If this UVA basketball team were a summer movie they’d be a box office smash.
Like Depp, DiCaprio, Damon or Affleck, these guys are real easy to root for. And they are seldom dull.
There’s a human element, dare I say a "Hoosiers"-like quality to them.
With 10 minutes to go in their game with Boston College on Thursday night at JPJ their whole season, which had begun so promisingly, was hanging in the balance.
After losing to hated arch-rival Virginia Tech last Sunday (the Hokies’ only win in six ACC games) the ‘Hoos found themselves in a 44-44 tie with Boston College, a team that is unlikely to win an ACC away game this season.
Suddenly Virginia was at a crossroads.
If this season results in an NCAA bid and possibly a successful run in the tournament, we might look back at the final 10 minutes of the BC game as the catalyst.
The Cavs went on a 22-3 run that included scoring contributions from six different players.
And, with the exception of a dominating performance against a bad Georgia Tech team, these ‘Hoos don’t let you leave early to beat the traffic. Like the movie hero that appears to have won the fight and saved the girl only to have the bad guy seemingly return from the dead, Virginia thus far has lacked that "killer instinct" to put away an opponent.
Witness Saturday’s effort, which for the first 20 minutes versus NC State in Raleigh almost had you wondering if you had the right channel on your TV. NC State loves to get up and down the court. Our beloved ‘Hoos, not so much. Yet here were these two teams playing at a pace that surely favored the Wolfpack and, don’t look now, the Cavs were beating them at their own game!
Yes, it took "lights out" shooting, but Virginia had its highest scoring half of this ACC season and it came not in a mop-up situation but in a very competitive game that each team wanted desperately to win to first secure the fourth spot for the time being in the ACC and secondly, because it was the only meeting between the two this year, to get a leg up in the NCAA Selection Committee’s mind should the ACC end up only a four bid conference again this year.
But 20 minutes does not a college basketball game make.
After shooting 60 percent from the field in the first half, the Cavs went ice cold. Over the first 11:35 of the second half UVA was just 4-14 from the field. And that’s the good news! The Cavaliers did not manage a single basket for the remainder of the game. Nada, zilch, nothing.
But (as you are probably beginning to recognize a continuing theme in this space), this team has heart.
Despite not scoring another basket, Virginia actually increased its lead to double digits for the first and only time with 6:37 to go when Joe Harris made both free throws to give Virginia a 55-45 lead.
But this edition of Bennettball not only keeps you in your seat until the very end, they keep you on the edge of it!
Virginia never trailed in the second half, in fact trailed for only three minutes all night. But all of a sudden, here was NC State with the ball with 15 seconds left, trailing by only a single point, with a chance to steal a victory.
The Wolfpack called time with seven seconds left to set up a final shot.
In the Cavalier huddle, Coach Bennett told his team, in effect, they had the ‘Pack right where they wanted them. Turn on any sports channel, go to any website, and this Virginia basketball team is said to be winning because of its defense.
And, in a game that saw everyone in the main rotation contribute, it was an unlikely source that made the key defensive play. Akil Mitchell has struggled thus far while trying to assume the responsibilities handled by Assane Sene before his injury. But I can assure you that Mitchell reacted just as Sene would have on the last play, jumping out to force the NC State ballhandler wide as he tried to turn the corner at the top of the key.
That decision and reaction by Mitchell forced the NC State player right into Jontel Evans (Virginia’s best defender) and, with late help from Sammy Zeglinski, all Lorenzo Brown could manage was a long heave that drew nothing but air.
Game over. Virginia wins.
It’s hard to imagine the recounting of any Virginia basketball game not including the name of Mike Scott. And this one won’t either. Scott led UVA in scoring for the 14th time in 20 games.
But this win belonged to everybody. And that is how it will have to stay if this Virginia basketball team is to have a chance to realize its dreams.