Published Jan 18, 2021
Weekend Wrap: Wahoos prove plenty in blowout of Clemson
circle avatar
Brad Franklin  •  CavsCorner
Publisher
Twitter
@Cavs_Corner

If you cover a team long enough, you start to be able to hear the little things. Over time, random strings of words will turn into lampposts that get planted in the ground which, when you recognize one years later, lead you back to somewhere else.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard Tony Bennett say something like he said Saturday night from Littlejohn Coliseum. But I can tell you the first time I remember him saying it.

It was October 2014 and four-star guard Kyle Guy had just committed to the Wahoos. I was sitting in my car on the side of Interstate 64 getting all of the details from the Indiana native when I asked him what made him choose the Cavaliers.

“I know Coach Bennett was right when he told me I could touch greatness at UVa and this is where I’m supposed to be,” he told me that afternoon.

That’s why last night while on his postgame Zoom call Bennett’s answer to a question about the strong start and how good UVa was on both ends made me take notice.

“They do defend hard,” he said, “and I thought we were in control of what we needed to be. I told our guys, ‘Look, that’s one time defensively and it doesn’t guarantee you’ll do it again but you touched on something that’s important. Don’t back up after that one.’”

And then later, when asked what the win means for the Cavaliers, he said he told his players “Alright, you touched real quality, as I just said, so now pursue it with all you’ve got.”

Touching greatness. Touching something special. Pursue—that 2019 mantra returned—with all you’ve got.

Maybe it’s too simplistic (to say nothing of potentially inaccurate) to think Bennett believes his team has turned the corner. But it’s clear he thinks the group is starting to play in a way that speaks to its potential.

At one point in the first half of UVa’s thorough blasting of Clemson, the Tigers missed 13 shots in a row. And at the start of the second half, the Wahoos made nine straight 3s.

If you want to know how it is that the 18th-ranked Cavaliers crushed the 12th-ranked Tigers 85-50, that’s a good place to start.

Virginia picked up its fifth ACC win in as many tries because for the first time since the opener the offense was every bit as good as the defense was stingy.

The Tigers, it should be noted, were off for nearly two weeks due to COVID-19 issues. UVa, which itself got pummeled by Gonzaga coming off a similar pause, knows how that works.

But that is the type of excuse that Bennett and Co. didn’t use. On the contrary, what the Hoos did was figure out a way forward fueled in part by what they learned in Fort Worth.

Since then, they’ve not only beaten the dregs of the league but now have beaten one of the perceived frontrunners, laying waste to the nation’s best defense in the process.

While the Hoos may not be quite what they typically are on that end of the floor, what they did to Brad Brownell’s bunch speaks more to who they hope to be than much of what we’ve seen over the course of the season.

Saturday’s rout was an implication of what could be and it harkens back to the way things started.

Advertisement
info icon
Embed content not available

If it feels like a long time since that Gonzaga loss, it has been. Or, at the very least, the Hoos are different now than they were then.

“Well, we responded in the right way,” Bennett said Saturday. “We’re learning about our team, we’re growing, we’re becoming steadier. I know we have guys that are older in age but we’ve got three guys that had not played in a Virginia basketball uniform for a game, so there’s a newness there I think, an identity has to be formed. How hard we have to defend, how we have to play to beat good teams, that’s just gotten better from after the Gonzaga game. True humble pie, right? I think we responded well, when it was Notre Dame next and then just kept taking the right steps and thought it was a good effort obviously all the way around. And some really good individual performances too.

“I think we’ve made some adjustments in our system,” Bennett added later “Had to defensively. Not wholesale changes but there were some adjustments that we made where we continually had gotten exposed or hurt. Then offensively, we’ve made subtle adjustments. Personnel wise, playing less guys sometimes…Guys are stepping up and practices have been pretty competitive and just trying to be as no-nonsense and hard-nosed as we can to keep getting better.”

So, what does the win say about these Cavaliers?

“It’s one game but I think you just keep taking steps in the right direction,” Bennett said. “The right kind of step…Our guys knew they had to be right and ready against this team and they responded to the challenge that was put before them.”

The right kind of step.

Now where have I heard that before…


JOIN CAVSCORNER TODAY!

If you are not already a member of CavsCorner, come join us and see what all of the buzz is about.

Click HERE to subscribe and get all of the latest news and join hundreds of other UVa fans in talking about Cavalier football, basketball, and recruiting. You won't be disappointed!