Virginia wins Main Event in Vegas, defeating Illinois, 70-61: These ‘Hoos are OK

This Virginia team is much better than I thought it was going into the season. And I thought going into the season that it could win the ACC and play deep into March.

The Cavaliers capped a huge weekend in Vegas with a 70-61 win over a Top 25 Illinois team on Sunday to take home the title belt from the Continental Tire Main Event.

The toughness of this team was on display with how the game was won. Virginia (4-0) closed the game on a 14-3 run, and held the Illini (4-1) to a single field goal in the final 3:26 – a meaningless Skyy Clark three with 13 seconds left with the final outcome already decided.

UVA coach Tony Bennett put the game in the hands of third-year point guard Reece Beekman with the game on the line, and Beekman played to his ceiling, which is Malcolm Brogdon.

After a Beekman fast-break and-one that would put the ‘Hoos ahead for good with 3:11 left, Bennett ran a clearout for Beekman that had him backing his defender into the lane for a tough layup that extended the margin to four.

Beeks closed the game out with three free throws in the final 18 seconds, finishing with a game-high 17 points and three assists in 34 minutes.

Kihei Clark and Jayden Gardner each had 12 points for Virginia.

Armaan Franklin, who had 26 in the 86-79 win over #5 Baylor on Friday, didn’t have a great stat line – nine points on 4-of-12 shooting, 1-of-5 from three, but he hit a pair of key buckets, at the 7:47 mark and then, on UVA’s next possession, with 7:11 left, to help extend the lead, and connected on a tough driving layup with 37 seconds left that gave Virginia a seven-point cushion.

Ben Vander Plas chipped in eight points – all on free throws; he was 8-of-9 at the stripe – and 10 manly rebounds.

Jayden Epps led Illinois with 14 points.

Beekman was one headline from this one. The other was the defense, which held the Illini to 1-of-7 shooting in the final 4:06, and limited Illinois to .924 points per possession.

Coming in, Illinois had averaged 1.16 points per possession.

The ‘Hoos get a few days off before hosting Maryland-Eastern Shore on Friday.