CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Despite being limited by a strained hamstring, Virginia junior guard Reece Beekman wasn’t surprised when the play coach Tony Bennett called in the huddle put the ball in his hands.
Neither were his teammates.
“I’d give him the ball in that spot a hundred times out of a hundred,” said senior forward Ben Vander Plas. “And trust that he’s going to get something up for us.”
Tuesday night in South Florida, it didn’t happen.
Trailing by 2 points with 4.6 seconds to play, Beekman took an inbounds pass from senior guard Kihei Clark under the far basket, pushed the ball up the court and drove hard to the left side of the lane. But the ball knocked off Beekman’s leg and No. 22 Miami held on for a 66-64 win, No. 6 Virginia’s second straight defeat.
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“[Coach] said, ‘Just go make a play,’” said Beekman, who narrowly missed a triple-double, finishing with 10 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. “It just didn’t turn out how we really wanted it. It’s kind of poor execution on my part.”
With 4.6 seconds remaining, Bennett called a play with multiple options, including one to take a 3-pointer had Miami made both of its free throws and held a 3-point lead. But when Hurricanes guard Nigel Pack made just one of two, Beekman got the ball and headed up court, looking to either drive to the rim or pull up for a jump shot.
He opted to head for the basket, but dribbled the ball off his leg, sealing the Hurricanes’ first win over UVa (8-2) in their past seven meetings.
“It looked like he lost it,” said Bennett. “I don’t know, I’ll watch the film, if he could have possibly pulled up. I just wish we could have got one on the rim.”
Vander Plas said it’s a play Beekman has made countless times in practices.
“It’s something that I’ve seen Reece do a ton of times,” said Vander Plas. “Him getting that open side drive. This one didn’t work out the way we wanted it.”
It didn’t start well, either. But UVa overcame a dismal offensive beginning by getting hot down the stretch. It hit 10 of its final 18 shots, including its last five.
“I thought the guys did execute well down the stretch offensively to put us in those spots and scrapped defensively to get back,” said Bennett. “We just dug too deep of a hole to start the game and to start the second half.”
Virginia (8-2, 1-1 ACC) outscored Miami 13-5 over the final 1:02 of play to set up the dramatic finish.
Beekman injured his ankle in Virginia’s win over Michigan on Dec. 3, and then suffered a strained hamstring on Dec. 6 against James Madison. He played in the Cavaliers’ Saturday loss to Houston, but afterward, Bennett acknowledged Beekman didn’t have his usual “burst.”
Tuesday night against Miami (12-1, 3-0), Beekman still clearly wasn’t all the way back, and did not start aggressively attacking the rim until late in the second half, when Virginia mounted a furious comeback to all but erase a 15-point second-half deficit and set up the final play.
“Reece obviously is such a key for us,” said Bennett. “Him having to be full strength is important. I thought he was better than the Houston game. He’s improving. He is getting better but I don’t think he’s full strength yet.”
For his part, Beekman said he’s struggled mentally, thinking about the injury.
“It’s a little frustrating knowing it’s not all the way there,” he said. “I think that’s been on my mind a little bit and affecting my play a little bit. So just trying for the future, even though I’m injured, playing through that and having a clear head.”
Still, he wasn’t surprised when Bennett picked him to take the potential game-tying shot.
“I know how much Coach Bennett trusts me in those situations, so I wasn’t surprised,” said Beekman. “Just have to make a better play in that position. Just a learning point for me. Just have to take that. I know it’s going to hurt but kind of take that and move forward.”
Now, Beekman and UVa are off until a Dec. 28 home game against Albany, a chance for him to get healthier and then get his mind right. The Cavaliers end the calendar year at Georgia Tech on New Year’s Eve.
FG FT Reb
VIRGINIA M M-A M-A O-T A PF PT
Gardner 20 4-6 0-2 0-2 0 2 8
Shedrick 11 1-2 0-0 0-1 0 2 2
Beekman 35 5-9 0-1 2-9 9 3 10
Clark 30 2-10 8-9 2-4 3 2 13
Franklin 13 0-7 0-0 0-2 0 0 0
McKneely 31 1-9 2-2 0-5 3 1 5
Vander Plas 27 7-13 2-3 2-4 2 3 20
Dunn 16 0-2 0-0 1-2 0 1 0
Murray 9 1-1 0-0 0-1 0 1 2
Caffaro 8 1-1 2-2 1-2 0 2 4
Totals 200 22-60 14-19 8-32 17 17 64
Percentages: FG .367, FT .737. 3-Point Goals: 6-23, .261 (Vander Plas 4-9, Clark 1-3, McKneely 1-7, Beekman 0-1, Franklin 0-3). Team Rebounds: 5. Blocks: 3 (Dunn, Franklin, Shedrick). Turnovers: 10 (Beekman 4, McKneely 2, Caffaro, Murray, Shedrick, Vander Plas). Steals: 6 (Clark 3, Gardner 2, McKneely).
FG FT Reb
MIAMI M M-A M-A O-T A PF PT
Omier 26 3-8 4-4 5-8 0 5 10
Miller 30 3-9 4-4 1-5 2 2 11
Pack 36 4-10 1-2 0-3 1 0 10
Poplar 18 1-5 0-0 0-6 0 2 3
Wong 37 7-13 8-9 1-6 5 3 24
Joseph 28 3-3 0-1 0-3 1 2 8
Casey 13 0-1 0-2 0-2 1 2 0
Walker 6 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Beverly 4 0-2 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Aire 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Totals 200 21-53 17-22 7-33 11 17 66
Percentages: FG .396, FT .773. 3-Point Goals: 7-22, .318 (Joseph 2-2, Wong 2-3, Miller 1-4, Pack 1-4, Poplar 1-4, Casey 0-1, Omier 0-1, Walker 0-1, Beverly 0-2). Team Rebounds: 5. Blocks: 7 (Omier 4, Casey, Joseph, Miller). Turnovers: 11 (Omier 4, Wong 3, Miller 2, Pack 2). Steals: 5 (Poplar 3, Omier 2).
Virginia 26 38 — 64
Miami 36 30 — 66
