Gardner has 26 in UVA win: ‘When he’s at his best, that really helps us’

Maryland-Eastern Shore coach Jason Crafton decided he wasn’t going to lose to Virginia making a raft of threes.

The game plan was to make UVA win it in the post.

Jayden Gardner took care of that for the Cavaliers.

“We said if we’re gonna lose, we’re gonna lose on their forwards making battleline jump shots. And Gardner made a whole lot of those bad boys,” Crafton said after his team’s 72-45 loss to the fifth-ranked ‘Hoos on Friday night.

Gardner connected on 12-of-15 from the field. Nine of the makes were layups; seven of those were assisted.

“I thought he played well offensively for sure. Guys did a really good job finding him, and he did a good job sealing and finishing and slowed down,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said of Gardner, the leading scorer on the team last year (15.3 ppg) who had come in to Friday’s game averaging just 7.8 points per game on 35 percent shooting.

Gardner, a 6’6” fifth-year, is splitting time at the four spot with Ohio U. transfer Ben Vander Plas, a 6’8” grad student who has actually logged more minutes (109-104) than Gardner to this point, with his ability to stretch the floor with his perimeter shooting (6-of-13, 46.2 percent) giving Bennett a different look and feel with his lineups.

With Crofton aiming to take away Virginia’s three-point shooting – UVA had come in shooting 46.9 percent from long-range, but was just 2-of-12 from three before making its last three in garbage time – Bennett needed punch in the post from Gardner.

“Maryland-Eastern Shore plays hard. They really play hard. They’re quick, so they can make you rushed. But the size disadvantage was noticeable,” Bennett said. “That was a good step for Jayden. Again, when you’re going into bigger guys, the ability to do those things, I thought he really established, you know, easy baskets for us.”

What made Gardner a tough cover for Maryland-Eastern Shore, Crafton said, is his “low center of gravity.”

“He can get low, he can get under people. He’s not the most jumping type of guy, but he’s got so much power. That low center of gravity and the flexibility that he has to be able to get under people and hold his position is elite,” said Crafton, a former Villanova and G-League assistant.

“When he wants the ball at a certain spot, he can get it there. He’s very intentional about getting it to his right hand over his left shoulder, no matter what you’re trying to do. He’s got the weight advantage, he’s got the size advantage, the maturity advantage, the skill advantage, and the toughness advantage. And he took advantage of it. A lot of advantages,” Crafton said.

The key for Gardner Friday night was “slowing down,” Gardner told reporters, after a run of subpar games out of the gate this season – three points in the 73-61 win over North Carolina Central, nine in the 89-42 win over Monmouth, seven in the 86-79 win over then-#5 Baylor.

Gardner was a combined 4-of-15 from the field in the first three games, and you could sense the frustrations mounting.

“Yeah, just slowing down, checking to see what’s coming in, and if nobody’s coming, just go make my move and go right over the opponent. Coach just emphasized me just paying my game and just playing at a good pace,” Gardner said.

Gardner’s biggest game in his two seasons at Virginia was a 29-point effort in a home win over another small, overmatched foe, Farleigh Dickinson, last December.

He had five 20+-point efforts in ACC play, but also struggled in games against bigger opponents, his lack of size in the post limiting him to short jumpers and keeping him off the free-throw line.

Getting Gardner reps against a smaller lineup will give Bennett more flexibility when Virginia faces small-ball teams on the schedule.

“The guys found him, and so that was good to see, because I think, you know, he’s been a little bit rushed at times, but we’re going to need that that offensive punch that he gives us. Because when he’s aggressive, but not rushing, that’s when he’s at his best, and I think that really helps us,” Bennett said.

The versatility that Bennett has rotation-wise is why Crafton thinks Virginia can do something special this year.

“He’s got a team that can definitely push to win a national championship,” Crafton said. “They’ve got inside play, they’ve got outside play, they’ve got veterans, they’re physical. They’re shown that they can win a game even when you take them out of doing what they want to do.”