A Tony Bennett Moment: Reece Beekman's Buzzer Beater vs Syracuse

Beekman's shooting his first year was something of an adventure. But he made up for it with one of the greatest shots in Virginia's post-championship era.

Nell Redmond-Imagn Images

We take a trip down memory lane as we celebrate Tony Bennett ahead of February 8th with a diary Val originally wrote for HoosPlace.

Setting the scene:  In March of 2021 the pandemic is still tearing America apart.  Games are being played in empty arenas, coaches are wearing masks, and every game is seemingly at risk of getting canceled.  An uninspiring Duke team cancels the remainder of its season on the eve of their second tournament game.  Virginia’s women’s team folded up tent after just five games.  Virginia, riding the double-bye after winning the ACC regular season, was powered by new arrivals Sam Hauser and Trey Murphy III, who along with Jay Huff and Tomas Woldetensae, gave Virginia its greatest outside shooting.  In their first game of the tournament, the Cavaliers faced off against tournament nemesis Syracuse.  In an homage to Bill Simmons, you know, back when he was actually writing, here’s how the game played out.

Before the game:  Duke officially announces that they are canceling the rest of their season due to a positive covid-19 result.  I texted six friends to whom I had predicted just such an eventuality.

First Half

20:00  Back to the game.  Jay Huff, who has lost most of his jump balls this year wins the tipoff.  Trey Murphy misses a long three that hits of the back of the rim with a preternaturally loud clunk.

17:58  Syracuse’s Buddy Boeheim channels his inner Gerry McNamara hitting a long three to go with his Hauseresque turnaround over Reece Beekman to start the game.  Meanwhile, Beekman airballed a three and “Howitzer” Hauser missed from distance as well.  Syracuse has jumped out to a 7 – 0 lead.

16:23  Syracuse’s Marek Dolezaj chases down a ridiculously long rebound off a clanged Syracuse 3-point attempt.  (Edit:  Long Syracuse rebounds, where Virginia had a strong defensive rebounding posture, and which are then converted into immediate points, will be a theme for this game.)

15:35  Kihei Clark with a three.  He was wide open when he got the ball, but even then, no one in Orange felt any need to close him out.  Clark makes ‘em pay.  Syracuse with a 9 – 7 lead.

14:45  Sam Hauser fouls Alan Griffin on a long three.  Griffin strokes three of the fastest free throws I’ve seen.  This extreme confidence is worrisome.  Syracuse up 12 – 7.

14:38  Reece Beekman’s response?  Drive a step into the Syracuse zone and throw the ball out of bounds.  Was he expecting Clark to cut even further down into the corner?

14:04  Even less Syracuse effort spent trying to defend another (very) poor Beekman three.

13:02  Clark in the lane draws coverage as he is able to find Tomas Woldetensae wide open for the three.  Syracuse 12 – 10.

12:05  Syracuse misses a three, yet somehow Boeheim gets the board in traffic and feeds the ball to Robert Braswell who’s shooting 27% from beyond the arc.  He drains it, of course.  Braswell hitting threes keyed Syracuse in their victory over NC State.  Syracuse up 17 – 12.

11:38  Boeheim hits a long three in transition over the 6’ 9” Trey Murphy.  Buddy is 21 years old.  His dad, Jim, is 76 years old.  Jim is probably wondering if there is time for him to have yet another kid that he could coach at Syracuse.

11:11  Great graphic: in the Peak Bennett Era, otherwise known as since 2013-2014, Tony’s winning percentage is .816, or the third best in Division I.  Bennett is also only the third coach in ACC history (after Dean Smith and the Ferret) to have 10 straight winning seasons.  Syracuse goes on to carve up Virginia’s interior defense three straight times to make it 28 – 18.  Good feeling gone.

8:53  Woldetensae steps inside the arc on a nice dribble drive to hit the mid-range.  He seems to be adjusting nicely to his role as occasional starter/1st man off the bench.  Syracuse up 28 – 20.

8:41  Beekman has a gorgeous on-ball steal and takes it coast-to-coast!  Except Beek cannot finish.  He’s much worse than Braxton Key in all his hair-pulling glory.  But Huff is there for the finish.  In a rare moment of good fortune for the Hoos, the refs miss a fairly blatant offensive interference call as Huff grabbed the rim before the ball fell in.  Given the crappy reffing we’ve seen this year, this is the most minor of karmic restitution.  Syracuse still up, 28  - 22.

7:28  Long Syracuse offensive rebound after a missed Syracuse three.  Of course Braswell sinks the three.  Syracuse up 31 – 22.  My buddy, House, texts me.

