Welcome to heartbreak. You ran the gamut of emotions Saturday afternoon. Malcolm Brogdon hit the reverse layup with 10 seconds remaining, and you were riding an ecstatic high. Then Grayson Allen countered with a controversial circus shot as time expired. No one judged you, the Virginia fans, if you collapsed into your seat, swore at the top of your lungs, or even shed a tear in frustration or shock. I am taking it upon myself to play armchair psychologist and help you accept what happened and move on from it.
Stop the blame game
Yes, Grayson Allen traveled. In fact, he traveled twice. He took three steps, left his feet and didn’t release the ball until his foot returned to the ground. But you are deranged if you truly believe in your heart of hearts that the officials were going to decide a game on a bang-bang traveling call. Refs swallow their whistle in big moments. Should they? Probably not, but they do. And analyzing the final second of the game like it is the Zapruder film and you are Kevin Costner’s character in “JFK” will accomplish nothing and will make you angrier in the process.
Don’t overlook Virginia’s mistakes
When you play the role of victim you tend to forget your team did not play a perfect game, and this was certainly the case for the Cavaliers. Had Virginia tightened up a few facets of its performance, it would not have been a one-possession game in the dying seconds. Leading by more than one possession is a sure-fire way to avoid losing on a heartbreaking buzzer beater.
Defensively, the Cavaliers allowed Duke to live where they thrive — the charity stripe and the three-point line. The Blue Devils entered Saturday averaging 9.6 made threes per conference game, and they hit eight against Virginia. While the efficiency wasn’t ideal, Duke did shoot 4-of-9 from downtown in the second half.
The Blue Devils are one of the nation’s best teams at getting to the free throw line, and they shoot them very well. Duke went to the line only once in the first half, and Ingram went 1-for-2. But after intermission the Blue Devils shot 14 free throws — 11 coming from Allen. Virginia became reckless on the perimeter, and their carelessness put Duke in the bonus with 9:28 on the clock.
Offensively, the Cavaliers looked great at times and lost at spots. The Blue Devils pressured well on the perimeter, making every pass harder than normal. Sometimes Virginia broke down the pressure with great offensive sets, such as the sequence that led to a corner three by Brogdon. At other times, Brogdon or London Perrantes dribbled in place for 10 seconds with nothing good as a result.
Virginia also missed too many open looks, which only compounded the periods of offensive stagnation. The Cavaliers were only 2-of-11 from behind the arc against the Blue Devils, and most of them were makeable shots.
“There might have been a few plays that we squirted up a little quick at times, but for the most part some plays had to be made against that kind of pressure with the court open up, and that is what allowed us to do that with the four perimeter players out there,” Virginia Coach Tony Bennett said.
Don’t let one call overshadow a great game
Having spent the previous section identifying the areas where Virginia struggled now brings me to the positive aspect of the game, and yes, there were positives. One controversial call shouldn’t nullify them.
Go back to the play that put Virginia ahead 62-61. It was a heck of a play from start to finish. The degree of difficulty was high, but Brogdon made the play like he does more often than not.
Then there’s the defense. At times, the Cavaliers were tight on defense. In fact, Virginia held Duke to below its season averages in field goal percentage, three-point field goal percentage and points. The Blue Devils boast a potent offense and rank second in the nation with a 121.9 offensive efficiency.
“It was hard to get buckets for everybody,” Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “I thought they knocked us back. We started off the game and we couldn’t get off a shot and obviously a lot of it has to do with their defense.”
It’s not the end of the world
In the immediate pandemonium of Allen’s winning shot, a member of Duke’s sports information crew patted me on the shoulder and told me “your team’s going to be alright.” I do not know who this man was, but he tells the truth.
This was not an ACC Tournament game, it was not the NCAA Tournament — it was a conference game played on Feb. 13. Virginia will survive, it will learn from this game and it will strive to be a better team because of the close loss.
Many thought the Cavaliers’ cold start in conference play spelled doom for the season, but it has not been the case. Virginia weathered the storm and emerged from it as a tighter, more-cohesive unit. Why should we not expect the same from a loss such as this?
“We’ll find the good, and grow from the other stuff,” Bennett said.
Matt Wurzburger is a Sports editor for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at m.wurzburger@cavalierdaily.com or on Twitter at @wurzburgerm.
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