As soon as Storm Murphy’s potential game-winner bounced off the front of the rim, Francisco Caffaro threw his right hand in the air. A few fist pumps later, the big man was swarmed by Virginia teammates.

The native Argentinian center has spent the past four basketball seasons in Charlottesville, rarely as the center of attention. But Wednesday night will go down as the biggest game of the 7-foot-1 Caffaro’s career.

Caffaro’s stat line against Virginia Tech: 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor and 6-of-10 from the free throw line. All career highs. Nine total rebounds, including five on the offensive glass. Both career bests. All in a career-high 31 minutes.

And in a game that featured nine lead changes in the second half, the Wahoos needed it all.

“Papi really played well,” coach Tony Bennett said after UVa’s 54-52 victory. “His physicality was significant and he was on the glass, and then got to the free throw line when we needed it.”

Caffaro hurriedly came off the bench for the first time just three minutes into the game, after starter Kadin Shedrick picked up a pair of quick fouls. He was aggressive on the offensive end from the start of that first stint.

His first putback tied the game at 9. After a media timeout and a defensive stop, Caffaro’s hook shot in the paint over David N’Guessan put the Hoos in front. With a free throw two possessions later, Caffaro scored five straight UVa points—the first five of a 10-0 run in the first half that put the Hoos in front by eight, their largest lead of the night.

Down by one early in the second half—Caffaro began the half in place of Shedrick wit the starters—he smoked Tech’s Justyn Mutts with a spin on the low block for a go-ahead layup. Down the stretch, Caffaro again scored the first three points of UVa’s game-closing 6-0 run.

In a two-point win, the Wahoos outperformed Tech 18-2 in bench points; Caffaro had 16. UVa outscored the Hokies 9-2 in second-chance points; Caffaro had five. His presence on the glass gave Virginia the edge in both total rebounds (31-29) and offensive rebounding margin (9-6).

But Caffaro’s contribution went beyond the box score. He was able to use his four-inch height advantage defensively against Virginia Tech’s 6-foot-9 Keve Aluma, who still finished with a game-high 22 points but shot just 9-of-20 from the floor and was clearly bothered by Caffaro’s size. He made that defensive impact while picking up just two personal fouls—which was critical, considering Shedrick’s early foul trouble.

Tech coach Mike Young admitted that the performance caught him off-guard before adding, “Caffaro is a good player, now. He is a big, physical young man.”

He also provided the emotional pulse for the Hoos, particularly as the stakes got higher down the stretch. He playfully stuck his tongue out while heading back down the floor after his second half spin move on Mutts. After Aluma fell down with a chance to put Tech in front in a one-point game with 15 seconds to play, Caffaro’s animated call for the travel further incited the John Paul Jones Arena crowd.

"Playing physical and stuff,” he shared afterward, “that kind of riles me up a little bit and gets me going.”

After redshirting during UVa’s run to the 2018-19 national championship, Caffaro came into this season averaging just 7.2 minutes per game through his first two seasons on the court. He’s been able to get his most consistent minutes this year, but still came into the game averaging just 3.2 points and 1.7 rebounds in 14.8 minutes through the Hoos’ first 15 games.

“Throughout the season he’s getting a lot better,” UVa guard Armaan Franklin said of Caffaro. “Getting a lot more touches, getting a lot more minutes. He’s working on his finishing a lot. He works on it every day.”

Following the win on Wednesday, Bennett repeated his long-standing belief that big men typically take longer to develop than guards. In the UVa system, the primary responsibility for bigs is to serve the team: Be good screeners, good rebounders and good defenders. Opportunities to score will come as the rest of their game rounds into shape.

Bennett also praised his fourth-year center for being coachable.

“You can get after him,” he said, “and he'll respond.”

That was evident on Wednesday night. Caffaro admitted that the coaching staff challenged him following last weekend’s one-sided performance in Chapel Hill, when North Carolina’s Armando Bacot finished with 29 points and 21 boards, including nine offensive rebounds. In 19 minutes off the bench in that 74-58 loss, Caffaro finished with two points and zero rebounds.

Caffaro carried that challenge onto the court against the Hokies. Wednesday marked the first time this season that Caffaro led the team in either scoring or rebounding. He walked off the court one rebound shy of his first career double-double.

It was a performance that UVa fans had never seen before from the seven-footer from Argentina. At 10-6 overall and 4-2 in the ACC after the victory, Virginia could use more of that kind of production from its fourth-year backup center in the season’s second half.

The big man indicated afterward that he believes he's capable of more. To Caffaro, Wednesday's breakout performance was just another night at the office.

“It’s just kind of how I always play,” he said. “It just felt normal to me. It felt good. Just what I’m used to.”

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