Five Takeaways From Virginia Basketball's Loss to Georgia Tech at ACC Tournament

Virginia (15-17) was eliminated from the ACC Tournament and almost assuredly ended its season with a 66-60 loss to No. 8 seed Georgia Tech (17-15) in the second round of the 2025 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament on Wednesday afternoon at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. Let's break down some takeaways from UVA's short stay in Charlotte.

Virginia goes one-and-done

It's been a season full of the worst kind of "firsts" for Virginia. With this loss, the Cavaliers went one-and-done at the ACC Tournament for the first time since 2013 and failed to reach at least the quarterfinals for the first time since 2011. It also snapped a 13-game winning streak for Virginia in the series against Georgia Tech, with the Yellow Jackets avenging their regular season loss to the Cavaliers by winning against UVA for the first time since January 9th, 2016. Finally, with this almost certainly marking the end of the season, Virginia will finish with a losing record for the first time since 2009-2010, Tony Bennett's first season at UVA.

Isaac McKneely was a one-man show

Isaac McKneely did everything he could to put Virginia on his back in this game. He scored a game-high and season-high 27 points and shot a blistering 7/11 from beyond the arc, including a couple of high-difficulty triples in the final minute of the game that helped the Hoos trim the Georgia Tech lead down to just two points after the Jackets had built a 13-point lead with three minutes to go. But it wasn't enough, as McKneely was the only Cavalier to score in double figures. McKneely shot 9/17 from the floor, while the rest of the team shot 12/41 and 2/14 from beyond the arc. We'll talk about UVA's defense shortly, but the Cavaliers needed someone else to step up offensively and no one did.

Powell, Ndongo, George dice up Virginia in the paint

Virginia has had trouble competing in the paint this season. The first meeting with Georgia Tech was one of the exceptions, with UVA winning the rebounding battle 38-24 and outscoring GT in the paint by six points. But it wasn't surprising that, in the rematch, the Yellow Jackets, who are strong and physical and willing to put their heads down to get to the rim, made mince meat out of what has been a vulnerable UVA interior defense all season long. Georgia Tech outscored Virginia 40-24 in the paint, outrebounded UVA 44-26, and scored 13 second chance points off of 11 offensive rebounds. In the first half, it was Baye Ndongo who scored in the paint no matter who was guarding him, making all four of his shots. In the second half, Duncan Powell caught fire, scoring 15 of his team-high 21 points after halftime as he bullied every UVA defender on his way to the basket. Naithan George was the conductor, setting up Powell and Ndongo going towards to the basket and finishing with a near triple double (13 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists). Those three players combined to score 50 of Georgia Tech's 66 points.

UVA's front court struggles; where was Anthony Robinson?

Though not quite as bad as the loss at Syracuse in the regular season finale, this was another poor showing from Virginia's front court. Elijah Saunders offered next to nothing on the offensive end, going 0/7 from three, and he was consistently outmuscled by Baye Ndongo. Blake Buchanan had only four rebounds and didn't offer much in the realm of rim protection either. Jacob Cofie had a fine game offensively, scoring nine points on 4/8 shooting, but he was often caught guarding Georgia Tech's guards after UVA switched a ball screen. There was no report of an injury to Anthony Robinson, who was described as Virginia's "most physical presence" by Ron Sanchez in Monday's pre-ACC Tournament press conference. Yet, in a game where the Cavaliers were decisively losing the physicality battle, especially in the front court, Anthony Robinson never took off his warm-up shirt.

End of the season, end of an era?

Barring a highly unlikely selection to a national postseason tournament, this is the end of the 2024-2025 Virginia men's basketball season. In all likelihood, it's also the end of the line for Ron Sanchez and Tony Bennett's old staff at Virginia, unofficially closing the book on the Bennett era of UVA basketball. Maybe the new head coach will retain some of the young coaches/former players like Kyle Guy or Isaiah Wilkins, but even then, the program is due for a seismic shift in system and philosophy. We will find out soon who on this current roster, which included only one scholarship player who has no remaining eligibility (Tane Murray), will be around for the start of a new era of Virginia basketball.

The transfer portal opens on Monday, March 24th.

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