Hoos Falter Late Again Against VT

Virginia coach Tony Bennett watched his Cavaliers lose its second game to Virginia Tech and its fourth conference game overall Saturday night in Blacksburg.

It’s beginning to become something of a pattern.

On the road against Virginia Tech, the Virginia men’s basketball team – already the losers of five games by five points or less – dropped yet another tight contest in which it struggled to score down the stretch. Leading by three with two minutes remaining, the Hoos went cold as the Hokies reeled off eight unanswered points. That spurt propelled Virginia Tech to a 61-55 victory and a sweep of the season series with Virginia.

“It’s such a fine line between coming away with a victory or not,” Bennett said. “You have to make some plays down the stretch. We missed a couple shots, we had a turnover. The kids fought – they put themselves in a spot with a chance to win – you’ve just got to try and be better.”

“This stings a lot,” forward Mike Scott said. “I made a comment at the beginning of the year that I didn’t really care for the rivalry [with Virginia Tech]. But after playing those two games, I definitely care about it now.”

Although the final two minutes of the contest in Blacksburg were dissimilar in many ways with the final minutes of regulation in the Hokies’ overtime win in Charlottesville on Jan. 28, one could not help but compare Virginia’s late offensive woes in the two games. In Charlottesville, Virginia went 3:43 without scoring before a desperation 3-pointer from Sammy Zeglinski sent the game to overtime; in Blacksburg, the Cavaliers went nearly all of the final two minutes without a field goal.

Late offensive woes plagued Virginia in its overtime loss to Wake Forest a week ago, as well, as the Hoos led at the half but shot 21.4 percent in the second half and 30 percent in overtime.

“There were some looks,” Bennett said. “I thought we left some points on the board.”

Sylven Landesberg was one of Virginia’s only productive Cavaliers offensively, as he finished with 17 points on 7-of-19 shooting.

Though the Cavaliers certainly went cold late, they did not exactly light up the nets before that stretch either; they shot 30 percent in the first half and 35.3 in the second. Sylven Landesberg ‘s 17 points on 7-of-19 shooting and Mike Scott’s 20 points on 8-of-16 shooting provided the vast majority of their offensive firepower, as the rest of the team combined to shoot 6 of 29 for 18 points.

“We’re really struggling for that third guy to give us a little scoring punch,” Bennett said. “It’s hard when we’re that cold. To be that cold and stay in there is impressive.”

Virginia indeed managed to stay in the game with a sound defensive effort, accompanied by some errant shooting on Virginia Tech’s side. That sentiment particularly held true in the first half, when the Cavaliers went into halftime with a 25-21 lead thanks to 32.1 percent shooting by the Hokies. Virginia Tech’s hot shooting late, however, lifted it to a 42.1 percent second-half performance, and ultimately to a victory.

The Hoos took a 51-48 lead with 2:06 remaining after two big plays from forward Will Sherrill. After a dunk by Tech’s Jeff Allen gave the Hokies a one-point lead and made the Cassell Coliseum crowd go ballistic, Sherrill quieted the Hokie faithful by coolly knocking down a 3 from the top of the key. A free throw from Delaney followed to pull the Hokies within one; on the Hoos next possession, Sherrill recovered a loose ball beyond the 3-point line when his attempted pass was deflected and alertly delivered a bounce pass to Scott at the basket, who dunked to give the Hoos their three-point lead.

However, Allen – who scored all of his 13 points in the second half – wasn’t finished, as he launched Virginia Tech to its 8-0 run. On the Hokies’ ensuing possession, Allen rolled to the basket on a ball-screen, received a pass on the baseline, and finished over Scott, plus a foul for a three-point play. Then, after Calvin Baker missed a baseline jumper, Allen picked up another three points, knocking down a triple off a dish from Dorenzo Hudson to give the Hokies a 54-51 lead.

Landesberg followed by missing a 3-point attempt on the other end – the sophomore made just 1 of 7 from downtown, while Virginia as a whole shot 3 of 18. The Hoos then fouled J.T. Thompson , who made both free throws with 45 seconds remaining to ostensibly put the game away.

“We tried at the end to put the ball in the right people’s hands,” Bennett said. “Whether it’s a good play on their part, or one little breakdown in a possession-by-possession game, that can be it, and that was the case.”

On Virginia’s side, the player who made the most impact on the game – both in positive and negative fashions – was Scott, who finished with an impressive line of 20 points and 13 rebounds. Scott mirrored Allen’s late second-half effort at the end of the first half, finishing a three-point play at the basket and knocking down a triple – his third of the year – to give the Hoos a four-point advantage at halftime. Scott, however, also had some plays he wishes he could have back – such as his missed dunk at the beginning of the game without a Hokie in shouting distance, and his two fouls that put him on the bench for a portion of the first half.

“I talked to Coach [Ritchie] McKay [at halftime], and he was like, ‘How many points does [Allen] have,’ and I was like, ‘zero,'” Scott said. “So you knew he was going to come out and just try to be aggressive, and that’s what he did.”

Another similarity between the Virginia Tech losses is the aftermath, as the Hoos once again have little time to think about what could have been. The Cavaliers continue their trying week with a road game against Maryland on Monday night, which was postponed from last Wednesday due to inclement weather.

When the Hoos dropped a heartbreaker to the Hokies the last time, they bounced back with an emotional win on the road against North Carolina. As the Cavaliers now fall to 5-4 in ACC play, they must perform perhaps an even tougher feat Monday night if they hope to remain in contention for the NCAA Tournament.

“It will be a physical challenge, but it’s, can you mentally prepare yourself, get yourself ready?” Bennett said. “We must.”

Final Stats