Watching the Cavaliers grind out Wednesday night's 49-47 win against Clemson was like watching a half-dead Rocky stumble to his feet to secure the KO against Apollo Creed in "Rocky II." It was like watching Neo get shot in the chest 10 times from point-blank range but still surviving in "The Matrix." Like watching your friend approach the finish line of the city marathon in brisk stride, only to trip 30 yards out, get hit in the head by an errant cement block, be stabbed in the leg by a crazed fan and then just barely reach his nearly lifeless hand across the line a half second before the second-place finisher.
No matter how much air leaked from the tires, though, Virginia's beat-up Jeep Wrangler still managed to pull into victory lane. Although to some it might have looked uglier than Kyle Singler's ghoulish face, this win appeared glorious in the eyes of Tony Bennett, Virginia's defense-first coach. Reporters were quick to point out the Cavs' near-collapse, but Bennett insisted his team played about as well as it had all season, at least on the defensive end. Didn't anyone notice the halftime score? Mustapha Farrakhan 13, Clemson 13. The only thing more embarrassing than the Tigers' 13 points was the performance of those two girls playing the face-identification game during the TV timeout - they were able to identify some American Idol contestant but failed to recognize Ronald Reagan.
Virginia owned a 15-point lead with 11-and-a-half minutes to play, but no one wearing orange and blue felt a twinge of comfort. A Clemson run was not just possible - it was imminent. This was a Virginia squad that had lost five of its previous six games, blowing second-half leads in all but one of them. Its most recent meltdown came against Wake Forest, where they were up 11 with 13 minutes remaining. If the Cavaliers could succumb to one of the most anemic teams in ACC history, they were bound to give in to a taller, more athletic Clemson team.
Sure enough, the Tigers began to claw their way back into a game that appeared lost at halftime. It seemed coach Brad Brownell had instilled a simple message in his team during the break: "They like to shoot. They're small. Defend the three. Get rebounds. Jeez, y'all are even dumber than I thought."
The results were predictable. Virginia's long-distance touch fell by the wayside - the Cavaliers went 0-for-9 from three during the second half. Their dominance on the glass was reversed on its head, with a 28-11 second-half rebounding edge for Clemson. And most predictably of all, Clemson went on a run.
With less than a minute to play, the Cavaliers lost sight of their lead altogether as Clemson's 19-4 rally knotted the score at 42. Bennett has been searching for a guy to step up in such situations all season long. Would someone rise to the occasion tonight? Joe Harris and KT Harrell - the team's second and third leading scorers - were mired in a woeful shooting night, combining for just four points. Sammy Zeglinski, who had responded to his position in the starting lineup by knocking down his first four treys, was taking a second half siesta. That left Farrakhan, the team's leading scorer and occasional hero.
As good as he is, there are nights when Mu responds to a strong first-half performance with invisible second-half play. That appeared to be the case Wednesday, as he converted just one bucket during the first 19 minutes of the second half. But all it took was 24 seconds to achieve redemption. Farrakhan reeled in six critical points during that quick spurt, keeping his sinking team's head barely above water. The game's most decisive moment materialized with 35 seconds left on the clock, when the left-handed assassin rose up near the left elbow and thrust a two-pointed dagger into the Tigers' hearts. Clemson countered on the other end, but Farrakhan came up clutch twice more by knocking down two pairs of free throws. The win marked the first time the Cavaliers had put away a good team in the final minute since they held on to beat the Hokies 57-54 Dec. 5.
Farrakhan wasn't the game's only hero, though. Each Cavalier entering the fray contributed to a Herculean defensive effort that held Clemson to 33 percent shooting. The flustered Tigers floundered in the face of a defense that scrapped, hustled, harassed, worked as a unit, filled gaps and communicated effectively. Virginia even did a good job of closing out shooters, which helped lead to 3-of-18 three-point shooting for Clemson.
Nothing about this win was particularly easy on the eyes. In fact, I am sure some Wahoo fans felt like shoving pointy objects in theirs after seeing Clemson tie the game up. But at the end of the day, they can thank the heavens for the W. And pray that Mustapha's leg heals up while they're at it.
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