No, not really.  House is Bill Simmons’ friend.  William, a friend of mine in the house I am staffing, and who is a Maryland fan simultaneously watching the Terps surge into the lead against Michigan State, asks me what the largest deficit Virginia has come back from this season.  I don’t know.

6:01  Quincy Guerrier, the worst on Syracuse at the line, goes only 1/2 but the Orange still have an 11-point lead.

5:46  Hauser misses a three.  Justin McKoy has a great offensive rebound, but is swarmed by Syracuse and he fumbles the ball out of bounds.  Syracuse is getting rebounds on their missed threes.  Virginia loses offensive rebounds out of bounds.  It’s been that kind of day so far.  Syracuse is 5/9 from three while Virginia is 2/11.

4:57  Hauser makes a two.  For the first seven-eight minutes it was Clark who was setting up in the middle of the Syracuse zone, but for the past four-five minutes, it’s been Huff.  He’s a good passer facing the basket, not so much with his back to the bucket.  Hauser’s make is a bit of a gift.

4:16  Clark makes me prescient. He sets back up in the zone, gets the ball and is left wide open for a short floater.  Syracuse lead down to seven.

3:04  Clark again at the top of the zone.  Alley opp to Huff for the and-1.  Syracuse 39 – 33.

1:17  Hauser finally hits a three off a nice baseline drive by Beekman  It was first time all game that Sam was square when he received the ball.  My buddy William is so impressed that he stops watching Maryland v Michigan State.  Virginia is within three points of Syracuse.

0:00  Syracuse missed their last three shots, including a long Boeheim three with five seconds remaining.  You know, the kind of three that so many teams make against us.  Justin McKoy grabs the rebound and the pushes the ball nicely up the floor to a streaking Hauser.  Sam threw up a surprisingly good shot that hit both the front and then back of the rim before squirting out.  At the half it’s Syracuse 39, Virginia 36.  Game on.

Second Half

20:00  Syracuse had 10 assists on their 13 field goals which is usually indicative of superior ball movement.  Sam Hauser scored seven total points.  Normally I’d be worried, but Sam has eight games this year where he’s scored less than seven points in the first half.  Actually, I just made up that stat, but it certainly seems that way, doesn’t it?  I’m feeling confident that we’ve weathered the best Buddy Boeheim has to offer (he had 15 at the half) and we should bring this one home quickly.

18:30  Each team is 0/2 on possessions this half, and we’re down to 8 on the shot clock and everyone is standing around.  This is gonna be a shot-clock violation or else Clark is going to take a piss-poor three that will clang off the rim.

18:26  Clark made the extra pass and Trey Murphy finally hits from 3 and it’s all knotted up at 39.

17:50  Syracuse’s Joe Girard forgot that he’s not as good as Boeheim and launches a long three eight seconds into the shot clock.  It missed.  Hauser comes down and cans the three and Virginia has it’s first lead at 42 – 39.  Virginia is on [checks notes] a 16 – 2 run.

16:19  Where has this Clark been?  Emulating Beekman’s on-ball steal, Clark pokes the ball away from Boeheim, simply explodes in transition, and gets the easy layup.  Mugsy Bogues actually used to challenge Magic Johnson as much as anyone could, simply because the 6’ 8” Magic dribbled the ball so high.  Clark similarly got under Boeheim’s dribble.  Virginia up 44 – 41.

14:44  Boeheim cans a gorgeous three in transition.  I bet he’s coming back next year.  If there was ever a marginal professional prospect who could take advantage of the covid +1 year, wouldn’t it be Buddy?  Coming back to play for daddy one more year.  Syracuse 46 – 44.

14:24  Heat check.  Buddy takes another long three in transition that somehow grazes the bottom of the rim.  Even he has to smile at the embarrassment.

12:47  Huff has moved back to the top of the Syracuse zone.  He’s now spinning to face the basket more quickly and he’s found Hauser backdoor for two easy layups.  Virginia 51 – 49.

12:13  Two Huff blocks on the defensive end.  Dolezaj takes such a poor shot with time expiring that it hits the top of the backboard (!)  I texted a buddy in the Virginia Underground:  It’s Hauser Time!

12:01  Unfortunately, it was Murphy who took the three.

10:30  It’s no secret that I’m a Clark fan, but 3-point shooting has been adventure for him his three years in Charlottesville.  Sweet stroke this time for the three.  Virginia up 54 – 50.

8:37  Guerrier banging down low.  Nicely defended and in traffic, but he’s made two in a row and we’re tied up at 54 – 54.

6:00  Virginia has gone 4 ½ minutes without a point.  On the in-bounds, Clark feeds a triple-teamed Sam Hauser who can only be fouled.  That is enough to send him to the line where he converts both.  Score knotted at 56.

