Virginia Escapes Miami With 74-71 Win
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Virginia, which trailed by 10 points early in the second half, rallied for a 74-71 victory over ACC rival Miami on Saturday night at the Watsco Center.
Forward Jayden Gardner scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Cavaliers (17-10, 11-6), who also received major contributions from guards Kihei Clark and Reece Beekman, center Kadin Shedrick and swingman Kody Stattman.
Miami fell to 19-8, 11-5. The victory was the Wahoos’ sixth straight over the Hurricanes.
This was the teams’ second meeting in two weeks. The Hoos defeated the Hurricanes 71-58 at John Paul Jones Arena on Feb. 5. Guard Armaan Franklin, who led Virginia with 22 points at JPJ, played only 16 minutes Saturday because of foul trouble, but Stattman (eight points) filled in admirably.
Shedrick came off the bench to post a double-double (13 points and career-high 13 rebounds) in a front of a crowd that included former UVA standouts Kyle Guy and Trey Murphy, both of whom now play in the NBA.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After falling behind 12-4, Virginia steadied itself, and the game was tied at 18-18, 23-23 and 25-25. The Cavaliers took their first lead on a three-point play by center Shedrick with 6:17 left in the first half, but the Hurricanes stormed back.
Miami ended the half on a 9-0 run to take a 38-30 lead into the break. Kameron Gusty scored 13 first-half points for the Canes and finished with 20.
After Miami took a 40-30 lead, UVa answered with a 23-4 run. It started with a Clark 3-pointer and ended with a Shedrick free throw a the 12:13 mark.
With 1:38 to play, Gardner beat the shot clock with a jumper that pushed the Cavaliers’ lead to 65-57, but the Canes didn’t go away. With 37.8 seconds left, a Charlie Moore 3-pointer cut Virginia’s lead to 68-65. From there, however, the Hoos hit 4 of 6 from the line, and Clark surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career with a layup that made it 73-67.
THE GAME BALL GOES TO
Jayden Gardner. In addition to his 23 points, the 6-foot-6 transfer from East Carolina had seven rebounds, two assists and three blocked shots. He was 9 for 14 from the floor and 5 from the 6.
His missed foul shot ended a streak of 30 straight makes, but he sank his next free throw to help hold the Canes at bay.
UP NEXT
UVA hosts No. 9 Duke on Wednesday night at John Paul Jones Arena. ESPN will televise the 7 o’clock game.
This will be the teams’ second clash this month. The Cavaliers upset the Blue Devils 69-68 at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Feb. 7 on a last-second 3-pointer by sophomore guard Reece Beekman.
Duke was 22-4, 12-3, heading into its home game against Florida State on Saturday night.