Virginia Basketball: Cavaliers beats Miami Hurricanes in ugly fashion

The No. 3 Virginia Basketball Cavaliers played without point guard Ty Jerome who was out with an ankle injury. It was still enough for the win over Miami.

No. 3 Virginia Basketball improved to 20-1 and 8-1 in ACC play on Saturday with a 56-46 win over arguably the league’s worst team, Miami, in Charlottesville. It was Virginia’s second consecutive ugly win this week. However, in the rugged ACC any win is a good win and now the Cavaliers get a week off before the much-awaited rematch with Duke.

The big news out of Saturday’s game was junior point guard Ty Jerome missing it with a back injury. According to head coach Tony Bennett, Jerome tweaked his back in the win over N.C. State on Tuesday. In Jerome’s place against Miami was diminutive freshman Kihei Clark. And, with Jerome on the bench directing him, Clark acquitted himself nicely, scoring nine points, dishing out six assists and pulling down five rebounds. Clark hit two of his three attempts from beyond the arc which was a pleasant surprise.

The biggest stat Bennett will pay attention to regarding Clark is his turnovers. There were six of them and that’s inexcusable for a Bennett-coached squad. The most concerning aspect of Clark’s turnovers were as a team, UVa had 14 following its 16 turnovers in the win over North Carolina State.

Kyle Guy also struggled for the second game in a row, scoring just 10 points on four of 15 shooting from the field, including connecting on just two of eight beyond the arc. Jerome’s absence combined with Guy’s struggles from the field probably have more to do with Virginia’s sluggishness on the offensive end of the court than anything, yet it remains a concern with back-to-back games against Duke and North Carolina next week.

De’Andre Hunter led the Hoos with 14 points but it was junior forward Mamadi Diakite who continued to impress. Diakite looks more and more comfortable with each passing week on offense and again had a good outing against Miami. Diakite scored 11 points and pulled down six rebounds while blocking three shots. If Diakite can keep his fouls in check he could become an X-factor for this team down the stretch.

Outside of his turnovers, Clark played really well facilitating the offense. He played his usual outstanding on-ball defense and continues to gain valuable experience for this team. When UVa faces more pressing teams in March, Clark’s quickness and ball-handling could be a huge asset.

After the game, Bennett seemed to indicate Jerome was making good progress for next week’s game, per Mike Barber of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

The week off comes at the perfect time for Virginia. The Wahoos face Duke in Charlottesville next Saturday before turning around and heading to Chapel Hill on Monday to face UNC. It should be an exciting few days of basketball in the ACC.