Cold-as-ice Virginia clobbered by Hokies at the Cassell

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Mike Young is too good of a basketball coach to settle for what happened to his team in Charlottesville a month ago. He wasn’t going to have a repeat in the rematch Monday night, especially on his home court.

Virginia Tech punched visiting rival Virginia squarely in the mouth from the very beginning of the game, and the Cavaliers’ response was soft. The result was the worst beatdown in the series since a 34-point loss in 1961, when Tech was known as the VPI Gobblers.

While the loss likely won’t impact Virginia’s current status in the eyes of national bracketologists (the Cavaliers presently are slated an eight-seed in the Big Dance), it did hurt their feelings as they left Blacksburg wondering if their self respect was still intact.

“They’re very physical and we didn’t handle that physicality well,” said UVA coach Tony Bennett of the 75-41 collapse. “We were behind in every way, shape and form on the defensive end, so they thoroughly outplayed us. That’s a tough way to go down.

“We were on a fine line, and if we’re not right, separation can occur. That’s happened to us this year a few times. You’d hope at this stage it wouldn’t, but it did, and it’s a credit to how well Virginia Tech played, but also we didn’t have the right mindset.”

This separation was colossal, the sixth loss this season by 15 or more points.

This one changed so quickly during a 20-0 run in the first half that Tech had its way, throwing one haymaker after another. Virginia looked like a blinded boxer, swinging wildly, desperately, never landing a punch.

It was over at the break, 36-16, Hokies. The hosts, who are a different animal at home (12-2) in one of the toughest venues in the league, didn’t even have to rely on their two dependable sharpshooters to get the job done. Sean Pedulla and Hunter Cattoor were a combined 4 of 14 shooting for 14 points.

Instead, Young took a different approach. He knew that in the previous matchup, Virginia’s Jordan Minor (making only his second start as a Cavalier) and freshman backup Blake Buchanan destroyed the Hokies in the paint with a combined 24 points. UVA outscored Tech 36-20 in the paint that night.

“We’ve got to win that matchup,” Young said emphatically. “It can’t be a toss-up.”

Center Lynn Kidd (14 points, 5 of 5, 7 rebounds, and drew six fouls) and forward Robbie Beran (13 points, 4 of 4) dominated the paint as Minor was held in check, fouling out with only 13 minutes and change of floor time and 1 of 4 shooting, one rebound, and 5 points. Buchanan didn’t score.

Tech (15-11, 7-8 ACC) established beachheads in the paint early and never relented.

Virginia (20-7, 11-5) fell apart at the seams and left Bennett scratching his head as he left Cassell Coliseum, where he has lost the last four times.

“Everything’s a concern,” Bennett said. “Who are we? How are we going to respond to this? You have to be honest to say that got away from us, and at this stage you hoped it wouldn’t.

“But that’s not the end of the story at all. It’s, ‘OK, let’s tighten some things up.’”

Virginia has the rest of the week to lick its wounds and brace for the ACC’s first-place team, North Carolina, coming to town for a Saturday showdown.