Gardner Drives Virginia to Convincing 76-56 Win Over Clemson in ACC Semifinals

Jayden Gardner dropped a 23-point, 12-rebound double-double to send the Cavaliers to Saturday night's ACC Championship Game

After leading the Cavaliers in scoring a season ago, Jayden Gardner struggled to find his place in UVA's new-look offense early in the season. Gardner took a big step back in the first half of the season, taking fewer shots and settling for low scoring output games as Virginia tried to put the pieces together on offense. 

But with a gifted scorer like Gardner, it was only a matter of time before he found his groove. Gardner has certainly done that and more, averaging 15 points per game since the beginning of February, and the fifth-year forward has taken his game to another level in postseason play. A North Carolina native who dreamed of playing in the ACC Tournament, Gardner has made the most of his time in Greensboro so far this week. 

Jayden Gardner scored in double figures for the sixth-straight game and dropped a double-double for the second game in a row, recording 23 points and 12 rebounds to spearhead Virginia's convincing 76-56 victory over Clemson in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament on Friday night in Greensboro. 

For as lopsided as the final score ended up being, the game was tightly-contested for most of the first half. Brevin Galloway and Hunter Tyson both hit early threes and were responsible for 18 of Clemson's 25 first-half points. Virginia was called for five team fouls in the first five minutes of the game. With UVA already thinner than usual due to the injury to Ben Vander Plas, Tony Bennett and the Cavaliers experimented with some lineups we haven't seen all year. Nine different players got minutes in the first half, including Taine Murray, who appeared in a game for just the 11th time all season and immediately drained a three-pointer just as the shot clock expired. 

Jayden Gardner scored back-to-back to baskets shortly after that to stretch Virginia's lead to 26-18, but Clemson responded and managed to cut it back to a four-point game on Hunter Tyson's third three of the first half, making it 29-25 Virginia with four minutes left in the first half. 

The outcome of the game was determined over the next few minutes, as the UVA defense held the Tigers without a point for the next seven minutes and 51 seconds. On the offensive end, Armaan Franklin and Jayden Gardner each scored back-to-back baskets as Virginia ended the half on an 8-0 run to take a 37-25 lead into halftime. Franklin and Gardner had nine points apiece and Reece Beekman had five assists at halftime. 

Clemson's scoring woes and Virginia's game-changing run continued to start the second half. The Tigers would make just one field goal over a near-10 minute stretch, allowing UVA to go on a 21-2 run that completely the turned the game on its head, as Virginia's lead skyrocketed from a slim four-point margin to a 23-point blowout. 

Virginia was playing solid defense in the first half, but didn't find consistent enough offense to build a sizable lead until just before halftime. The second half, on the other hand was one of the best offensive halves of the season for the Cavaliers. Virginia scored on 18 of its 29 possessions in the second half, averaging 1.345 points per possession after halftime and 1.267 points per possession for the entire game, a staggering level of offensive efficiency. 

UVA diced up the Clemson defense for 14 layups, including four dunks and the Hoos ended up outscoring the Tigers 40-22 in the paint. As usual, Virginia rarely turned the ball over, committing just six turnovers and scoring 12 points off of 12 Clemson turnovers. 

Jayden Gardner was red-hot in the second half, knocking down six of his eight field goals and scoring 14 points. The Wake Forest, North Carolina native finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds, his fifth double-double of the season and third in the last five games. 

"It meant the world to me for my family and friends to be here watching me," said Gardner, who is also looking forward to playing Duke in the ACC Championship on Saturday. "If I can beat UNC and Duke in the ACC Tournament, that'd be pretty special."

After scoring only four points in the first half, PJ Hall got going a little bit in the second half and scored nine points, finishing with 13 points and 10 rebounds. But Clemson couldn't solve the UVA defense frequently enough and more importantly, couldn't get nearly enough stops against Virginia's potent offense. After UVA built a lead as large as 23 at 50-27, Clemson would get no closer than 14 points for the remainder of the game. 

Virginia emptied its bench with a minute and a half remaining, allowing Chase Coleman and company to notch some playing time in an ACC semifinal as UVA cruised to a 76-56 win. 

After shooting 45% from three-point range and scoring 80 points in a quarterfinal win over NC State, Clemson was held to just 30.4% shooting from beyond the arc and 35.8% from the floor. Hunter Tyson hit four threes and scored 15 points, PJ Hall had a double-double with 13 points and 10 boards, and Brevin Galloway added 12 points, but the Tigers got little else from the rest of their roster, as UVA delivered an excellent team defensive performance. 

Francisco Caffaro and Kadin Shedrick played a key role in that outcome, limiting Hall's production in the paint and deterring Clemson from getting easy buckets. The Tigers were just 6/17 on layups in the game. Shedrick ended up fouling out late in the game, but received a standing ovation from the UVA crowd as he exited the game after another solid showing, finishing with eight points, seven rebounds, a block and a steal in 17 minutes of action. Both Shedrick and Caffaro have stepped up in a big way at the ACC Tournament in the absence of Ben Vander Plas. 

Jayden Gardner was the leading story on the offensive end with 23 points on 10/15 shooting and 10 rebounds, including five offensive boards. But he was hardly alone in his efforts. Kihei Clark had 13 points, three rebounds, and four assists and knocked down three three-pointers in the game, including a key pull-up jumper from the right wing after Clemson had cut it to a 14-point game with four minutes left. Armaan Franklin made only one three-pointer, but continued to show how developed his all-around scoring game has become, putting up 16 points as well as two steals. Reece Beekman was quiet on the scoring front with just four points on 2/8 shooting, but he recorded seven assists and played his usual lockdown defense to limit the production of the Tiger guards. Clemson's starting back court of Brevin Galloway and Chase Hunter were a combined 6/23 from the floor. 

Virginia will make its 10th appearance in the ACC Championship Game and first since 2018, when the Cavaliers captured their third ACC Tournament title in program history. UVA will face No. 4 seed Duke, who dispatched No. 5 seed Pittsburgh in the quarterfinals and the top seed Miami Hurricanes in the semifinals. 

Virginia and Duke will tip-off their battle for the ACC Tournament title on Saturday at 8:30pm at Greensboro Coliseum. The game will be broadcast on ESPN. 

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