The Virginia basketball team lost for the first time in a month on Saturday. The Hoos brought a seven-game winning streak into the game at Blacksburg with their last loss at Pittsburgh on Jan. 3, but rival Virginia Tech snapped that run with a 74-68 victory.
The Hokies never trailed in the game and the score stood tied just three times because the hosts had an answer to every attempted run by the Cavaliers. UVA fell to 17-4 overall and 9-3 in the ACC with the defeat.
“Great college atmosphere, it really was,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. “I told the guys that’s fun to compete in that, but it’s not fun to lose and it stinks to come out on the other side. The heart was there, but to win in this setting against a team that’s playing good basketball, and Tech is and they’ve got the players, you’ve got to be heart and smart. You can’t just be all heart. It’s gotta be smart. And we were for stretches and they made us make some adjustments that helped a little bit, but they made the big shots.”
The second half provided plenty of examples for Bennett’s observation. The Hoos forced the final tie of the afternoon at 38-38 with 15:09 to play when Jayden Gardner scored at the rim, but Justyn Mutts immediately answered with a traditional three-point play to put his team back in front.
That bucket started a 17-7 run for the Hokies that quickly regrew the lead to 10 points at 55-45. The Cavaliers rattled off seven unanswered points to make it a one possession game again, but Grant Basile got a layup and Hunter Cattoor nailed a 3-pointer to stop the rally. After that, Virginia climbed within four points multiple times in the final two minutes but Tech got a basket or converted forced free throw line trips to get the finish line with a win.
When you look at the Hokies’ numbers, it’s clear that their offense was up to the task overall too and not just in clutch moments. They shot 50.9% from the floor (27-53), 38.9% from 3 (7-18), and 76.5% from the free throw line (13-17). VT scored 40 points in the paint and dished out 19 assists as well.
Four players posted double figures to lead the attack. Sean Pedulla had 22 points and 2 assists, while Cattoor had 10 points and 2 assists. The Tech frontcourt caused significant problems as Mutts tallied 17 points and 8 assists, while Basile added 14 points and 4 assists.
Virginia just couldn’t put together stops consistently despite numerous strategy shifts defensively.
“What they did a very good job of today was when we had a lapse or a breakdown, they made us pay,” Bennett said. “Every time we were around and the game was tight, either we just weren’t as plugged in or missed a coverage or being in the right spot, boom it was a bucket.”
Of course, that part wasn’t drastically different from the first meeting in Charlottesville when UVA won 78-68. In that game, the Hokies shot 49.1% overall, 44.4% from 3, and had 19 assists too. In that contest, however, the Hoos matched the firepower with 50.8% shooting and 19 assists of their own.
Virginia could not quite reach the same formula in the road loss. The offense landed at 40.98% shooting overall (25-61) and 33.3% from 3-point range (6-18) with 14 assists. The first half saw the visitors struggle to consistently break down the defense and get stuck on the perimeter a little bit. They got some better action toward the rim in the second half, but couldn’t string together enough scoring to surge into the lead.
Gardner led the way with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Kihei Clark added 17 points and 4 assists, while Reece Beekman came through with 15 points and 5 assists. Isaac McKneely had 8 points too. Armaan Franklin had 6 points, his first single-digit outing of 2023, and Ben Vander Plas did not score.
“They did a good job holding our cutters, not holding, but making us fight to get open off screens,” Bennett said. “They just spread out and worked and made us shoot some contested shots. You know, it kind of came down to that.”
That was just enough for the Hokies to get the split in the season series. Virginia has lost three straight games in Blacksburg and is now 5-3 in true road games this season.
The Hoos will try to put the rivalry setback behind them quickly with three home games sandwiched around a trip to Louisville up next. They remain in tight contention for the ACC Regular Season Championship.
“It was just one of those games,” Bennett said. “It was hard fought. It was very competitive, but they outlasted us a little bit in this one and made the plays down the stretch.”
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