The No. 1 Virginia men’s basketball program clinched a share of the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season championship and the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament with a 65-54 win over Georgia Tech Wednesday night at John Paul Jones Arena. With a road win over Pittsburgh on Saturday, the Cavaliers can secure an outright ACC regular season title for the third time in the last five years.
“This is the third one in five years as the ACC regular champion,” Cavalier head coach Tony Bennett said. “That is not lost on me and all the players that I have been blessed to coach.”
Tonight’s matchup had all the makings of a Virginia blowout. Georgia Tech had lost nine of its last 10, including four straight, and was without injured starting guards Jose Alvarado and Curtis Haywood. With those two players healthy, the Yellow Jackets lost to Virginia in Atlanta by 16 on January 18. Meanwhile, UVA was coming off a road win over Miami, presumably would be refreshed following a 7-day break between games, was playing at home for the first time since becoming the nation’s top-ranked team and had those above accomplishments on the line.
Virginia fans eager to watch their team cruise to victory Wednesday night had no such luck. The Cavaliers seemed a bit rusty following the extended break, giving up some uncharacteristic easy looks, especially in the first half. Between this, a Georgia Tech team that competed throughout and played well overall, and big games from center Ben Lammers and guard Tadric Jackson, this contest proved to be a challenge.
Bennett’s message was simple.
“This group, I told them, `You are trying to do something special, and it is not going to be handed to you,’” he said. “Credit to Georgia Tech and how physical they were and how they came out. We were not great tonight. But that is a credit to them after having two tough losses and some injuries. We had to earn it and outlast them.”
In first-half action, Lammers, who told coach Josh Pastner before the game that he felt better than he had in a long time, scored 11 points and used UVA’s post-trap to set up opportunities for his teammates. UVA led for 12 minutes and 17 seconds of the first-half but needed a 12-8 “run” to close to grab a 31-30 edge heading into locker room. Neither team held more than a 3-point lead over the other in a competitive first 20 minutes.
Lammers and Jackson would give the Hoos fits all night, combining for 37 of Georgia Tech’s 54 points. Virginia’s answer proved to be point guard Ty Jerome and center Mamadi Diakite, who scored 24 of the Cavaliers’ 34 second-half points and came through with key plays to help the Hoos pull away.
Playing with a bandaged right hand because of a thumb injury, Jerome made only 5-of-19 field goals including 1-of-12 from beyond the arc in Virginia’s previous two games against Virginia Tech and Miami. The bandage was gone tonight and the New Rochelle (N.Y.) native responded with 18 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including 4-of-6 from 3. One of his three second-half 3s gave Virginia a 49-43 lead. Another pushed the advantage to 54-45. The sophomore’s final 3 boosted the home team to a 63-51 lead with four minutes and 22 seconds remaining. Jerome scored 15 points in the second half and his team’s final five points of the night.
“I think it was just right spot, right time, some open looks,” Jerome said of his second-half performance. “There was one time Dre was pushing in transition and he found me behind him. Just my teammates doing a good job of finding me in the right spots and I will be able to knock them down.”
Diakite, who averaged just 4.9 points per game entering tonight, scored all nine of his points after halftime, including seven straight between the 16:11 mark and the 12:13 mark. His final field goal came with 5:15 remaining and boosted the Cavalier lead to 60-49. The redshirt sophomore center also played solid defense on Lammers, came up with a steal, and pulled down a key defensive rebound with the Hoos up 56-49.
“I thought he was the most active of their bigs,” Pastner said of Diakite. “I thought he played really well. He was their best defensively in this game and I thought offensively he hurt us in the post. He played well.”
“[Diakite] was huge and he played really well offensively,” Virginia sophomore guard Kyle Guy said. “Defensively, he helped keep [Ben Lammers] in check.”
Redshirt freshman sensation De’Andre Hunter had nine points and five boards for the victors. Kyle Guy, fresh off his engagement, added eight points. Devon Hall scored seven points (all in the second half), pulled down five rebounds and had three assists. Isaiah Wilkins chipped in seven points and five boards while also contributing his usual hustle plays and defense, while fellow post Jack Salt had six points and six rebounds. Reserve point guard Nigel Johnson scored one point and dished out an assist in 10 minutes of action. Every Virginia player who played saw double-digit minutes.
Virginia stepped up its shooting in the second half, making 50% of its field goals and 66.7% of its 3s (4-of-6) after making 46.2% of its field goals and 37.5% of its 3s in the first half. The Hoos shot 47.9% from the field for the game and made 7-of-14 from 3. UVA held a 31-25 edge on the boards, including a 9-7 advantage on the offensive glass. Bench contributions went heavily in Virginia’s favor, with the Hoos outscoring Georgia Tech 19-4 in that area. Each team finished with six turnovers on the night.
“I told our guys, `Not a whole lot of anything else matters right now except us preparing well, playing to win every time we step foot on the floor and then just trying to improve and see what we can learn,’” Bennett said. “Obviously, we want to play well. But to establish tonight the one seed and get a share of it, of course you would like to keep winning. It is just not getting caught up in everything else. That stuff is just insignificant. The rankings, the seeding, what social media says — that is insignificant. I told them, `Do not overcomplicate this. Be about improvement, playing to win and then preparing the right way.’ We will see how far we can take this.”
– Final Stats
– Highlights
– Postgame comments from head coach Tony Bennett
– Postgame comments from Ty Jerome and Isaiah Wilkins
