Five takeaways from UVA basketball’s grind-it-out OT win over Boston College

It wasn’t easy, and it most certainly wasn’t pretty, but the Virginia Cavaliers defeated Boston College 66-60 in overtime to advance to the ACC Tournament semi-finals and pick up a massive victory for their NCAA Tournament hopes. Virginia’s starting backcourt shot just 5-25 from the floor and the team went 8-18 from the free throw line, but they managed to find just enough scoring from role players — Jake Groves’s 15, Taine Murray’s 11 and Andrew Rohde’s 8 — to hang around in a defensive slugfest. A Mason Madsen jump shot at the buzzer forced overtime and nearly sent the Cavaliers home, but the ‘Hoos took over and pulled away in overtime, outscoring the Golden Eagles 9-3 in the extra period. The Cavaliers will take on NC State at 9:30 EST in a game to go to the ACC Tournament finals against the winner of North Carolina and Pitt.

Five takeaways from the definition of “survive and advance” in Washington D.C.:

Defense made all the difference

What else is new: the 2024 Virginia Cavaliers eked out a close win they didn’t fully deserve thanks to an absolutely stifling defensive performance. After a hot shooting start for the Golden Eagles in the first half, UVA absolutely clamped down in the second and took away any potential space from sharpshooters Claudell Harris Jr. (14 points on 16 FGA) and Mason Madsen (nine points on 14 FGA). Over the final 19:19 of game time, Boston College players not named Quinten Post scored exactly twice: a buzzer-beating two to force overtime and a late three to cut into UVA’s lead once the game was nearly decided. And Reece Beekman pulled his typical disappearing act on the opposing lead guard, as Jaeden Zackery had zero space to do anything all game long and finished with just five points.

The story of the game, though, was Jordan Minor’s defense on Quinten Post. Minor got a few short rotation stints early in the game, but his slow closeouts allowed Post a few open threes which led to quick hooks for the Merrimack transfer. However, once Ryan Dunn picked up two late fouls and Blake Buchanan demonstrated an inability to handle Post down low, Bennett called back to the pen for Minor to guard Post. Perhaps it was the Boston College big’s tired legs, or perhaps the moment was too big for him, but Jordan Minor won every single one-on-one matchup in the post late in the second half and overtime. His block on a Post fadeaway early in overtime set the tone for the ‘Hoos in the period — an OT where they allowed just one made shot. Post finished with a respectable 23 points, but Minor’s ability to completely shut off his water late in the game proved decisive.

No Tony Bennett team will ever stoop to the extreme level of the 2020 defense-only squad, but this team is giving that unit a run for its money. The Cavaliers entered tonight seventh in KenPom defensive efficiency and just 193rd on offense; no advanced stat has ever matched the eye test so well. However, the way UVA…