‘Hoos Turn the Tables on Hokies

Gary Forbes scored 16 points in a span of 8:14.

Neither Virginia nor Virginia Tech will own state bragging rights in basketball this year. The Cavaliers earned a split of their season series today with a 65-60 victory at University Hall, 16 days after the Hokies beat them by six points in Blacksburg. Barring an unlikely postseason meeting, the two rivals won’t play again this year.

Gary Forbes sparked yet another second-half comeback for the Cavs, who continued to rise from the ashes of the ACC. With their third straight win, the Wahoos (13-9, 4-7 ACC) moved into eighth place in the conference standings – one game behind Virginia Tech (12-10, 5-6), which has now lost three in a row – and kept alive their hopes for an NCAA tournament bid.

“This game meant a lot to us. We wanted to keep rolling and we wanted to beat Tech,” Forbes said. “It feels good to win this one, but we want to keep our momentum going and finish strong.”

Forbes was the catalyst today, scoring 17 of his 21 points in the second half. He had 16 points during a 23-9 run that turned a six-point deficit into an eight-point lead. The sophomore swingman started his personal scoring binge with a 3-pointer, then had six baskets from close range, including a putback, a dunk and a 3-point play.

“We put Gary Forbes in for defense. We put him in to guard [Zabian] Dowdell,” siad UVa coach Pete Gillen. “As it turned out, he was our leading scorer. We didn’t expect that, frankly. When Gary gets it going, he gets it going.”

Devin Smith’s dunk capped off a 23-9 run by the Cavaliers.

Devin Smith scored 16 points and Sean Singletary delivered a strong floor game with 10 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Singletary committed just one turnover while playing all 40 minutes and Virginia finished with nine turnovers, 13 fewer than in its first meeting with the Hokies.

UVa has now won all three games since Gillen changed strategies, using a slowdown approach in the halfcourt offense. The Cavs remained patient, even while shooting poorly again, and they made up for it with strong defense and big plays down the stretch. They held the Hokies to 35.7% shooting, the lowest mark by an ACC opponent vs. Virginia this season. Dowdell scored 20 points and Coleman Collins had 19, but Tech’s other eight players combined for just 21 points on 6-of-28 shooting.

“I think our effort was good,” said VT coach Seth Greenberg. “We just needed to be tougher during that two or three-minute stretch. … It was a game we were in position to win and just didn’t finish.”

It was 26-26 at the half before the Hokies opened up a 38-32 lead. Forbes drained a 3-pointer from the right wing, then made a pair of layups to kick off the decisive run. Forbes threw down a dunk off an alley oop from Singletary to put the Cavaliers ahead to stay. Smith’s dunk two minutes later made it 55-47 and brought the noise level inside U-Hall to a season high.

Virginia Tech closed within four points but the ‘Hoos sealed the victory by making eight of 10 foul shots down the stretch. Next up is a road game at No. 2 North Carolina on Wednesday.

“We have a little momentum now and more confidence,” Smith said. “Of course we know North Carolina is going to be a hard game, but we’re feeling good about ourselves right now.”

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