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Kihei Clark making history for No. 10 Virginia — again

nqajqrqw7months ago (05-16)Basketball Hub166

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Kihei Clark maynever top his biggest highlight in Virginia basketball lore, buthaving the 5-foot-10 point guard in the No. 10 Cavaliers’ lineupcould certainly give him another chance.

In 2019, during an Elite Eight battle with Purdue, thethen-freshman chased down a tapped-out missed free throw well pastthe midcourt line, wheeled around and fed Mamadi Diakite for abuzzer-beating jumper that sent the game into overtime. TheCavaliers won, then went on to earn the first national championshipin program history.

“The Shot” was only possible because of “The Pass.”

Now in his fifth season, Clark is taking advantage of an extrayear of eligibility to climb several of Virginia’s career lists andpossibly lead them on another deep tournament run. He’ll continuethat pursuit on Saturday when the Cavaliers (14-3, 6-2 AtlanticCoast Conference) play at Wake Forest (14-5, 6-2).

Clark on Wednesday moved to the top of the Cavaliers’ careervictories list for players with 111, one more than Diakite. His 65ACC wins are also the most in program history.

Those milestones, and others, almost didn’t happen. After lastseason, Clark posted a farewell message to Virginia fans onTwitter, then changed his mind.

With Reece Beekman seemingly poised to take over the lead rolein the Cavaliers’ backcourt, coach Tony Bennett knows Clark’svalue.

“A guy his size doesn’t get to where he is without having afierce side of him, a competitor, and he wants to win. And that’swhat he’s done most of his career but he’s still coachable,”Bennett said. “It’s good to have him back for sure. I’m glad hemade that decision.”

Bennett often uses bigger guards to play in the high post,though he’ll use Clark there, too, and gives him lots of playmakingfreedom.

“You sometimes want some of your better decision-makers orguards in that high post … I thought he had a real nice game,”Bennett said after winning at Georgia Tech 74-56.

“He had command of his game. Sometimes you watch somebody andthey have command of their game, and he just had it when he was inthe lane, the decisions he was making,” Bennett said.

Virginia Tech’s Mike Young saw it firsthand in a 78-68 loss onWednesday night.

“He’s waiting on you,” Young said, recalling several passesClark made in the lane on his way to a season-high 20 points andfive assists. “He is waiting for somebody to blink.”

Young will face Clark one more time when Virginia goes toBlacksburg. Other coaches have used the postgame handshake lines toshare their admiration.

“I told him last year after we played him in Harrisonburg, Itold him he’s one of my favorite players to watch in college, and Ithought that was the goodbye. And then sure enough, he comes backthis year,” said James Madison coach Mark Byington after Virginia’swin this year in which Clark had 18 points and seven assists. “So Itold him this time ... ‘Look, I better never see you in collegebasketball again.’”

Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton said after getting beat 62-57that Clark is “almost flawless as a point guard ... and he’s one ofthose guys that don’t come along very often.”

“I told him as I shook his hand, ‘I’ll be glad when you go.’”Hamilton said. “He smiled.”

Clark has appreciated the kind words.

“Obviously, you’re doing something right if they don’t want toplay against you,” he said.

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