First-Half Surge Propels Virginia Over Louisville
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Virginia (12-8, 6-4 ACC) led for 39 minutes of game time and held a 19-point lead over Louisville (11-9, 5-5 ACC) in the first half as the Cavaliers defeated the Cardinals 64-52 at John Paul Jones Arena Monday night.
Kiehi Clark (15 points), Jayden Gardner (14 points), Kadin Shedrick (11 points) and Armaan Franklin (10 points) all scored in double figures for the Hoos.
Virginia shot 47 percent (24-51 FG) from the field and tallied 20 assists, 11 of which came at the hands of Reece Beekman, who dished out a career-best 11 assists. Beekman’s 11 dimes are the most by a Virginia player in a single game since Clark notched 13 against Navy on Dec. 29, 2019.
UVA made 11 of its 14 free throw attempts, while the Cardinals made one on just three attempts at the line. Louisville shot 32 percent from behind the arc on 28 attempts, the second most 3’s attempted by a UVA opponent so far this season. The Cavaliers also dominated the glass, out-rebounding Louisville by a margin of 37-26.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Virginia led 35-23 at intermission after shooting 46 percent from the floor and registered an assist on nine of its 13 made field goal attempts in the opening half. The Cavaliers started off hot offensively, connecting on their first four attempts from the field – all of which were assisted. Virginia led for 19:28 of game time in the first half and held its largest lead of the game, 27-8, at the 6:25 mark thanks to an 11-0 run in the middle of the half. The Cardinals chipped away at the UVA lead by scoring 15 of the last 23 points to close out the half. Clark led all scorers at the break with nine points on 4-of-8 shooting and dished out four assists. Beekman extended his steal streak to 10 games after coming up with his first of two steals in the first 20 minutes of play.
In the second half, the Cardinals cut the Virginia lead to as little as four (51-47) with 11:54 remaining. After the Cavaliers went up by 52-41 with 7:51 to play Louisville made a pair of 3’s to trail by just five. With under five minutes to play, Louisville brought full court pressure, but the Cavaliers found Kadin Shedrick, who rattled the rim with a pair of dunks on back-to-back possessions, shifting momentum in UVA’s favor. With under 3:00 to play, Virginia embarked on an 8-0 run to ultimately put the game out of the Cardinals’ reach.
THE GAME BALL GOES TO:
Kihei Clark. Clark scored at least 15 points for the third time this season, just two points shy of his season high. Clark has now scored in double figures in nine of Virginia’s 20 games so far this season. He shot 6-of-12 from the field, including 3-of-7 from downtown. His six made field goals and three 3-pointers tied his season highs in both categories. Clark’s final three of the night with just 35 seconds remaining in Monday’s contest capped UVA’s late 8-0 run, which erased any possibility of the Cardinals mounting a comeback.
UP NEXT
Virginia travels to Notre Dame (12-6, 5-2 ACC) in an ACC contest on Saturday, Jan. 29. Tipoff at Purcell Pavilion is set for 6 p.m. on ACC Network.