Ratcliffe: Another nailbiting win for Virginia

Virginia’s players knew what was coming at halftime of Tuesday night’s home game with Clemson.

The 16th-ranked Cavaliers trailed the Tigers, 30-26, chiefly because they weren’t playing the kind of defense that coach Tony Bennett demands. Clemson had converted 48 percent of its field goal attempts and that just wasn’t good enough by Bennett’s standards.

Over the years, we’ve heard of halftime tirades by the likes of former Virginia coaches like Terry Holland, who would kick a crate of oranges all over the locker room, or Jeff Jones who would ultimately break his wrist by smashing it through a chalkboard, or Pete Gillen and Dave Leitao who would scream their lungs out.

Bennett?

Such a well-behaved, mild-mannered man. Not a hair out of place. Always under control.

Tuesday night? Not so much.

“We weren’t playing Virginia Basketball the first half and [Bennett] was pretty disappointed with us,” said Joe Harris, one of the Cavaliers’ second-half heroes. “Coach got after us and challenged us to put forth more energy and passion in the second half.”

Exactly what challenging the team translates to remains somewhat of a secret but according to Harris, it wasn’t pretty.

“Coach doesn’t really seem like he could get that mad, but you don’t really want to see the dark side of him,” Harris said. “It doesn’t come out very often. I mean, he’s a great player’s coach and we love the guy, but you definitely know when he’s mad.”

Bennett’s diatribe clearly got through as the Cavaliers came out the second half with more defensive intensity, held the Tigers to 34.5 percent (10 of 29), scored a whopping 39 points themselves and owned an 11-point bulge thanks to a 19-3 run.

Still, with rare exception, the Wahoos seldom make it easy on themselves or the 10,919 boisterous fans in the house.

Just like Raleigh the other night or most of their recent games, this one came down to the end before UVa held on for a 65-61 victory, boosting the record to 18-3, the program’s best start (27-3) in 30 years.

Harris, who scored 13 of his 19 points in the second half, was one of the team’s saviors. He and teammate Mike Scott (game-high 23) accounted for 42 of Virginia’s 65 points and hit scored 15 of the team’s 24 field goals.

Five of Harris’ shots were from behind the arc, the most by a Wahoo this season.

On a night when teammate Sammy Zeglinski was off target (2 of 8 from the field), Harris’ accuracy was extremely crucial.

“I really like the way [Harris] plays,” said Clemson coach Brad Brownell, who admitted wincing every time that Harris or Zeglinski put one up.

Harris, with his aw shucks modesty, said he just takes what the defense gives him.

“I was just taking the open shots when I had them. I had a pretty good rhythm,” Harris said. “My teammates did a great job of setting screens and making passes, finding me.”

Harris, whose 19 were a season high and tied his ACC career high, said he and teammates benefit from opposing defense focusing on Scott, who is almost always double-teamed down low. This time, Scott was popping out to 17 to 18 feet and knocking down jumpers, which makes him even more versatile.

When Scott is doubled, he is excellent at finding the open man on the perimeter.

The Cavaliers have become accustomed to tight games, something Bennett acknowledged as just the way things are.

“I understand we walk a fine line and we can’t afford many breakdowns,” Bennett said.

Opponents are also aware of that fine line and so when Bennett watches film with his players, he constantly talks to them about how teams key more on Scott and Harris, sometimes rather forcing the remaining UVa starters to win the game.

“I guess that’s a nice compliment, but I’m just going to play as hard as I can ever game,” Harris said.

Six of Virginia’s last eight games have been decided by five points or less and the Cavaliers have won four of those, including last night’s Tigers beatdown.

Fine line indeed.

“It’s tough,” Harris said of playing with type of defensive intensity every time the Cavaliers take the floor. “We play a tough system where you’re constantly playing defense all 40 minutes. There’s no time to rest and if you ever think about resting, it’s not going to be on defense. It’s a tough system but we like playing that way and we take a lot of pride in playing tough defense.”

Wins like the 70-38 blowout at Georgia Tech are rare but enjoyed.

“No, I really don’t like winning by one possession,” Harris chuckled. “Obviously, you wish that it would be stretched out a little bit more. But we’ll take ‘em however they come.”

Maybe the Cavaliers are benefitting from walking that tightrope so often, that it helps them in close games because they’ve been there so many times before.

Still, Harris and his teammates harbor a dream of a winning blowout, just to break the monotony of it all.