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A return to John Paul Jones Arena seemed to cure what ailed the No. 13 Virginia men’s basketball team.
Following a road swing that resulted in back-to-back losses, the Cavaliers found some offensive success and played their usual stingy defense Tuesday night in a 64-57 victory over a hungry Clemson team seeking a big win to pad its NCAA Tournament résumé.
It was hardly a flawless performance, but UVA found an edge on defense and on the boards, and the Cavaliers shook a recent shooting slump in making 41% of their field-goal attempts.
“It was far from perfect, but it was what we needed, and we tried to move hard and work hard offensively and just be true to who we are,” Cavaliers coach Tony Bennett said.
The Cavaliers (22-6, 14-5), who improved to 14-1 at home this season, outrebounded the Tigers 38-32 and forced 11 turnovers (10 steals).
UVA moved into a tie with Miami for second place in the ACC standings and clinched a top-four seed for the upcoming conference tournament — which comes with a double bye and a direct line to next Thursday’s quarterfinals.
The Cavaliers could wrap up the second seed for the tournament with a home win over Louisville on Saturday in the regular-season finale and a Pittsburgh win over Miami.
Freshmen Isaac McKneely (12 points) and Ryan Dunn (10 points, five rebounds) came off the bench to give UVA a spark. They were two of four Cavaliers who scored in double figures, along with senior forward Jayden Gardner (12 points, nine rebounds) and senior guard Armaan Franklin (12 points).
UVA’s bench outscored Clemson’s 24-7.
“I thought their two freshmen off the bench were very big, and that was the difference in the game,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said.
Cavaliers guard Reece Beekman filled up the box score with seven points, eight assists, one turnover, four steals, two blocks and three rebounds.
Bennett said the offense looked better after three straight sub-40% shooting games, including a 39.7% showing in a loss at North Carolina on Saturday.
“A little better, and we’ll take it. We need it all,” Bennett said. “Hopefully we’ll keep improving and keep getting the right kinds of shots.”
On Saturday, Bennett said he was pleased with the defensive effort his team showed in the second half of the loss to the Tar Heels. That intensity carried over into their game against Clemson in a big way, McKneely said.
“The pack-line defense is meant to be together, and I thought we played together on the defensive end tonight, and that’s the reason we came out with the win in my opinion,” McKneely said.
Clemson (21-9, 13-6) scored more than 90 points in three of its previous four games but couldn’t seem to get untracked against UVA’s stifling defense. Junior center P.J. Hall scored 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Tigers, and senior forward Hunter Tyson had 17 points and nine boards.
“I thought both teams played exceptionally hard,” Brownell said. “They played a little better than we did. They are very good defensively, and they’re hard to get into a good rhythm against.”
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Virginia’s biggest lead was 14 near the midway point of the second half, but Clemson clawed back to get to within four with 31 seconds remaining. UVA point guard Kihei Clark made 3 of 4 free throws in the final half-minute, and McKneely knocked down two foul shots with three seconds remaining to help the Cavaliers salt away the victory.
Virginia built a 10-point lead in the first half, but Clemson used a 12-4 run to close the gap right before the break.
Both teams struggled to find their offense early. They combined to miss their first 11 field-goal attempts before Clemson’s Brevin Galloway sank a 3-pointer four minutes in.
The Cavaliers missed their first eight field-goal attempts before eventually settling down. They made six of their next seven shots during a 14-2 run to push their early lead to 17-7.
Virginia’s first field goal came on an alley-oop layup by Dunn, with an assist from Beekman.
“We got off to a little bit of a slow start, but I thought once we got rolling our offense was clicking, and hopefully we can carry that over into the next two games,” McKneely said.
Virginia held a moment of silence before the game to honor former Cavaliers basketball coach and athletic director Terry Holland, who died on Sunday. Brownell offered his condolences to open his postgame press conference.