No. 4 Virginia 73, No. 11 Miami 68
Instead of trying to give a broad brushstroke of a recap of the Cavaliers' win over the Hurricanes in the ACC tournament semifinals, in the interest of time, I'm just going to go media timeout by media timeout and give some observations as I watch the replay:
1st half
Under 16-minute TO: Virginia 10-2
Awesome, awesome start for the Wahoos. Malcolm Brogdon and London Perrantes have already sank 3-pointers, Anthony Gill's hit a jumper, and Miami can't get going at all. Mike Tobey and Isaiah Wilkins appear to combine for a tip-in basket so the bigs are looking active.
Under 12-minute TO: Virginia 18-10
Tobey continues to assert himself on the glass and Evan Nolte gets in on the action with a jumper. Miami finally gets it going, though, with back-to-back 3s from 6-foot-10 forward Ivan Cruz Uceda.
Under 8-minute TO: Virginia 27-19
Great to see Marial Shayok in on the action with a mid-range fall away jumper and then attacking the basket for a blow-by layup. He ended up with 10 points before fouling out near the end of the game. Darius Thompson also makes a 3-pointer, and he finished with six points. Those are the kind of contributions UVa will need from its supporting cast to go far in the NCAA tournament. Not necessarily from Shayok, but at least one, maybe two role players must step up every game.
Under 4-minute TO: Virginia 31-21
Tobey again with a nice defensive rebound, and then one on offense for the putback. Devon Hall is off to a struggling start, and never comes out of it. He finished with zero points, missing all four of his shots.
Halftime: Virginia 36-31
Brogdon makes his second 3 late in the shot clock. What a terrific asset to have two, maybe three players you can be comfortable with taking a long shot near the end of the shot clock. Up 36-25, there was no reason for UVa to let Miami cut the lead to five by the end of the first half. But that's what happened with two dumb shots. Perrantes took an early 3 and airballed it, then the defense let Anthony Lawrence blow by for a dunk on the baseline. Then Tobey inexplicably took a 3 and was way off, letting Miami make another two on the other end. Poor end of first halves seem to have been a problem this year. I don't know why they continue to vex the team. It shouldn't be that hard to be more disciplined at the end of the first half, but UVa needs to go ahead and do it because with the Big Dance coming up, one poor final minute in the first half could end the season.
2nd half
Under 16-minute TO: Virginia 40-32
So far so good in keeping the lead. A jumper by Wilkins and one by Perrantes after an Angel Rodriguez steal attempt put UVa on the board for the second half.
Under 12-minute TO: Virginia 46-41
Rodriguez gets his first two points. UVa again did a good job in this game of holding down the Hurricanes' second-leading scorer. He did have nine points in the second half, though. Rodriguez also was able to draw a foul on UVa. He complained about a Gill screen, saying he was moving, after Perrantes sank a jumper. Next time down the floor, the moving screen was called on Gill. Miami gets it down to 42-39, then Virginia catches a break when Rodriguez dribbles off his foot and out of bounds as he is trying to go behind his back. Just stick to the fundamentals, kids. Another Shayok jumper puts UVa back up five. Again, great minutes for the sophomore.
Under 8-minute TO: Virginia 52-46
Fantastic hustle by Tobey! Ball on the floor and the big 7-footer drops down and fights for the ball, gets it, and dishes to Wilkins for a layup. Another great hustle play a couple minutes later by Wilkins. Miami grabs a rebound, but McClellan, I believe loses his footing and the ball. Wilkins hits the deck to scramble for the ball, and eventually, Tonye Jekiri gets called for a travel. The refs maybe could have called a foul on Wilkins when he might have helped Jekiri fall over, but you never know what the call will be and Wilkins' hustle made it possible. In general, though, the refs seemed to have a quicker whistle down the stretch, to the detriment of the game. After the Wilkins play, they called a push by Jekiri on Tobey when a pass goes over Tobey's head. I didn't see a foul. Later on, fouls are quickly called on UVa's defense as Miami players drive the lane. Great play by Brogdon as he drives the lane for a dunk or layup, gets fouled, and somehow the ball still finds its way through the hoop. Brogdon misses the and-1, however, a rare free throw line miss.
Under 4-minute TO: Virginia 61-50
Two nice plays in a row: offensive putback dunk by Wilkins off a Brogdon miss, and then a steal by Thompson, drive, and foul. This time, he made both free throws. Earlier, he made just one of two. Perrantes called for a foul with Rodriguez driving into him and giving him a little elbow. Perrantes went out of the game with an injury, but ended up checking back in soon after. With him out, Thompson ran the point and missed an open 15-footer, the kind of shot Perrantes would've made. Still, UVa is able to open up a lead.
