Josh Pastner High on Virginia

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Josh Pastner believes if Virginia continues to play the way it did in a dominating, 81-51 rout of his Georgia Tech team on Wednesday night, that the Cavaliers can win the national championship.

The Yellow Jackets’ coach must have really been convinced because he reminded media numerous times during his seven-minute post-game on his thoughts about UVA winning the natty. Those comments were sandwiched between his feelings about the makeup of the nation’s No. 2 ranked team.

“I think [Virginia] has multiple pros on their team, multiple first-round draft picks,” Pastner said. “In this league, to win at the level that they’re winning, you’ve got to have draft picks, multiple NBA guys. “

No arguments after watching the Cavaliers dissect the Yellow Jackets, shred Tech’s unique zone defense with a torrid shooting performance. Virginia shot 56 percent from the field (30-54) and 53 percent from behind the arc (9-17) en route to its 25th win in 27 games (13-2 in ACC).

The win locked up a double bye for the Cavaliers in the upcoming ACC Tournament in Charlotte as UVA hit the 25-win mark for the ninth time in program history, five of those under Tony Bennett.

As much praise as Pastner heaped on the Cavaliers, it bounced off Bennett’s players.

“We try to tune everything out, the good comments and bad comments and just play our game,” said junior point guard Ty Jerome, who led all scorers with 19 points. “But that’s a great compliment from a great coach, so I’m thankful for that too.”

On this night, Pastner’s impression of UVA was understandable. His young team had lost nine of its last 10 games and the Jackets had no answer for the experienced Cavaliers.

The Wahoos dominated virtually every statistical category as they whipped Tech for the fifth straight time, the seventh in a row in Charlottesville.

Points in the paint? Check. (42 to 26).

Second chance points? Check. (12-2).

Bench points? Check. (18-7).

Rebounds? Check. (41-21).

Shooting? Fuhgeddaboudit.

There was really no suspense in this one as predicted by the Vegas oddsmakers who made Virginia a 21-point favorite. It was 41-22 at halftime and only got uglier as Bennett emptied his bench and allowed his starters to rest their legs a bit down the stretch.

Guy was the only Wahoo to clock 30 minutes of court time and he delivered with 11 points.

De’Andre Hunter, who was definitely in takeover mode in the first half (14 of his 18 points), finished with a 6-for-10 shooting performance and made all five free throws.

All this success gave way to some of UVA’s other players such as point guard Kihei Clark who hit both of his 3-point attempts and dished out six assists and no turnovers in an 8-point performance. Braxton Key, whose 3-point shot came back to life at VIrginia Tech last week, hit 2-of-3 against the Jackets, while Mamadi Diakite scored seven points, grabbed a career-high eight rebounds, and extended his streak of games with at least one blocked shot to 20.

Oh, and then there was 7-1 Jay Huff, who made 4-of-5 shots, all resounding dunks, and blocked a shot without his feet leaving the floor.

It wouldn’t be a complete game in Bennett’s mind if Virginia didn’t dominate the defensive end of the floor and that’s exactly what his players did. Tech only managed six offensive boards and was held to 37.5 percent shooting for the game (21-56) with many of the Jackets’ makes coming well after things were academic.

UVA has now held Tech to 54 points or less during its five-game winning streak over the Georgians.

“We played solid tonight,” Bennett said. “We did what we had to do. We played well enough to be able to get everybody an opportunity, which I think is important. Sometimes in this league you don’t have that opportunity.”

The Cavaliers, which have now faced some zone versus Notre Dame, Louisville, and Georgia Tech, have figured out how to successfully attack. Hunter is a dangerous presence in the high post with his shooting, driving, and passing ability.

In addition, Jerome and Guy managed to sneak behind the zone and into the corners for either dribble penetration or 3-point opportunities.

Hunter, who took over the Louisville game in the second half, is performing at a high level as he heads down the stretch. Expected to leave UVA after this, his redshirt sophomore season, and enter the NBA draft, he was one of the multiple pro players Pastner kept referring to.

“I just feel like we’re playing better,” Hunter said about the team clicking. “We’ve been working at practice and it has been translating back to the game a lot more.”

Jerome gave Hunter more credit than Hunter was willing to give to himself.

“De’Andre is a great scorer and great all-around player,” Jerome said. “When he comes out aggressive and he’s hitting, he gives us points and opens up the floor for everyone else. It makes it much easier for us.”

Easy enough to put Virginia is the same category as the ACC’s traditional blue bloods.

Over the past six seasons (and this one certainly isn’t finished), the Cavaliers have won 168 games and lost 35.  In ACC play only, they’re 86-19, and have won 13 or more conference games for the fifth time in the last six seasons.

Perhaps enough to win the natty as Pastner suggested.

“Probably, maybe the odds-on favorite to do it,” Pastner said.