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Virginia fifth-year point guard Kihei Clark surveyed the floor from the right wing and spotted freshman guard Isaac McKneely curling around a screen toward the rim. Clark took a couple of dribbles toward the lane and sent a no-look pass through three defenders to McKneely, who flipped a right-handed layup over his back and into the basket while being fouled.
“Kihei is an absolute mastermind,” said McKneely, who made the free throw to complete the three-point play in the second half of the 13th-ranked Cavaliers 64-57 win over Clemson last Tuesday.
“Literally the possession before, he told me to do that. He said, ‘When you go off that screen, just curl to the rim. It’ll be there, I promise.’ I was like, ‘OK,’ and it was. Playing with Kihei is amazing. It seems he always just finds me in the right spots.”
The 5-foot-10, 167-pound Clark has been frustrating opponents with his cerebral point guard play for five years. He seemed wise beyond his years as a first-year playmaker on UVA’s national championship team in 2018-19 and has been a general nuisance to the rest of the ACC throughout his decorated career.
He helped lead UVA (23-6, 15-5) to a share of the ACC regular-season title this season. The second-seeded Cavaliers take on either North Carolina or Boston College in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals Thursday at Greensboro Coliseum.
Clark, who earned third-team All-ACC and conference All-Defensive honors this season, has gone on a record-breaking binge in 2022-23, setting new ACC career marks for wins (74) and minutes played (5,307) while setting school career records in assists (705), wins (120), games (157) and starts (137).
When asked recently what it means to be at the top in all those categories, Clark did what he often does on the court and deferred to his teammates.
“I’ve played with some great guys,” Clark said. “It means a lot to be in that conversation, of course.”
Clark, a Woodland Hills, California, native who considered playing for Gonzaga and UCLA before signing with the Cavaliers out of high school, has built a reputation as an unselfish facilitator throughout his college career. He is second in the ACC this season in assists per game (5.7) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.9) and passed John Crotty for the UVA career assist record last month.
“He’s a competitor of the highest level, and he’s made a difference ever since he set foot on campus,” Cavaliers coach Tony Bennett said.
“It’s hard not to just acknowledge what he’s done from start to finish in almost every area, and I think a lot of people identify with him.”
There’s an appreciation throughout the ACC for Clark’s contributions, even though he’s been a thorn in the side of opponents for not four, but five years, as Clark took advantage of the extra year of eligibility because of the pandemic.
“I’m glad he’s graduating. Tell me where to send the card,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said in jest last week.
“He just makes winning plays on both ends of the floor, and obviously Coach Bennett is tremendous because he had the wherewithal to recruit a guy like that when probably a lot of us wouldn’t, and then in the middle of his freshman year decides that that dude’s so good that we need him out here.
“So he’s playing 20 minutes a game on a national championship team, making plays that won them the national championship. He’s obviously not the primary guy, but man is he making winning plays every time you turn around, and that’s never changed.”
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Clark has taken on a bigger scoring load for UVA this season, shooting 41%while averaging a career-high 11.1 points per game. Although his offense has dipped recently — he is averaging 6.8 points per game while shooting 21%the last four games — he has offset that with 35 assists and only 10 turnovers in that span.
“This year, I kind of pick my spots and just try to do what the team needs me to do and just be confident when I get a chance to be on the offensive end,” Clark said.
Clark is driven to win. He came back for a fifth year to try to achieve what he did in his first — cut down the net after the last game.
A player his size doesn’t accomplish what he does “without having a fierce side of him,” Bennett said. “He’s such a competitor, and he wants to win.
“He’s done that most of his career, but he’s coachable, and it’s good to have him back for sure. I’m glad he made that decision.”
ACC Tournament
Wednesday, March 8
No. 8 Syracuse vs. No. 9 Wake Forest | Noon ESPN
No. 5 Pitt vs. No. 13 Georgia Tech | 2:30 p.m. ESPN
Breaking News
No. 7 North Carolina vs. No. 10 Boston College | 7 p.m. ESPN2
No. 6 NC State vs. No. 11 Virginia Tech | 9:30 p.m. ESPN2
Thursday, March 9
No. 1 Miami vs. Syracuse/Wake Forest | noon ESPN/ESPN2
No. 4 Duke vs. Georgia Tech/Pitt | 2:30 p.m. ESPN/ESPN2
No. 2 Virginia vs. North Carolina/Boston College | 7 p.m. ESPN/ESPN2
No. 3 Clemson vs. NC State/Virginia Tech | 9:30 p.m. ESPN/ESPN2