Final: Virginia 73-68
Some tense moments as Miami cuts the lead from 63-50 to 71-68. Shayok with a dumb foul on McClellan as he shoots a 3. Then Brogdon gives the ball up for some reason as Miami is looking to foul. As a result, Thompson is fouled and he misses both free throws. On the next possession, Shayok gets fouled as Perrantes is unable to inbound the ball to Brogdon. Shayok sinks both big free throws. After a 3 by Miami, the lead is five. Again, for some reason, Brogdon gives the ball up. Shayok ends up with it and gets fouled and misses both. Then he fouls Ja'Quan Newton who makes one of two to cut the lead to four. Finally, Virginia gets it to Brogdon, who makes both of his free throws after a foul, essentially putting it out of reach, but not before Perrantes misses a pair and Miami makes a layup to cut it to three points with three seconds left. Below average free throw shooting does Virginia no favors down the stretch.
Virginia had its ups and downs in this game, but the quick start, something the Wahoos haven't always gotten out to this year, obviously helped propel the team. After taking a 14-4 lead, Miami ended up outscoring UVa the rest of the way by five points.
No. 4 Virginia vs. No. 7 North Carolina in Washington, 9 p.m. ESPN/NBC29
Simply put, this will probably be a dogfight. Who will execute best? Who will execute down the stretch? Virginia beat UNC at home Feb. 27, 79-74. It was one of UVa's best offensive games of the year. Brogdon led the way with 26 points, but Gill had 15 as he got back on track, Perrantes had 12, and Hall had one of his best games with 11. UNC was led by Joel Berry II with 21 points as he made 5 of his 9 3s. Brice Johnson was mostly limited by UVa to 12 points and seven rebounds. Marcus Paige had 13 points and made 3 of 7 3s, but just 4 of 13 overall. The Tar Heels were very impressive in beating Notre Dame, 78-47, in the first semifinal Friday. The Irish, though, have been struggling down the stretch so the beatdown didn't
come out of nowhere. Paige was much more efficient in that game making 5 of 9 overall and 4 of 7 from 3 for 16 points to lead UNC. The team had a balanced effort with 12 each from Berry and Johnson, and 11 each from Justin Jackson and Isaiah Hicks.
Like the first meeting, UVa will have to do what it can to slow UNC's low-post game, and hope the Tar Heels don't hit a ton of jump shots. I am picking UNC, only because it is the second meeting of the season, and on a neutral floor (UNC fans will be out in force as much as UVa's) the chances are probably better these two heavyweights would split their series. But it is essentially a tossup and will come down to who makes the most plays at the end. The first game was pretty clean as far as fouls go, and hopefully the refs let the Heels and 'Hoos play.
Gut feeling: North Carolina wins by 1-5 points.
Instead of trying to give a broad brushstroke of a recap of the Cavaliers' win over the Hurricanes in the ACC tournament semifinals, in the interest of time, I'm just going to go media timeout by media timeout and give some observations as I watch the replay:
1st half
Under 16-minute TO: Virginia 10-2
Awesome, awesome start for the Wahoos. Malcolm Brogdon and London Perrantes have already sank 3-pointers, Anthony Gill's hit a jumper, and Miami can't get going at all. Mike Tobey and Isaiah Wilkins appear to combine for a tip-in basket so the bigs are looking active.
Under 12-minute TO: Virginia 18-10
Tobey continues to assert himself on the glass and Evan Nolte gets in on the action with a jumper. Miami finally gets it going, though, with back-to-back 3s from 6-foot-10 forward Ivan Cruz Uceda.
Under 8-minute TO: Virginia 27-19
Great to see Marial Shayok in on the action with a mid-range fall away jumper and then attacking the basket for a blow-by layup. He ended up with 10 points before fouling out near the end of the game. Darius Thompson also makes a 3-pointer, and he finished with six points. Those are the kind of contributions UVa will need from its supporting cast to go far in the NCAA tournament. Not necessarily from Shayok, but at least one, maybe two role players must step up every game.
Under 4-minute TO: Virginia 31-21
Tobey again with a nice defensive rebound, and then one on offense for the putback. Devon Hall is off to a struggling start, and never comes out of it. He finished with zero points, missing all four of his shots.
Halftime: Virginia 36-31
Brogdon makes his second 3 late in the shot clock. What a terrific asset to have two, maybe three players you can be comfortable with taking a long shot near the end of the shot clock. Up 36-25, there was no reason for UVa to let Miami cut the lead to five by the end of the first half. But that's what happened with two dumb shots. Perrantes took an early 3 and airballed it, then the defense let Anthony Lawrence blow by for a dunk on the baseline. Then Tobey inexplicably took a 3 and was way off, letting Miami make another two on the other end. Poor end of first halves seem to have been a problem this year. I don't know why they continue to vex the team. It shouldn't be that hard to be more disciplined at the end of the first half, but UVa needs to go ahead and do it because with the Big Dance coming up, one poor final minute in the first half could end the season.
