Virginia Can’t Buy a Three, Falls at Virginia Tech 62-53
Over the course of Virginia’s four-game winning streak, the Cavaliers showed that they were capable of winning games with very little production from beyond the arc. They even took down top-10 Duke at Cameron despite making just two three-pointers in the game.
On Monday night in Blacksburg, that trend reached an extreme and the Hoos paid the price. UVA discovered just how difficult it is to win a game without making a single three-point field goal, going 0/9 from three-point range and watching their win streak come to an end as Virginia fell to Virginia Tech 62-53 at Cassell Coliseum.
Just a few hours before tipoff, it was announced that Jayden Gardner had been named the ACC Men’s Basketball Player of the Week, becoming the first Cavalier to win the award this season. In the first half, Gardner lived up to the title, recording 15 points and eight rebounds.
The Cavaliers and Hokies went back and forth in a very physical and intense first half. Virginia Tech routinely broke down the Virginia defense for easy layups and dunks, but Gardner put the Cavaliers on his back to keep things close. UVA scored the final four points of the half and took a 29-25 lead into the intermission.
Virginia Tech opened the second half on a strong 9-2 run to regain the lead. The Hokies ratcheted it up their interior defense, shutting down Jayden Gardner, who was held to just two points in the second half, and forcing the Cavaliers to settle for perimeter shots. Gardner finished with a 17-point, 14-rebound double-double, but was largely a non-factor in the second half. The Hokies blocked four of UVA’s first nine shots in the half, including three blocked shots on a single possession.
Virginia Tech also took very good care of the ball, turning it over only six times in the game. With Virginia continuing to be ice cold from the perimeter and Gardner being sealed off by the Hokie defense, the Cavaliers looked for another scoring option and found one in Kadin Shedrick, who scored all 11 of his points in the second half.
Kihei Clark, who has played very well against Virginia Tech in his career, had the definition of an off-night. Straddled with foul trouble for most of the game and showered with “air-ball” chants by the Virginia Tech crowd every time he touched the ball, Clark registered just 2 points on 1/9 shooting from the field and went 0/5 from beyond the arc. Reece Beekman made up some of the slack, scoring 10 points, including a thunderous dunk over Keve Aluma in the second half.
Virginia was within striking distance of Virginia Tech for most of the second half, and even tied the game at 42-42 with eight minutes to go, but the Hoos were unable to fully overtake the Hokies.
Virginia Tech leads the ACC in three-point shooting, but the Hokies did not shoot very well from three either, going 5/20. Those five threes were critical, though, and Nahiem Alleyne hit a catch-and-shoot triple to give Virginia Tech some separation as the game entered its final minutes.
Keve Aluma, who scored 22 points in the first meeting between the two teams on January 12th, had another strong performance, recording 24 points on 10/14 shooting and eight rebounds. He hit a backbreaking fadeaway jumper over Shedrick to put Virginia Tech up by eight with just over a minute remaining.
The Hokies converted their free throws in the final minute to seal the 62-53 victory, resulting in a 1-1 split in the Commonwealth Clash.
With the loss, Virginia falls to 16-10 and 10-6 in ACC play. UVA will play at Miami on Saturday at 5pm.
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