The Plus/Minus: Virginia Basketball Holds on Late for Win Over Virginia Tech

Plus

A win is a win is a win. The Hoos and the Hokies have gone at it hammer and tong for two games now and Virginia exacted a measure of revenge for a triple-overtime New Year’s Eve loss. Winning in March is better than winning in December and this win probably knocks Tech out of the NCAA tourney and into the NIT. Where they can rot for all I care.

Plus

Rivalry games rarely follow scripts, but this one felt familiar. Virginia came out blistering Tech from all angles to open a 19 – 3 lead and remained firmly in control at the half with a 41 – 25 lead. Virginia looked ready to glide into the postseason, but for the next 20 minutes Virginia Tech threw everything it had at the walls of John Paul Jones Arena.

At the 1:47 mark, 18 minutes into an agonizing half, Ugonna Onyenso (!) drained this three:

🚨 We have another Ugo three

📺 The CW#GoHoos pic.twitter.com/m5wJFlnWq6
— Virginia Men's Basketball (@UVAMensHoops) March 7, 2026

It was the first time in the second half that I felt that the game was ours.

Plus

And while I am on it, who had “Ugonna Onyenso Leads Virginia in Scoring” on their Bingo card? Onyenso scored those 16 points in just 19 minutes on 5/7 shooting. He was perfect from the charity stripe (4/4) and dynamite from deep (2/3.) For good measure he had three blocks and three offensive boards.

Minus

If there is a player I actively want to transfer away from the ACC, it is Tech’s Ben Hammond. After eviscerating Virginia for 30 points in the New Year’s Eve triple-overtime classic, Hammond followed up with a game-high 21 points. He also added five assists and five steals. Whenever shots stopped falling for Tech, Hammond was able to get to the line where he went 6/8. I am thoroughly sick of him.

Minus

47 second half points! 47 second half points!!! I’d like to blame 47 points on Tech raining holy fire from deep or some elaborate edge in free throws, and it wasn’t anything like that. Tech made it a game just by playing harder, and it’s not like the Cavs were coasting. They just weren’t as laser-focused and Virginia let a lesser foe back into the game. And that is problematic.

Minus

Tech’s Jaden Schutt is annoying. If anything, he’s regressed this year, but he is a situational three-point gunner who can hurt you. Strange stat line from this game: he was 0/7 from deep, but he had a couple of assists and a pair of steals. The 0/7 jumps out at you, though, and six of those came in the second half. Despite spectacularly not scoring, Schutt nevertheless had a +18 box plus/minus. In a game Tech lost. It was the highest plus/minus for both teams, and it wasn’t particularly close.

Plus

It was Senior Day and while they weren’t here very long, Sam Lewis, Malik Thomas and Dallin Hall were honored before the game. Each stamped their will on the game, and Virginia walked away with the win as a result.

Hall was scoreless but he dished out nine assists. This is his second 0-point, 9-assist performance of the season and I’m trying to figure what better says “Virginia Point Guard” than a 0 and 9 performance.

Thomas matched Onyenso with 16 points and hit several tough, late‑clock shots that kept the Hokies from ever taking the lead. His driving layup with 12 minutes left stopped a 9–0 Tech run; his mid‑range jumper with under four minutes left pushed the lead back to two possessions. These weren’t highlight plays — they were survival plays.

Lewis’s 15 points were the definition of “don’t forget about me.” He dunked in transition, hit a corner three, and finished through contact on a key second‑half possession when Tech had cut the lead to five. His athleticism gave Tech problems all afternoon, especially in the first half when Virginia was running cleaner offense. After scoring just two points in the previous two games, this was a bounce-back game to remember for Sam Lewis.

Minus

Outside of Onyenso, the Bench mob wasn’t ready for primetime. Chance Mallory laid a goose egg, Jacari White was 1/5 from deep and Devin Tillis scored a whopping four points. And collectively, this is becoming a trend.

The "bench mob" hasn't been as great in the past three games.

Only outscoring opponents 74-65.

Here are the "+-"

Mallory -32
Ugo -29
Tillis -26
White -20

Compared to the starters:

Hall +12
Grunloh +10
Lewis +7
Ridder +3
Thomas -10
— Danny Neckel (@DNeckel19) March 7, 2026

Jacari is hot and cold and Mallory could be hitting the freshman wall.

Beating Tech is always worthy of breaking out the Good Ol' Song:

One final Good Old Song for the UVA players at JPJ.

Players were the ones who initiated wanting to stay on the floor to sing with fans this season. pic.twitter.com/A9sJKXfY5G
— Preston Willett (@PrestonWillett) March 7, 2026

Next Up: It’s the ACC Tournament, baby, as Virginia claims the #2 seed. Traditionally the #2 seed plays the 7:00pm game on Thursday, but ESPN wanted Duke for that slot, so Virginia plays the opening game this Thursday, March 12th. Virginia will get the winner of the NC State vs the winner of Stanford v Pitt first round game. Here’s hoping we get NC State and a third time to hammer the nail into coach Will Wade and the Wolfpack.