2nd half
Under 16-minute TO: Virginia 40-32
So far so good in keeping the lead. A jumper by Wilkins and one by Perrantes after an Angel Rodriguez steal attempt put UVa on the board for the second half.
Under 12-minute TO: Virginia 46-41
Rodriguez gets his first two points. UVa again did a good job in this game of holding down the Hurricanes' second-leading scorer. He did have nine points in the second half, though. Rodriguez also was able to draw a foul on UVa. He complained about a Gill screen, saying he was moving, after Perrantes sank a jumper. Next time down the floor, the moving screen was called on Gill. Miami gets it down to 42-39, then Virginia catches a break when Rodriguez dribbles off his foot and out of bounds as he is trying to go behind his back. Just stick to the fundamentals, kids. Another Shayok jumper puts UVa back up five. Again, great minutes for the sophomore.
Under 8-minute TO: Virginia 52-46
Fantastic hustle by Tobey! Ball on the floor and the big 7-footer drops down and fights for the ball, gets it, and dishes to Wilkins for a layup. Another great hustle play a couple minutes later by Wilkins. Miami grabs a rebound, but McClellan, I believe loses his footing and the ball. Wilkins hits the deck to scramble for the ball, and eventually, Tonye Jekiri gets called for a travel. The refs maybe could have called a foul on Wilkins when he might have helped Jekiri fall over, but you never know what the call will be and Wilkins' hustle made it possible. In general, though, the refs seemed to have a quicker whistle down the stretch, to the detriment of the game. After the Wilkins play, they called a push by Jekiri on Tobey when a pass goes over Tobey's head. I didn't see a foul. Later on, fouls are quickly called on UVa's defense as Miami players drive the lane. Great play by Brogdon as he drives the lane for a dunk or layup, gets fouled, and somehow the ball still finds its way through the hoop. Brogdon misses the and-1, however, a rare free throw line miss.
Under 4-minute TO: Virginia 61-50
Two nice plays in a row: offensive putback dunk by Wilkins off a Brogdon miss, and then a steal by Thompson, drive, and foul. This time, he made both free throws. Earlier, he made just one of two. Perrantes called for a foul with Rodriguez driving into him and giving him a little elbow. Perrantes went out of the game with an injury, but ended up checking back in soon after. With him out, Thompson ran the point and missed an open 15-footer, the kind of shot Perrantes would've made. Still, UVa is able to open up a lead.
Final: Virginia 73-68
Some tense moments as Miami cuts the lead from 63-50 to 71-68. Shayok with a dumb foul on McClellan as he shoots a 3. Then Brogdon gives the ball up for some reason as Miami is looking to foul. As a result, Thompson is fouled and he misses both free throws. On the next possession, Shayok gets fouled as Perrantes is unable to inbound the ball to Brogdon. Shayok sinks both big free throws. After a 3 by Miami, the lead is five. Again, for some reason, Brogdon gives the ball up. Shayok ends up with it and gets fouled and misses both. Then he fouls Ja'Quan Newton who makes one of two to cut the lead to four. Finally, Virginia gets it to Brogdon, who makes both of his free throws after a foul, essentially putting it out of reach, but not before Perrantes misses a pair and Miami makes a layup to cut it to three points with three seconds left. Below average free throw shooting does Virginia no favors down the stretch.
Virginia had its ups and downs in this game, but the quick start, something the Wahoos haven't always gotten out to this year, obviously helped propel the team. After taking a 14-4 lead, Miami ended up outscoring UVa the rest of the way by five points.
No. 4 Virginia vs. No. 7 North Carolina in Washington, 9 p.m. ESPN/NBC29
Simply put, this will probably be a dogfight. Who will execute best? Who will execute down the stretch? Virginia beat UNC at home Feb. 27, 79-74. It was one of UVa's best offensive games of the year. Brogdon led the way with 26 points, but Gill had 15 as he got back on track, Perrantes had 12, and Hall had one of his best games with 11. UNC was led by Joel Berry II with 21 points as he made 5 of his 9 3s. Brice Johnson was mostly limited by UVa to 12 points and seven rebounds. Marcus Paige had 13 points and made 3 of 7 3s, but just 4 of 13 overall. The Tar Heels were very impressive in beating Notre Dame, 78-47, in the first semifinal Friday. The Irish, though, have been struggling down the stretch so the beatdown didn't
Like the first meeting, UVa will have to do what it can to slow UNC's low-post game, and hope the Tar Heels don't hit a ton of jump shots. I am picking UNC, only because it is the second meeting of the season, and on a neutral floor (UNC fans will be out in force as much as UVa's) the chances are probably better these two heavyweights would split their series. But it is essentially a tossup and will come down to who makes the most plays at the end. The first game was pretty clean as far as fouls go, and hopefully the refs let the Heels and 'Hoos play.
Gut feeling: North Carolina wins by 1-5 points.
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