Clark Comes Through in Clutch Again

By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com

CHARLOTTESVILLE – Georgia Tech is ready for point guard Kihei Clark to move on, and Virginia’s other counterparts in the ACC no doubt feel the same way.

As a freshman in 2018-19, Clark delivered the most memorable assist in program history, setting up Mamadi Diakite to force overtime against Purdue in the Elite Eight. The Cavaliers went on to capture the NCAA title, and the 5-foot-10 Clark, who’s often the smallest player on the court, has contributed countless crucial passes and clutch shots since that night for one of the ACC’s premier programs.

“A lot of experience for that young man,” Virginia head coach Tony Bennett said Saturday evening at John Paul Jones Arena, “and I’m glad he’s here.”

Georgia Tech head coach Josh Pastner will be glad when Clark is gone. In Atlanta last season, Clark scored eight points in the final eight minutes to help the Wahoos pull away for a 57-49 victory over the Yellow Jackets.

The teams met again Saturday at JPJ, where Clark scored seven of his 15 points in the final 2:32 to help UVA secure a 63-53 victory. The game’s biggest shot might have been the 3-pointer he hit to extend Virginia’s lead to 57-49.

“That was really a back-breaker for us,” Pastner said. “You’ve got to give him credit. He makes tough shots. It was the same thing at our place last year. We probably should have won the game, but he hit a big shot very late, a 3-pointer. He’s a winner.”

Pastner asked reporters at his press conference about Clark’s eligibility and was told that, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, No. 0 could return for another reason.

“I hope he leaves,” Pastner said, smiling. “Goodness gracious.”

The victory was the fourth straight for the Hoos (16-9 overall, 10-5 ACC), who are assured of finishing with at least 10 conference wins for the 10^th consecutive season.

On a night when they made only 4 of 18 shots from 3-point range, the Cavaliers were nearly perfect (21 for 23) from the free-throw line, and power forward Jayden Gardner dominated inside the arc. A transfer from East Carolina who’s in his first season at UVA, the 6-foot-6 Gardner finished with 26 points, his high in an ACC game, and also had seven rebounds, three blocked shots, two assists and one steal, with no turnovers.

The Yellow Jackets (10-14, 3-10) play a matchup zone that stymied Virginia for much of the game, but Gardner was able to find gaps in it from which he could score on midrange shots or drives.

“Jayden in that sweet spot was pretty good,” said Bennett, who improved his record against Georgia Tech to 16-2.

During one stretch in the first half, Gardner made two late-clock jumpers, came up with a steal, and took a charge.

“Making continuous good efforts back to back energizes the whole team and just the crowd gets into the game,” Gardner said, “and I’m just trying to do the little things on and off the court to just help this team win.”

Bennett’s assessment of that stretch? “I loved it,” he said.

The Cavaliers’ head coach wasn’t as happy with his team’s defense in the second half, when Georgia Tech scored 34 points and shot 48.1 percent from the floor, “but I think we had just enough stops,” Bennett said.

Sophomore guard Reece Beekman, whose last-second trey lifted Virginia to a 69-68 victory over No. 7 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium last Monday, scored only four points against the Yellow Jackets, in part because foul trouble limited him to about 23 minutes. But Beekman hounded Georgia Tech’s best player, guard Michael Devoe, into a contested miss with UVA’s lead down to six in the final 80 seconds.

Moreover, Beekman collected the assist on Clark’s final 3-pointer, with 2:32 left.

“Reece did a good job driving,” Clark said, “and they converged on him and he kicked it out. So it was a good play.”

Virginia went up 32-15 on two free throws by center Kadin Shedrick with 53.8 seconds left in the first half, and a blowout seemed possible. But the Jackets scored the final four points of the first half and the first seven of the second half, and the Hoos struggled to regain momentum.

Other than Gardner (10 for 19) and Clark (4 for 8), the Cavaliers were a combined 5 for 22 from the floor. Georgia Tech cut UVA’s lead to two on a Devoe 3-pointer with 5:45 to play, but Gardner answered with back-to-back baskets, both assisted by Beekman, and Clark took over late.

“The shot felt good,” Clark said of his third and final 3-pointer. “I was just trying to take what the defense gives us, and obviously I knew we could use a big basket.”

He doesn’t shy away from those moments.

“Every good player wants to take those shots and make those shots for their team, just to uplift them for the W,” Clark said, “so I’m just trying to take those shots when the opportunity comes, and of course I’m kind of hunting those, because they feel good when you get ‘em.”

LATE-SEASON SURGE: The Hoos’ four-game winning streak is their longest of the season. They weren’t satisfied, however, with their performance against Georgia Tech.

“I think we’re touching on some good basketball and of course it feels good to string together a couple wins,” Clark said, “but I think in practice and leading up to this game we kind of lost sight of what got us here. So we’re just trying to stay together and work on the little things that brought us to this point, because we know moving forward we got a chance to pull together some wins and finish this ACC season how we want to.”

Bennett said he wants his players to focus on “pursuing and chasing quality, and then if that results in a win, all the better.”

ROUND TWO: Three of the Cavaliers’ five remaining regular-season games are on the road, starting Monday in Blacksburg. At 7 p.m., in a game ESPN will televise, UVA (16-9, 10-5) meets Virginia Tech (15-10, 7-7) at Cassell Coliseum.

When the teams clashed Jan. 12 at JPJ, the Hoos edged the Hokies 54-52.

Virginia Tech defeated Syracuse 71-59 in Blacksburg on Saturday night. The victory was the Hokies’ fifth straight.

“I think they’re one of the better teams in our league,” Bennett said. “Forget about records; they’re playing good basketball.”

UVA has won five of its past six games with the Hokies and leads the series 96-57.

SOUND BITES: For the Hoos, the victory was their ninth straight over Georgia Tech. Among the postgame comments at JPJ:

* Bennett on the Jackets: “They’re scrappy. They’ve been close. They’re tough. That zone is confusing. We didn’t shoot it great from the 3, obviously, but Kihei hit just enough.  And then I thought they got into us a little bit with their offense in the second half.”

* Pastner: “As I said before, I think Virginia is a blue blood. And the success that they’ve had, I think they’re in the same league as the Carolinas and the Dukes and the Kentuckys, and to be able to have a chance to beat a team like that, you’ve got to play really good for 40 minutes.”

* Bennett on the improved defense of transfers Armaan Franklin and Gardner: “Those guys, I think, are understanding, and the whole team is, how alert and continuous you must be, and that’s what we’ve got to continue to try to hang our hat on.”

* Clark on the Jackets’ defense: “Their zone is kind of weird and it’s kind of tough to play against. They really extend their zone and they play the passing lanes and make it tough. They rotate well and they talk well on defense.”

* Clark on preparing for the Hokies: “We know they’re a good team. It was a tough game here. We just got to get as much rest as possible and try to watch film from the first game. We know it’s gonna be a fight going into Blacksburg, so I’m just trying to get the guys mentally focused as much as possible.”

* Gardner on Virginia Tech big man Keve Aluma, who scored 22 points last month at JPJ: “He definitely gave it to us. But I know [centers Francisco Caffaro] and Kadin, they’re gonna be up for the challenge. They love to compete and we’re going to throw some traps at Aluma. Sometimes they’re going to be one-on-one [with Aluma]. Sometimes I’m going to have to guard him, so we’ll throw a lot of different things his way and just try to disrupt him. He’s a really good player.”

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