2024-03-16 07:51:29
The third-seeded Virginia men’s basketball team collapsed in stunning fashion once morest No. 10 seed North Carolina State in the ACC tournament semifinals Friday night. The Cavaliers failed to protect a six-point lead in the closing minute of regulation and fell in overtime, 73-65, to an opponent playing its fourth game in as many days at Capital One Arena.
Guard Michael O’Connell’s desperation three-point heave banked in at the buzzer and knotted the score at 58 at the end of regulation, sending North Carolina State’s bench into a frenzied celebration. The Wolfpack then scored nine unanswered points in final 1:43 of extra time to advance to Saturday’s championship game once morest top-seeded North Carolina.
The Cavaliers (23-10) now must wait until Sunday to learn if they will be participating in the NCAA tournament via an at-large berth following failing to reach the 11th ACC tournament final in program history.
“I think they showed a body of work,” Virginia Coach Tony Bennett said of his team’s NCAA tournament résumé. “This league is good, but no amount of politicking, no amount of stuff — they’re going to get behind closed doors, and you trust that they’ll look at it and see, the eye test, see all those things. There’s so much talk going on there.”
Leading 58-52 with 51 seconds left in the second half, Virginia, the ACC’s worst foul-shooting team, proceeded to miss 4 of 5 free throws the rest of the way. Isaac McKneely clanked the front end of a one-and-one with 5.3 seconds to go with the Cavaliers ahead by three.
Virginia also had fouls to give but did not foul at any point in the final seconds before McConnell’s improbable three-pointer reinvigorated the Wolfpack.
McKneely finished with 23 points and buried five three-pointers. Reece Beekman added 17 points and 11 assists. The two-time reigning ACC defensive player of the year also had 11 assists in the quarterfinals and set an ACC tournament-record with for the most assists over any two-game span.
DJ Burns Jr. led North Carolina State (21-14) with 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting and five rebounds. The 6-foot-9, 275-pound forward had his way on the low block with Cavaliers forward Jordan Minor providing little resistance and Bennett electing not to double-team throughout the game.
“Kind takes the breath out of you,” McKneely said. “It’s hard to think you have the game won, especially at the free throw line. I had one to win it, and I mightn’t do it. I’ll look back on it and get back in the lab, get back at the free throw line, and hopefully we’ll get a chance ice the game some other time, hope I can do it.”
Momentum had swung toward Virginia on the heels of an 11-2 run that turned a one-point deficit into a 53-46 lead with 4:19 to play on McKneely’s catch-and-shoot three-pointer. McKneely started the surge with a three-pointer, and Taine Murray added another.
North Carolina State clawed back, however, despite a flagrant 1 foul assessed to Burns, which put Beekman at the free throw line. He missed both foul shots, and the Wolfpack’s Casey Morsell was fouled on a three-point attempt. The transfer from Virginia made all three of his foul shots before O’Connell forced the extra period.
The Cavaliers emerged from halftime determined to get to the rim, first on Beekman’s driving layup moments before Ryan Dunn caught an inbounds lob pass from Beekman and finished with a two-handed dunk to open a 35-31 lead. Dunn’s athletic move came with less than a second to go on the shot clock.
Indecision several possessions later had Bennett springing out of his seat screaming, “What is he afraid of?” when Jake Groves passed up an open three-point shot with a pump-fake and dribbled a few steps closer to the basket only to clank a jumper.
Groves was called for his second personal foul minutes later during a 9-2 burst by the Wolfpack, which reclaimed the lead at 40-37 with 11:59 remaining in the second half on O’Connell’s three-pointer, which was made possible by Mohamed Diarra’s offensive rebound.
After requiring overtime to beat No. 11 seed Boston College, 66-60, in Wednesday night’s quarterfinals, the Cavaliers labored at times to gain traction at both ends of the court in the first half. Defensive lapses led to 20 points in the paint, the last of two of which came at the final basket at the buzzer courtesy O’Connell’s driving layup that tied the game at 29-all.
“It’s a change of emotion pretty quickly,” Beekman said of having to try to regroup in overtime. “Like Coach Bennett said, we thought we had it, but it’s just a quick turnaround for the mind-set, try to get back to play another five minutes. It’s tough.”
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