Early in Virginia’s Friday night game against Miami, the presumed storyline had a nice ring to it. The Cavaliers’ 12-2 advantage reminisced the way North Carolina blew out Notre Dame an hour beforehand.
Historic rivals Virginia and North Carolina, two ACC blue bloods, coast into the ACC final. Both ESPN and the Washington, D.C. fans could easily get behind that.
But that’s not the way this one played out. No, Miami battled back, using a 6-0 run over the half’s final 1:26 to cut Virginia’s lead to 36-31. Then, the pesky Hurricanes cut Virginia’s lead to as small as three in the second half, and then to five with 38 seconds remaining.
Friday’s later game certainly wasn’t the snooze-fest Verizon Center fans witnessed for North Carolina. And actually, that’s probably for the better.
As coach Tony Bennett has reiterated throughout the season, the Cavaliers haven’t been as crisp and clean as they had been the previous two regular seasons, where they went a combined 32-4 in ACC play. Instead, Virginia has had to grind its way through adversity.
In January, the Cavaliers lost three-of-four games against Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech and Florida State — the sixth, tenth and eleventh seeds in the ACC tournament’s bracket, respectively. Virginia could have easily lost against Wake Forest, and later dropped close games against Duke and Miami in February.
These losses were certainly frustrating, but they have molded Virginia into the team it is today. The team that is 7-1 against ranked opponents; the team that held off the eleventh-ranked, third-seeded Hurricanes, 73-68.
To paraphrase Bane from Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, last year’s team merely adopted close games as their ally. The 2016 team was born into them, molded by them.
“I loved the resiliency, and the warrior-like attitude that I ask from them,” Bennett said. “They laid it out there [against Miami] and now they get a chance to contend for it tomorrow.”
Virginia’s finest test came early in the second half, with Miami breathing down its neck. Junior guard London Perrantes, who finished with 11 points in 34 minutes, responded by knocking down two midrange jumpers, stretching Virginia’s lead to 42-34.
After Miami senior guards Angel Rodriguez and Sheldon McClellan answered with a 7-2 run to cut Virginia’s lead to three points, Perrantes buried another jump-shot, bringing the decisively pro-Virginia crowd back into the game.
Every time the Hurricanes knocked on the door, Virginia had the answer. The 2016 season has been a lesson in how to respond to its opponent’s best punch. Going back-and-forth against Miami, the Cavaliers showed their experience.
“I think it plays in in every game,” Perrantes said. “Every game we’ve learned some things from the losses we’ve had and the even the close wins that we’ve had. You want to take every game as a learning experience. I think we did.”
Bennett credits Virginia’s ability to respond to adversity to the makeup of the team. Under his five-pillars, Bennett has slowly crafted one of the more unique teams in college basketball. One of leadership, passion and perhaps most importantly, humility.
The Cavaliers never got too high after taking down out-of-conference foes in Villanova and West Virginia early in the season, yet never got too low after its January stumble. Virginia has been tested, and due to its humility, the team seems due for a deep run NCAA run.
“I love that they’re humble,” Bennett said. “I mean that. That’s a position of great strength. A lot of people think it’s a weakness. True humility is a strength. These guys are humble in the right way. They play that. That’s where you start. We can go through adversity with them. We can go through success with them.”
Virginia can get its first taste of banner-worthy postseason success Saturday night against the top-seeded Tar Heels. Despite a 79-74, nationally televised win against North Carolina just two weeks ago, the Cavaliers know this will be a different type of test.
The Tar Heels beat, pummeled and stomped Notre Dame in the team’s 78-47 win prior to Virginia’s contest. Now with a perimeter threat to compliment senior forward Brice Johnson, North Carolina is playing like a NCAA No. 1 seed. Its starters got a nice rest Friday night, while Virginia fought a full 40 minutes for a gritty win.
The Cavaliers know more adversity is likely in store Saturday night.
“[The Tar Heels are] clicking a little bit more now,” senior forward Anthony Gill said. “They’re playing really good basketball at this moment. We’re going to be in a battle.”
Another battle. The 2016 Virginia squad was born into it, molded by it.
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