Beekman buoys 'Hoos in physical victory over Panthers

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Virginia 66, Pittsburgh 61

Reece Beekman had a huge night with 19 points on 8-for-11 shooting, a career-high eight assists, three rebounds, two blocks, and a steal, and Virginia won at Pittsburgh on Wednesday, as the Wahoos swept the season series and captured their eighth straight victory against the Panthers.

Beekman tied a career high with three 3-pointers on five attempts, with all his makes coming in the first half, which was crucial because Virginia struggled to put the ball in the basket in the first 20 minutes. Beekman made two treys in a one-minute span during a 10-0 stretch as Virginia went from down 22-17 to up 27-22.
According to Jeff White of VirginiaSports.com, Beekman has now made 5 of his past 11 3-pointers after missing 15 of his first 17 attempts of the season.

“Reece is a tremendous two-way player,” Jayden Gardner said after the win. “He’s confident with his shot, he’s got his 3-ball down, he can get to the paint, he’s a great assist man, and he defends at an elite level at the other end. … The sky’s the limit for Reece, and he just continues to get better, as we see in ACC play.”

Tony Bennett gave an equally optimistic assessment of Beekman’s future.

“As he gets more comfortable, as he continues to keep improving and his shot gets stronger, his best basketball is in front of him,” Bennett said. “But he’s been trending this way for the last number of games.”

It’s true. Beekman has been turning heads for a while. In ACC play, Beekman stands at 9.9 points per game while shooting 52% from the floor, is averaging 2.4 steals, and has totaled 41 assists compared to just 10 turnovers.


Reece Beekman tries to work around Pittsburgh's Daniel Oladapo. Beekman scored 19 points, nearly tying his career high of 20 he set last month versus Clemson. (Associated Press)

Beekman, ever humble and quiet, just said, “I’ve just been taking the shots I know I can make. My teammates believe in me, and my coaches [too], so I’ve just been playing. I know I’ve been working hard, so it’s just finally showing.”

UVa (11-7, 5-3 ACC) held a 29-25 halftime lead, nearly identical to the 29-27 edge it had Saturday versus Wake Forest.

This time, the result was better.

The Wahoos built a 10-point lead with 7:29 remaining in the game on Kihei Clark’s lone made 3-pointer, but they had to hold on down the stretch. The Panthers (7-11, 2-5) trimmed the lead to 3 with 1:38 left on two free throws.

Armaan Franklin missed a 3 for UVa, and Kody Stattmann came up with a really clutch offensive rebound. But multiple Panthers were grabbing for the ball, and rather than whistling them for a foul, the referees called a jump ball, and the possession arrow pointed to Pitt. So Virginia needed to come up with one more defensive stand.

Pitt’s Mo Gueye drove toward his right with Stattmann on his hip, and Stattmann bothered Gueye enough for Gueye to miss his layup, and Franklin grabbed the rebound. On the other end, Beekman drove the lane and found Franklin diving down the baseline. Franklin put in a short banked-in jumper to seal the win with 26 seconds left.
Gardner got back on track after a couple of rough games with 14 points on 5-for-9 shooting, four rebounds, and three assists. Against Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, Gardner scored 4 and 9 points, respectively, and combined to go 5 for 24 from the field.

Gardner also got elbowed in the face at least three times Wednesday, one time making both free throws after a flagrant foul was called.

Francisco Caffaro started in place of Kadin Shedrick for the second straight game, but Shedrick was effective in 16 foul-plagued minutes off the bench, recording 12 points, three rebounds, and two blocks. He was 6 for 6 from the floor, and not every shot was a dunk. He had a couple of nice little jumpers in the lane when Pitt was in a zone defense.

“I think I’ve always been able to shoot a little bit. It’s more so about shooting at the right times, but I just felt that was the right time to be able to shoot,” Shedrick said. “I’ve been working on the jumper right there a lot, especially on opportunistic shots.”

Shedrick also had a long-armed putback that looked unlikely to be made as it was happening, but the ball somehow found the bottom of the hoop to make it 58-49 with 5:04 left.

“Sometimes, you just gotta try and hit it to the rim and hope it goes in,” Shedrick said. “So that was one of those. I had to reach far for it.”

Both he and Caffaro fouled out of what was a physical game, with both teams reaching the double bonus in the second half and combining for 34 free throws. Pitt went 18 of 22 at the line, and UVa made 8 of 12.

But the Panthers made just one 3 compared to the Cavaliers’ four. Both teams shot 50% from the field, but Virginia got 54 attempts off compared to 42 for Pitt, which had 15 turnovers compared to just nine for the ‘Hoos. UVa capitalized on those mistakes with 21 points off those turnovers.

Virginia lost the overall rebounding battle 29-25 but had more offensive boards than Pitt, 11-9.

“I love that we got 11 offensive rebounds,” Bennett said. “That’s really important for us.”

Pitt big man John Hugley did damage down low with his big body and got the Cavaliers in foul trouble. He recorded 23 points and seven boards but also committed seven turnovers.

“I said, ‘We’re in a blue-collar town where people — they’re tough,’” Bennett said after the game about his pregame message. “And I said, ‘So you’re going to have to come [ready to battle]. We always talk about that. We want to be that kind of team.”

Clark had 7 points on 2-for-8 shooting, including 1 for 6 beyond the arc. It is the third straight game he has struggled shooting the ball. He is now 5 for his past 21 from the field and has made just 2 of his past 14 triples. But against Pitt, Clark did have six assists and no turnovers and also three boards.

Franklin struggled as well, scoring 6 points on 3-for-9 shooting. He didn’t make a trey after sinking three versus Wake. He notched two rebounds, an assist, and a steal.

Caffaro had 4 points on 2-for-3 shooting and threw down another thunderous dunk that was reminiscent of the one he had at Clemson. The big Argentinian added five rebounds, an assist, and a steal.

Stattmann got a lot of time off the bench again but didn’t contribute as much offensively as he did versus Wake, when he put in 11 points. At Pitt, Stattmann tallied 4 points on 1-for-8 shooting and one rebound.

It wasn’t necessarily a pretty outing — “We wobbled a little bit down the stretch,” Bennett said — but after the disappointing finish versus Wake Forest, Virginia was able to get the job done.

“It was a full game, a 40-minute game,” Beekman said. “Our mindset coming in was outlasting them, and I feel like that’s what we did.”

UVa stays on the road for its next matchup at N.C. State on Saturday. The Wolfpack have a losing record. The bad thing about losing to Wake is that the ‘Hoos are in a manageable stretch of their ACC schedule right now. Had they closed out that win, they’d have a real shot at four wins in a row in Raleigh. But at least the Demon Deacons have improved a lot.

After N.C. State, UVa faces Louisville at home, goes to Notre Dame, and then hosts Boston College. The Cavaliers need to pick up as many wins as possible, with Duke twice, Miami twice, and Florida State still left on the schedule.

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