5:55  The Maryland v Michigan State game is over.  I’m glad.  It’s been a mite distracting in the background when Maryland has a guy named Morsell and MSU has the “other” Hauser, Sam’s brother Joey.

5:19  Sam Hauser with the three.  There was no doubt about the shot.  We all knew it was going in.  Virginia up by three.  Beekman with another great drive to collapse the defense leaving Sam all alone.  Hauser’s up to 19.  I think we got the better Hauser…

4:48  Stop me if you’ve heard this before.  Long Syracuse three clangs off the rim.  Long Syracuse rebound.  Ball swung to Buddy Boeheim.  Good.  Score tied at 59.

4:04  Jamie Luckie swallows his whistle and actually allows Huff to play D.  Huff with the block.

2:51  Murphy hits his first two threes, back-to-back and Virginia is up 65 – 61.  Murphy does it on the defensive end as well, and this is what makes his mother (who is attendance today) happy.  Gotta love these Virginia moms.  I’m breathing easier.

2:05  Hauser effortlessly cans it from the left elbow and he’s now at 14 second-half points.  Virginia up 67 – 61.

1:41  Boeheim hits a runner in the lane and Syracuse brings full-court pressure.  My hands instantly go clammy.

1:31  Beekman throws the lamest of ducks to Murphy, it’s picked off by Boeheim and it’s finished with an alley oop to Guerrier.  Q:  What was Beekman thinking?  A:  He wasn’t’.

1:16  Virginia breaks the press but not before Hauser almost bobbles the ball out of bounds.  Heart palpitations getting worse.  Murphy is fouled at the rim.  He makes both.  Virginia 69 – 65.

1:10  Virginia is called for two fouls less than a second apart.  Crappy, light fouls that have no business being called in a middle school game, yet here we are with Boeheim going to the line.  We all know he’s going to sink both, which means that Syracuse will be pressing.

1:10  Hauser can’t get the ball in-bounds and has to call timeout.  Shades of the f*cking Elite 8 game are dancing in my head like demonic sugarplums.

40.1  Guerrier partially blocks a Murphy 3.  Huff gets the offensive board, but it’s a shot clock violation.  Syracuse ball, down by 2.

28.6  Another candy-ass foul called on Virginia again sends Boeheim to the line.  I can’t even watch.  He hits both.  He’s having a career tournament having scored 27 against NC State yesterday and he’s now at 28.  Tie score: 69 – 69.

28.6  Hauser can’t inbound the ball.  Again.  Timeout.  Again.  One of the insidious features of depression is that it most usually isolates the victim.  But not here, not today.  Every single Virginia fan watching this game right has the cold sweats and an arrythmic heartbeat.  If I’m a Syracuse fan, I wondering why the Orange don’t just press Virginia every. Single. Game.

28.6  Hauser barely gets the ball in.  Shot clock is off.

9.6  Syracuse has foul to give and they get to Clark before he can shoot.  Defending the in-bounds play is easy.  Anybody with half a brain knows the ball is going to Hauser.

0.4  Hauser can’t get separation and gives it back to Clark who gets into the lane only to find…. NOOOO!!!

Former Scotlandville star Reece Beekman just sent 1-seed Virginia to the ACC Semifinals with this buzzer beater vs Syracuse!! 🔥 @reece_beekman pic.twitter.com/kSmp58kvOF

— FastBreak Entertainment (@FastBreak__ENT) March 11, 2021

0.0  Yes!!! Beekman for the three!  He’s wide open and the guy who was 0-for-everything on the night made his only shot of the game.  At the buzzer.  I sound like Johnny Most – Havlicek stole the ball!  Havlicek stole the ball! – except it’s Beekman’s good!  Beekman’s good!  The kid who had only made eight threes on the season and was shooting .382 from the floor, made the biggest shot of his life, leaving Syracuse desperately on the NCAA bubble.  Where they can rot for all I care.

My mom, who has maybe watched six NCAA basketball games in her life, and who has sent me exactly one text, had watched the game and texted me this:  Smooth.  Yes indeedy, Reece, take a bow.  That was incredible.

Extended Highlights:

Covid aftermath:  This was the only game that Virginia played in the ACC tournament as the team had to withdraw due to a positive covid test.  The team didn’t practice for a week and in the first round, or in other words, Virginia’s first NCAA tournament game since the national championship, Virginia was bounced by Ben Vander Plas’ Ohio team 62 – 58.

Other stories in our series on Tony Bennett's best moments at Virginia

A Tony Bennett Moment: Virginia Wills Itself Past Gardner-Webb

A Tony Bennett Moment: Virginia Captures the Main Event Title in Las Vegas

A Tony Bennett Moment: Beekman Takes Down Duke at the Buzzer in Cameron