After the Virginia men's basketball team's victory over North Carolina on Sunday, everyone was expecting a letdown of sorts in Wednesday's game against Clemson. The letdown came, but it didn't stop the Cavaliers from taking care of business.
No. 7 Virginia (20-6, 9-6 ACC) scrapped their way past 41.7 percent shooting to an 84-65 victory over Clemson (11-17, 2-13).
"It was a tough game in a lot of ways coming in," Virginia coach Pete Gillen said. "It was an emotional, physical game, and it was senior night. It was a good win. It certainly wasn't our best effort, but you have to give credit to Clemson."
The Tigers kept the game close for much of the first half, even with their leading scorer, Will Solomon, slowed by the flu. Solomon did not start and finished the game with seven points, well below his average of 20.7.
The Cavaliers went with an unusual starting lineup of their own. Gillen started all of his scholarship seniors: point guard Donald Hand, forward Stephane Dondon and guard Keith Friel.
Virginia never trailed in the game, but Clemson pulled to within one, 22-21, with eight minutes remaining in the first half. When Hand reentered the game, however, he energized the team and the crowd with his inspired play. The Cavaliers led by seven points when Hand left the game for a second time, and the Tigers cut the lead to three before the senior point guard came back. With Hand in the game, Virginia stretched its lead to nine points by halftime.
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"I just had to keep my composure," Hand said. "If you get too juiced up, bad things happen for you on a night like this. I just wanted to come out and play a normal game and be aggressive."
Hand finished the game with 15 points, eight assists and four first-half steals.
Hand "did a good job," Gillen said. "He was aggressive, he played good [defense], and he was into it more than most of our guys."
Sophomore guard Roger Mason Jr. opened the half with a pair of three-pointers sandwiched around a Clemson basket to increase the lead to 13 points. After that, the Cavalier lead was never in single digits again.
Junior forward Chris Williams, who did not start the game because of senior night, led the Cavaliers with 17 points. Dondon scored 11 points, and Mason added 10.
Dondon's 11 points earned him his highest total since his return from a sprained toe.
"My teammates encouraged me to shoot the ball," Dondon said. "Tonight, I hit my first shot and that gave me some confidence."
The Cavaliers forced 25 Clemson turnovers that led to 33 Virginia points. Virginia attempted 72 shots from the field to Clemson's 52.
Tomas Nagys led Clemson with 19 points, and Dwon Clifton added 10.
The game's most memorable moment came in the closing seconds with the Cavaliers comfortably in control. Gillen inserted his two senior walk-ons, Josh Hare and Greg Lyons, with 34 seconds remaining. With seven seconds left on the clock, Hare took a pass from Mason and buried a three-pointer from the corner to increase the margin to 19 points, the biggest lead of the night for Virginia.
Hare's shot was a fitting end to senior night and a wildly successful home season for the Cavaliers. Virginia completed its home schedule with a 14-1 record at University Hall, the best home record in the ACC.
"I would have been happy with a one-point victory coming after the Carolina game with the emotion of senior night," Gillen said. "I've seen it happen both ways: you play great on senior night, you're winning, or you're flat and you're losing"
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