Virginia Completes Sweep Of Virginia Tech With Road Win

Virginia is 23-2.
Kyle Guy celebrates a dunk in the first half of UVA’s win. ~ Photo courtesy Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics Media Relations

In a contest between two of the nation’s top 3-point shooting teams, Virginia won the long-range showdown against Virginia Tech on Monday night. The Cavaliers lit up Blacksburg with 11 3-pointers, while the Hokies made just three of their own. That difference helped propel the Hoos to a 64-58 win and the season sweep of their rivals for the first time since 2015.

UVA came into the game shooting 40% from behind the arc, good enough for sixth nationally, and matched that with an 11-of-27 shooting night on the road (40.7%). VT, meanwhile, entered the game at 41.8% shooting from downtown, which ranked third nationally, but hit just 3 of 28 against the Hoos (10.7%).

“All credit to Virginia,” Tech coach Buzz Williams said. “Incredibly well coached. Early entry Hall of Fame coach. Very disciplined on how they play on both ends of the floor. Their defense was third in the country and their offense is fifth so you are for sure stressed out regardless of whether you have possession of the ball or not. All credit to them defensively.”

Virginia’s starting backcourt combo of Kyle Guy and Ty Jerome led the shooting display for the visitors. Guy knocked down 6 of 13 triples en route to a team-high 23 points. He also secured a team-high 7 rebounds to go with 3 assists and 2 steals. He’s been at the 20-point plateau in three straight games, the first Cavaliers to do that since Malcolm Brogdon did it in February 2016.

Guy also made a move on some career lists with his performance. He passed Adam Hall (1,104) for 43rd on the program’s career scoring list and London Perrantes (211) for sixth on the program’s career 3-pointers list.

Virginia is 23-2.
Ty Jerome looks for driving room during Virginia’s win. ~ Photo courtesy Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics Media Relations

Jerome added 16 points with a good shooting night of his own. He made 3 of 6 triples and 6 of 10 shots overall. Jerome also dished out 6 assists to go with 3 rebounds and 1 steal. Two of Jerome’s 3’s came in the second half, including one to break a 34-34 all tie that gave his team the lead for good and one with 9:18 to go that quelled a brewing Hokie rally.

Many of Guy’s 3-pointers, on the other hand, came during the first half as he helped the Wahoos stay ahead on the scoreboard through some careless turnovers and fould trouble for De’Andre Hunter. Guy made four 3-pointers as part of 17 points in the first half. That included a corner 3-pointer in the final minute that helped UVA take a 32-29 lead into intermission. He also had a two-handed tip-dunk that brought out a yell.

“Kyle kept us in it with his three-point shooting but no one kept us in [it defensively],” Cavalier coach Tony Bennett said. “We were not sharp defensively, we were loose with the ball. But then the second half it turned in the right direction. He was banging shots, he had 17 the first half.”

Virginia lost Virginia Tech cutters for shots at the rim multiple times in the first half, including on two inbounds plays, and the Hokies created multiple open 3-point looks in the first 20 minutes too. While the hosts struggled to take advantage of those opportunities, Bennett was clearly not happy with the execution of his team. Throw in eight turnovers, including one right before the half that led to a layup, and he wanted to see a better second half from the the Hoos.

They delivered, particularly during the first 14 minutes of the second half as the lead grew to 13 points. The Cavaliers broke a 34-34 tie with a 14-4 run that first pushed the margin to double digits. When Braxton Key knocked down a 3-pointer just after the 6:00 mark, that surge grew to 22-9 and Virginia led 56-43.

Hunter came through during that stretch on both ends of the floor. He hit a jumper and pulled down back-to-back offensive rebounds to get a bucket. He got a steal and ran out to a two-handed dunk. He blocked a shot to force a shot clock violation. That all pushed him to 10 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 blocked shot despite sitting most of the first half with foul trouble.

Hunter’s second half meant that all three of Guy, Jerome, and Hunter landed in double figures with 49 points between them. The Wahoos also got 8 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocked shots, 1 assist, and 1 steal from Mamadi Diakite. Key posted 6 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 blocked shot too.

“In the second half, we played a lot harder,” Hunter said. “I felt like in the first half, personally I felt like they were missing a defensive guy out there. We were making a lot of mistakes and we were getting beat off the ball and off screens and stuff. In the second half, I just tried to bring the on-ball presence and talk a little off the ball to help the team.”

Defensively, UVA held Tech to 33% shooting in the second half after the hosts made 46% in the first half. VT still trailed by 10 points entering the final minute before a couple of buckets in the final 30 seconds trimmed the final margin. Kerry Blackshear led the Hokies with 23 points and 13 rebounds, while Ahmed Hill put in 16 points. Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 11 points and 4 assists.

“I liked our second half. Wasn’t perfect, but I liked how they responded. I did not like our first half at all,” Bennett said. “We played a better, sounder, tougher game physically and mentally on both ends. First half that wasn’t the case, second half it was for us.”

Final Stats