Play by Play: How Virginia wiggled its way to the win at Miami

Miami started the game en fuego, hitting its first five from the field, but at the first media timeout, Virginia was down just four.

Still, the ‘Canes were 6-of-7 from the floor at the first commercial break.

Four of the makes were at the rim.

Virginia coach Tony Bennett, even before the TV timeout, lifted his starting five, Francisco Caffaro, who had been burned on two inside buckets.

Kadin Shedrick, who had been the starter at five, was on his game.

The 6’11” sophomore ended up getting 30 minutes off the bench, finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds, and his plus/minus was a team-best +14.

Caffaro didn’t see the floor after halftime, and finished with two points and three boards in 10 minutes, and a -11 plus/minus.

Shedrick may have earned his starting spot back tonight.

Disastrous stretch for McCorkle

A contingent of fans clamors at times for more minutes for sophomore Carson McCorkle, a four-star recruit in the Class of 2020 who has fallen behind walk-on Malachi Poindexter on the depth chart.

You saw why his minutes have been limited in the 2:46 of floor time he got Saturday night.

Bennett drew up a play for McCorkle to get an open look from three out of the media timeout that worked as planned, getting McCorkle an open three that he promptly missed.

Miami players lined up to take McCorkle to school on the other end.

He was abused for an and-on by Isaiah Wong with 1:44 to go, then had his fanny spanked on a post-up by reserve guard Bensley Joseph for a bunny that pushed the Miami lead to 38-30.

It was Joseph’s only make in a 1-of-10 shooting night.

Virginia had a dead-ball turnover with four seconds left, and Bennett risked a separated shoulder to yank Poindexter back onto the floor for the final possession of the half, fearing the worst.

McCorkle’s final statline: 0-of-1 from the field, one foul, a -7 plus/minus, which is hard to do in just three minutes.

His other rotation minutes in ACC play: two first-half minutes in the 74-58 loss at UNC on Jan. 8 (two points, 1-of-1 FG, one foul, one turnover, -5 plus/minus), two first-half minutes in the 54-52 home win over Virginia Tech on Jan. 12 (no shot attempts, one turnover, +2 plus/minus).

This is why he doesn’t see meaningful floor time.

Eight straight

One of the uglier turnovers you’ll see – Jayden Gardner picked up his dribble at the left elbow, stared down Reece Beekman on the right elbow, then short-armed a lazy pass in his direction, which was picked off by Kameron McGusty for a layup-line deuce – gave Miami a 10-point lead 24 seconds into the second half.

This was followed by another turnover, this one by Beekman, and Virginia looked out of sorts.

The biggest shot of the night came after Gardner rebounded a Miami miss.

Kihei Clark, coming off a 1-for-9 shooting performance in the loss at Virginia Tech on Monday, caught a bounce pass from Beekman on the left wing, pulled up and calmly drained a three.

It was his first made bucket of the night, and it would get him going, which Virginia desperately needed.

Over the next 6:17, Clark would assist on three buckets and knock down two more threes, the second of which made the score 52-44 in Virginia’s favor.

Not a bad stretch there for the senior, who joined the 1,000-point club with his 17-point night.

In the 22-4 run, Clark accounted for 15 of the points with the threes and the dimes.

Virginia shot 9-of-11 in that stretch, with Clark’s third three of the half the eighth straight make.

End of shot clock

Two end-of-shot-clock makes proved crucial. The first, from Beekman, came when he picked up a loose ball as the shot clock was winding down and drained a 12-footer to give Virginia a 59-55 lead with 4:58 to go.

The second was a Gardner special, with 1:39 left, Virginia up six.

This one was a tough make, with Gardner getting a pass from Kody Stattmann, backing Jordan Miller down in the post, then hitting a 14-foot fadeaway as the buzzer sounded that pushed the lead to eight, at 65-57.

Too close for comfort late

Miami made five of its last six shots in the final 1:09, though the final one, a layup by Charlie Moore at the buzzer, was meaningless.

Still, 4-of-5 basically in the final minute, two of the makes threes, is a bit much.

Especially with Virginia missing four free throws, including Clark missing the front end of a one-and-one, in the final 1:20.

Story by Chris Graham