Next Stop on Cavaliers' Journey: Sweet Sixteen
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By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Make no mistake, the University of Virginia men’s basketball team is delighted to be headed to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2016. But the Cavaliers are far from satisfied. They made that clear in their postgame comments Sunday night at Colonial Life Arena.
“The journey’s not done yet,” redshirt junior Mamadi Diakite said after UVA, the South Region’s No. 1 seed, defeated ninth-seeded Oklahoma 63-51 in the NCAA tournament’s second round.
“We’re going to enjoy this win and enjoy moving on, but the job’s not done,” junior forward Braxton Key said.
Next up for Virginia (31-3), which has tied the program record for victories in a season set in 2017-18, is a third-round date with 12th-seeded Oregon (25-12) in Louisville, Ky. They’ll meet at approximately 10 p.m. Thursday at the KFC Yum! Center.
For the Wahoos, their latest victory means “another week, [another] opportunity to play with the teammates you love, for the coaches you love, and for the fans you love,” junior guard Ty Jerome said. “But we’re nowhere near relaxed, nowhere near satisfied. We’re not even close to our end goal.”
The ‘Hoos were noticeably tight in their first-round game against No. 16 seed Gardner-Webb, and understandably so. In last year’s NCAA tournament, UVA made history when it became the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed. And so when the Runnin’ Bulldogs raced to a 14-point lead in the first half Friday afternoon, the ‘Hoos had cause for concern.
“There’s pressure and excitement and tension to try to advance in this tournament, that’s always there, but it was a different feel,” head coach Tony Bennett said Sunday night. “No [other] college basketball team, really in the history of the game, has had to go through that. It’s our doing.”
The Cavaliers never panicked Friday, though, and by halftime they’d trimmed Gardner-Webb’s lead to six. Virginia dominated the second half and pulled away for a 71-56 win.
“I think those guys will have that as something they can always draw upon to say we faced a giant and battled through it,” Bennett said.
Against Oklahoma (20-14), the vibe was different. “We just wanted to make sure we took care of business the entire 40 minutes this time,” junior guard Kyle Guy said.
The Cavaliers scored the game’s first seven points, prompting a timeout by Oklahoma head coach Lon Kruger.
“Seeing shots go in at the start was big,” redshirt sophomore Jay Huff said. “That never hurts. But I just think after the first game on Friday, we were all a little more relaxed, a little relieved.”
The ‘Hoos didn’t sustain their initial surge. After putting up seven points in the first 103 seconds, they scored only two over the next seven-plus minutes. But the Sooners didn’t fully capitalize. The Cavaliers eventually found their rhythm again and went into halftime with a 31-22 lead.
“We were comfortable out there,” redshirt sophomore De’Andre Hunter said.
Two days after scoring 95 points in a first-round win over eighth-seeded Mississippi, Oklahoma encountered infinitely more resistance against Virginia’s Pack Line defense. For the game, the Sooners shot only 36.5 percent from the floor.
“We were keeping them out of the lane, and we were getting to the shooters,” Hunter said.
Bennett, pleased with the 6-9 Diakite’s play against Gardner-Webb, started him in Jack Salt’s place Sunday night. It was the first start since Feb. 27 for Diakite, who turned in a sparkling performance, scoring 14 points (on 7-for-9 shooting), tying his career high with nine rebounds, and blocking three shots.
“I was locked in, and I was trying to respond to the challenge Coach gave me,” Diakite said. “He started me tonight, and I wanted to prove him that I was ready to play.”
Diakite drew the assignment of defending forward Kristian Doolittle, a 6-7, 232-pound junior who had 19 points and 15 rebounds against Ole Miss. Doolittle finished with eight points and five rebounds against UVA.
With Diakite’s height and athleticism, Doolittle said, he “was able to alter my shot and block a few of them there at the beginning of the game. Credit to him for playing really good defense. He made it really tough on me to get the shots that I wanted, and even when I was open, I just kind of wasn’t in a rhythm.”
