Ratcliffe: Harris, Cavaliers limited in loss to Clemson

CLEMSON, S.C. — Painkillers, a bag of ice and a sharp knife might resemble some scenes from a Hollywood thriller-diller like “Haywire,” where a ninja-like, secret agent attempts to survive against all sorts of odds.

In this southwest corner of South Carolina on Tuesday night, it was all about Joe Harris and the most talked about left hand in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

If you’re unfamiliar with the plot, Harris, Virginia’s deadeye shooter, suffered a fractured left hand (non-shooting) last Saturday in a loss at North Carolina. On a team that has struggled offensively, the last thing the Cavaliers needed was this type of injury.

With UVa’s other perimeter shooter Sammy Zeglinski in a deep shooting funk, it doesn’t leave coach Tony Bennett with a lot of options and that was evident when the Cavaliers suffered a sound 60-48 thumping last night at Clemson’s Littlejohn Coliseum.

Harris, who sported a rather thick, cumbersome looking cast, was clearly not himself, not that anyone expected him to be. Clearly, he was bothered by the new addition, going 1-for-5 from the field (0-for-4 from behind the arc) and scored a mere two points in 21 minutes.

Painkillers and intestinal fortitude kept him worthy of playing time against the Tigers. Bags of ice were available to help with swelling issues. Bennett and Harris are hopeful that as time passes, doctors can cut away some of the cast to give his hand a bit more freedom. Until then, the sophomore sharpshooter will just have to endure.

“We knew they were essentially a man down because we had heard about the injury,” said Clemson’s Andre Young. “[Harris] shot it well against us up there (5-for-6), so we were aware of what he could do.”

That was the cast-free Harris. His new friend made a difference, but not a good one.

“I can’t really dribble very well because of the swelling on my hand has gone up to my fingers,” Harris said in the Virginia locker room. “Had trouble catching it a couple of times. I can’t box out because I can’t really put my hand on people.”

Even though he practiced briefly on Monday and went through warm-ups Tuesday, Harris just wasn’t sure if he could play. Coaches and trainers watched him carefully through the warm-up and asked him in the locker room if he felt like he could play.

Even though he felt more comfortable than during the practice the day before, and even though he had his shooting stroke during the warm-ups (he doesn’t use his left hand much anyway), he just wasn’t sure how much he could contribute. With the coaches looking for a more convincing argument, they decided to start freshman Malcolm Brogdon and bring Harris off the bench.

While he gave it all he had, he just wasn’t capable of delivering his typical performance (12.5 ppg avg.).

“It’s kind of sore now,” Harris said after the game, feeling bad that he couldn’t do more to help prevent Virginia from losing back-to-back games for the first time this season.

Meanwhile, what does Harris at less than 100 percent mean for the Cavaliers, who dropped to 19-6 overall and 6-5 in the ACC? There’s a strong feeling that this team needs to win at least three more times against a backloaded schedule where there isn’t a gimme in sight.

Clearly, this team is in trouble in terms of its postseason hopes if Harris’ condition doesn’t improve and if Zeglinski can’t rediscover his shooting touch.

Bennett couldn’t help but chuckle in the face of adversity after the game when he talked about searching for that all-important third scorer the past few weeks during Zeglinski’s slump.

“Tonight we got it in Jontel (Evans) but we didn’t have the second scorer,” Bennett said.

Evans scored a career-high 17 points in one of his best overall performances. Too bad that the always dependable Mike Scott (13 points) and rookie Brogdon (9) were all the accompaniment Evans got. Zeglinski was 1-for-5 and didn’t even take a shot the second half.

The fact that Virginia committed 18 turnovers — looking like everybody on the team played with a cast on one hand — didn’t exactly help.

“Without Joe, we don’t have as much of a threat out there,” Bennett pointed out. “With Sammy struggling, and Jontel not being a 3-ball shooter, and Malcolm being a freshman, there’s not a lot of options.  When it’s Malcolm, Jontel, Sammy and Akil, we can’t stretch the defense. That’s an offense that allows defenses to put a corral around Mike.”

So, what is Virginia to do, especially during a critical stretch where it hosts Maryland on Saturday and travels to Virginia Tech next Tuesday?

Harris said he’s going to have to wear the cast for the rest of the season and hopes that he can just get used to the thing.

“I just need to practice with it more. I didn’t really practice much [Monday] because my hand was still really sore,” Harris said. “Hopefully, it will become more comfortable. It’s pretty thick, like a half-inch of plastic and foam.”

Bennett is hopeful that over time, doctors can trim the cast back, bit by bit to help it become a more comfortable fit so that he can dribble, catch and perform better.

The main thing, at least in Harris’ head, was to actually play just to prove to himself that he could. Getting a game under his belt, albeit not one to remember for the right reasons, was important.

“I felt a little restricted out there in terms of what I could do to help the team, and I was disappointed that we lost but I definitely wanted to play,” Harris said. “I don’t want to miss any games and I hate to lose.”

Bennett was thankful that Harris could just give the team some minutes and begin his way back.

Still, there’s an uncertainty about what direction this team is headed.

If it continues this downward trend, the direction is Bubbleville. If a team that struggles to score has its two sharpest shooters MIA, what chance does it have?

Last night, the Cavaliers were 3-of-16 from Bonusphere.

“We want that percentage a lot higher,” Harris said. “It’s been a pattern in our losses. I’m not saying that we live and die by the three, but 3-of-16 is not good enough as a team.”

Maybe not living and dying. Just dying.

Somebody needs to ride to the rescue, pronto.