Virginia Falters At Georgia Tech

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Malcolm Brogdon scored 19 points at Georgia Tech, but the Hoos fell on the road for the third time this season. ~ Kris Wright

Virginia lost just twice in ACC play each of the past two seasons, using determined defense with efficient and timely offense to win back-to-back ACC Regular Season Championships. This conference season, the Hoos lost twice in the first week and seem to have lost the pulse that led to all the success in recent seasons.

On Saturday, UVA started slowly again and trailed for all but 32 seconds – when the game was briefly tied – of the game’s final 34:53 as Georgia Tech took down the No. 4 Cavaliers, 68-64.

“We’ve got work to do. That’s the bottom line,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. ”… Maybe the players will believe me and maybe when I say it even some who don’t believe me will, but it is a fine line from being successful to being not successful. The league is better. Credit to Georgia Tech. [They’ve] got a better team and I know they played twice on the road and fought against [North] Carolina and Pitt. They’re so much more balanced inside out this year and that was an issue. Whenever we got it close, they hit a couple big shots.”

The Wahoos fell behind 19-9 in the first 10 minutes and spent the rest of the afternoon trying to close the gap. They finally evened the score with an 11-2 run during a five-minute flurry that started with a Malcolm Brogdon a 3-pointer and ended with a Marial Shayok triple. Shayok had all of his 6 points during the run.

But as Bennett noted, Georgia Tech had an answer to the rally and the score was tied for all of 32 seconds as a result. GT coach Brian Gregory calmed his team during a timeout once the score was tied and the hosts responded with an immediate 11-0 burst over the next 3:40. That surge included a trio of 3-pointers as Quinton Stephens made back-to-back treys and Adam Smith canned a shot-clock beating long bomb as well.

That meant the Cavaliers trailed by double digits entering the final two minutes for the second time this week and they again made a late-game attempt to recover. The Yellow Jackets, however, made enough of their free throws down the stretch (8-14) and Virginia could only get within 4 points thanks to a meaningless Brogdon layup at the buzzer.

Stephens was new to the GT starting lineup as he made his first start of the season and he made the most of the chance. He tallied 16 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocked shots, and 1 assist in the game. That line included the two huge 3-pointers that helped the Jackets fight out of the 49-49 stalemate.

“Q made us look good,” Gregory said. “I like his size going to the offensive glass. … I’m proud of him – not just because of the performance, but because of his attitude and how he’s approached things over the last couple of weeks. That’s why we inserted him into the starting lineup, to be honest with you. Nothing’s more important than how we’re supposed to do things on a daily basis here, and Q does them.”

While Stephens did not have an offensive rebound, that stat was a major factor in the outcome. Georgia Tech grabbed 11 O-Boards and turned those into 15 second chance points. That was just part of a good day in the box score. The Yellow Jackets had the edge in assists (12-11), blocked shots (4-2), shooting percentage (43.6%-40.4%), and 3-point shooting percentage (53.3%-22.2%).

That last stat was one of the biggest in the game as UVA struggled from behind the arc. Brogdon made just 1 of 9 3-pointers and London Perrantes hit only 1 of 4. Brogdon did score 19 points, but also had 0 assists with 2 turnovers while Perrantes added 13 points, 4 assists, and 2 turnovers. Both players had 3-point looks during GT’s critical 11-0 run, but Brogdon missed with his team trailing 51-49 and Perrantes missed in between Stephens’ pair of made 3-pointers for the Yellow Jackets.

Virginia got 11 points and 2 rebounds from Anthony Gill and 7 points and 7 rebounds from Mike Tobey but the visitors had very little bench production with both of those players back in the starting lineup.

UVA’s attention went beyond the stats, though. The determined defense that carried the program to back-to-back ACC Regular Season Championships with 16 wins in each year has faltered over the last month. The efficient and timely offense that had been clicking during a 12-1 start to the season vanished this week as the Hoos piled up turnovers at Virginia Tech and struggled to shoot at Georgia Tech. And the ‘outlast’ mantra that became a common theme for the team during the past two years? Out the window in these two losses: score was tied in both games in the final 8 minutes, but no one could deliver the big shot or the big stop needed at the right time down the stretch.

That leaves the Hoos in soul search mode as they try to regroup for Miami on Tuesday at the John Paul Jones Arena. At 13-1 and 2-0 in the ACC, the Hurricanes will come to town likely ranked in the top 10 for that game.

“We’re in for a fight,” Bennett said when asked about his team’s confidence. “We’ve got to improve.You’ve got a heckuva ball club coming into our place in Miami. We’ve got to find a higher level of quality from start to finish. These guys have won so many games and it doesn’t always just happen. You’ve got to battle for everything. You can never get tired of doing the little things that have gotten you to win. Those are hard things to do every time… the discipline that’s required. We’re a different team. We’re still trying to find ourselves as you can see with me rotating around different guys at different times.”

Final Stats