Forward Brady Manek and guard Christian James scored 13 points each to lead the Sooners, but they were a combined 9 for 26 from the floor.
“I just think they got us out of rhythm,” said Manek, a 6-9 sophomore. “They played really good defense, solid defense. They’re a good team. I had some open looks, but it wasn’t really the shot I wanted.”
James, a 6-4 senior, said the Cavaliers “did a great job of dictating on offense and defense … Credit to them. They definitely took me out of my rhythm a little bit. They’re a great team.”
Virginia’s attributes include its balance and depth. On a night when All-ACC guard Kyle Guy, one of the nation’s premier outside shooters, was 0 for 10 from beyond the 3-point arc, the Cavaliers weren’t seriously threatened over the final 25 minutes.
“It just shows how deep we are, how much we want to win, and how much none of us really care about scoring,” said Guy, who finished with a season-low four points. “We just care about winning, because this is a great feeling and that’s what we kept saying all game, that we just want to win.”
In addition to Diakite, Jerome (12 points) and Hunter (10 points) scored in double figures for UVA. Key and freshman point guard Kihei Clark added nine points apiece, and Huff chipped in five points in his seven-minute stint in the first half.
“We took whatever the defense gave us,” Guy said. “Obviously they didn’t help off me very much, so that left a lot of guys open in the paint. I’m happy for that to be my role.
I don’t really care if I score or not. I want to go to the Sweet Sixteen.”
Guy also had three assists. The most memorable one came late in the game, when a Jerome steal started a sequence that ended when Guy flipped a behind-the-back pass to Key for a layup that made it 58-43.
“That was nice, right?” Guy said, smiling.
Key, who also grabbed nine rebounds Sunday night, transferred from Alabama to UVA last summer. He helped the Crimson Tide reach the NCAA tournament’s second round last season, but this will be his first trip to the Sweet Sixteen. The same is true for most of his UVA teammates.
“It’s huge,” Key said of the Cavaliers’ accomplishment. “When you watch college basketball and watch the tournament growing up as a kid, you obviously want to keep progressing.”
Clark agreed. “You dream of this your whole life. It’s great to advance.”
SOUND BITES: Virginia improved to 4-0 all-time in the NCAA tournament against Big 12 teams. Among the postgame comments:
* Bennett on Huff, who hit a 3-pointer and drove for an emphatic one-handed dunk: “That’s what you need in these settings, for different guys to come in and step up. We know who our main three guys are scoring” – Hunter, Jerome and Guy – “but you saw it from Mamadi and Jay and Kihei with big baskets and timely plays. I was going to play Jay in the second half, but our defense was going and the matchups were right, so I didn’t, and he was phenomenal on the bench. He’s coming.”
* Bennett on Diakite’s development: “I think Ty made a great statement [Friday]. We got off to a rocky start [against Gardner-Webb] — Mamadi, all of us — and Mamadi responded. He just kept playing and stayed steady … It’s just part of the maturation process that each player kind of comes at differently, and I say it all the time. He’s newer to the game, and he’s young and joyful and all those things, and to be able to handle adversity or a hard start, that’s a separator for a lot of players. He’s definitely coming in the right direction, and he was terrific [in Columbia].”
* Jerome on Diakite’s performance: “He and Braxton both, they were making some tough finishes, finishing through contact, finishing over contact. They were awesome tonight.”
* Key on Guy’s behind-the-back assist: “He’s an underrated passer.”
* Clark on the 3-pointer he made with 2:57 left after the Sooners had cut UVA’s lead to 10: “When I make the open shot, we’re definitely better.”
* Guy on advancing to the Sweet Sixteen: “This junior class came in together, and we wanted to do these kinds of things, and now that we’re doing it, and it’s coming to fruition, it’s a great feeling. We’re not satisfied, as you all know, but it’s a great feeling.”
* Key on Guy’s struggles from 3-point range: “He’s one of the best shooters in the country. We have ultimate confidence in him and his ability. We’re not too worried about it.”