexander comparing him to Ty Jerome on the ESPN broadcast.
“Who does he think he is, Ty Jerome?” was what he said, eliciting comparisons to his former teammate from many. Three months ago, nobody would have been comparing last year’s starting point guard to this year’s. But now, the question isn’t whether he’ll ever be as good, it’s as to how much better he’ll be.
Another game, another heart-stopping ending
If, when Virginia led by 14 with 13 minutes left, you actually thought it would be an easy victory, think again. Of course the Hoos were going to blow that lead. Of course they would let the Cards come all the way back. They don’t call them the Cardiac Cavs for nothing.
To be fair, it’s not as if the Hoos really made any massive errors to allow their opponents a path back into it. No, it was simply great play from a top-ten team. Sure, it could have been prevented, but deep down we all probably knew what was coming.
Maybe we didn’t care to admit it at the time though. After all, this was one of the best defensive performances of the season. One possession that stood out in particular was the shot clock violation single-handedly forced by Casey Morsell. Sticking with Lamarr Kimble all the way, he blocked the three-pointer at the buzzer.
The feat got all sections of JPJ on their feet, and it was then that the emotion became really evident for the first time. At that point, you could almost feel how much everybody wanted this win. And it almost never happened.
Louisville hit some absurd threes throughout, allowing them to stay in the game and eventually tie it. Take out those threes and a top-ten team has just scored in the 40s. Alas, those shots dropped through the hoop and brought the Cardinals back from the dead.
But the Hoos were there to put them down again, and end a roller coaster of a game in typical last-second fashion.
The big picture
After this game, it’s going to be really tough to deny Virginia a five or six seed. They now own wins over the all three of the other top teams in the ACC. The one glaring hole in the resume is away wins, though. There’s not really a game to point at in which the Hoos beat a good team on the road.
They blew both opportunities at Louisville and FSU, and the only other Quadrant 1 away games remaining are Syracuse, Georgia Tech, and Purdue. And what happened at Mackey Arena one December night shall not be spoken of.
That leaves Syracuse and Georgia Tech. While both are good teams (yeah, GT kind of turned their season around), neither is a quality win. So that could hinder the seeding come tournament time.
But this was a huge win, regardless of other resume deficiencies. It was a much-needed third high-caliber win, one that added a new depth to the team sheet. It also had big implications for the ACC Tournament.
With Duke’s win over UNC, there’s a three-way tie for second. Despite ESPN’s sloppy habit of showing the tied teams in alphabetical order, the Hoos come out on top of the other two. They have the head-to-head tiebreaker over Duke, and they have a better record over FSU than Louisville does.
That means that they’ll go into Greensboro as the two seed. They’ll face the winner of Boston College and Notre Dame, before hopefully moving on to a semifinal against Louisville.
But all that ACCT talk can wait. For now, just enjoy the complete and utter turnaround orchestrated by America’s best coach, and relax in the realization that there’s at least two more weeks of Virginia basketball to watch.