By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com
CHARLOTTESVILLE — Tony Bennett’s counterparts in the Atlantic Coast Conference would probably swear that Kihei Clark has been in the league a dozen years. The reality is different, of course, but it’s true that Clark has distinguished himself in countless ACC battles during his University of Virginia career.
“He’s like a coach on the floor, and he impacts every game he plays because of his high basketball IQ,” Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton said Saturday at John Paul Jones Arena.
“I very seldom see him make a bad decision, and that’s rare … I told him as I shook his hand, ‘I’ll be glad when you’re gone.’ He smiled.”
As a freshman in 2018-19, Clark played a key role in UVA’s run to the NCAA title. Now a fifth-year senior, the 5-foot-10 point guard scored a game-high 18 points Saturday at JPJ to help No. 3 Virginia defeat FSU 62-57 in the ACC opener for both teams.
When the teams met at JPJ last season, the Seminoles won 64-63 on a last-second 3-pointer by Matthew Cleveland. Clark experienced the pain of that Senior Day defeat, as did Jayden Gardner, Reece Beekman, Kadin Shedrick, Armaan Franklin and Francisco Caffaro, all of whom are also back at UVA this season. But FSU’s visit Saturday marked the ACC debuts of three UVA players: sixth-year senior Ben Vander Plas and freshmen Ryan Dunn and Isaac McKneely.
All contributed to a victory that pushed the Wahoos’ record in ACC openers under Bennett to 14-0.
The 6-foot-8 Dunn played a career-high 15 minutes and finished with four points (4 for 4 from the line) and five rebounds. He drew the assignment of guarding FSU’s leading scorer, Darin Green Jr., and acquitted himself well.
“I thought that was important, because [Green] can get it going, you saw that,” Bennett said.
The 6-foot-8 Vander Plas is a graduate transfer from Ohio University, where he was an All-Mid-American Conference selection. He played 26 minutes off the bench against FSU and totaled seven points, four rebounds, one assist and one blocked shot.
“I thought Ben had a good second half,” Bennett said. “First half, he was a little bit sluggish, I thought … But Ben’s a connector. He understands the game, whether he needs to score something in the post, grab a rebound. He hadn’t played Florida State, but being in so many games and understanding that is a valuable asset for us.”
McKneely, a 6-foot-4 guard, scored four points, grabbed five rebounds and came up with one steal in 18 minutes.
“I think Isaac McNeely and Ryan both have improved,” Bennett said. “It’s a lot for a first-year, but I thought they’ve gotten better in their limited time, and Isaac today he took shots that I was glad that he took and made some plays. I know he wants that ball-handling turnover at the end back, but I thought he guarded well.”
McKneely, who’s from the small town of Poca, W.Va., has played in every game this season. Dunn’s role hasn’t been as well-defined, but he’s learning quickly, Bennett said. “He’s getting a little more comfortable defensively and he’s utilizing his defense, trying not to foul and just playing alert, sound defensive basketball.”
Dunn has a long wingspan, and that “can bother an offensive player,” Bennett said. “It can block a shot, it can deflect the ball or go get a [difficult] rebound.”
Bennett’s growing confidence in Dunn, who’s from Freeport, N.Y., was evident Saturday. Dunn played most of the final nine minutes.
“I think it was a great experience to play in [an] ACC game for the first time,” Dunn said, “but also playing late, when we needed to get stops and we needed to get buckets as well. Offensively, I just trusted Kihei. We trusted him to go get to the rim to score, but defensively, that’s kind of where I needed to be at … to get stops and get rebounds.”
The Cavaliers (7-0, 1-0) came in shooting 50 percent from the floor (45.2 percent from 3-point range) and averaging 76.7 points per game, but nothing came easily for them against FSU (1-9, 0-1). This is not a vintage Leonard Hamilton team, by any means, but the Seminoles played well against No. 5 Purdue in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, and their defense posed problems for UVA on Saturday.
At the half, Virginia trailed 22-21 and had made only 6 of 26 shots (23.1 percent) from the floor.
“The way they guard, that’s what makes it very interesting,” Bennett said. “They switch everything, one through five, and they force you to make plays, and if you can’t make plays or knock down a few shots, it’s going to be really difficult to beat them. And in the second half, we opened it up a little more and said, ‘Go make plays. You’re going to have to make some plays off the dribble, drive, kick, swing.’ ”
With five minutes remaining, UVA led 49-37 and appeared to have matters under control, to the relief of the crowd of 14,280. But FSU scored 20 points in the final 4:33, and not until Beekman sank two free throws with seven seconds remaining was the outcome settled.