MBB: Hoos hold off Hokies in Blacksburg, 73-70, to even up season series

By Scott Ratcliffe

Virginia hung on in another hard-fought battle against Virginia Tech Saturday, earning a split in the season series with a 73-70 win in Blacksburg.

Isaac McKneely caught fire after halftime, pouring in four of his six 3-pointers and 16 of his team-high 22 points in the second half to lead the charge. His final basket of the day — a tough triple off a screen in a one-possession ballgame — temporarily silenced Cassell Coliseum with 2:56 remaining, giving his team a 69-64 edge.

The Hokies (11-14, 6-8 ACC) still managed to trim it to a single point twice from there, but UVA first-year big man Anthony Robinson put the final nail in the coffin with a powerful alley-oop jam to make it 73-70 with just over a minute to play.

Both teams misfired on 3-point attempts in the final minute, as Tech corralled a defensive rebound with 10 seconds left and had one last chance to tie it up, but Ben Burnham’s 3-point try was off the mark, and Ron Sanchez escaped with his first Commonwealth Clash win against the rival Hokies.

With the victory, the Cavaliers (13-12, 6-8) are back above the .500 mark for the first time since Jan. 8 and have won their last three games overall, four of the last five and five of the last seven.

Tech held on for a 75-74 victory in the first meeting two weeks ago at John Paul Jones Arena, in a game that saw UVA fight back from a large deficit, only to lose at the buzzer. Those roles were reversed in Round Two, as the Wahoos built a 15-point advantage in the first half and led 40-33 at halftime.

The Hokies kept chipping away, getting within two possessions on several occasions, but couldn’t narrow the gap until back-to-back 3-pointers by Brandon Rechsteiner and Ben Hammond made it a three-point affair, 64-61, as the clock went under four minutes, bringing the Tech crowd back into it down the stretch.

Crunch time was electric, with each side fighting hard and trading blows, as Hammond scored on a pair of tough drives (he added a free throw after drawing a foul on the former), cutting it to 69-68 as the rematch went under two minutes to play.

Robinson, who had a monster day of his own, sank two free throws with 1:44 remaining to push the UVA lead back to three, but Tech’s Tyler Johnson answered with a bucket to make it 71-70 with 1:17 on the clock. Out of a timeout, Sanchez drew up what turned out to be the game-sealing connection from Andrew Rohde to Robinson.

Virginia used a 10-1 scoring spurt — capped by an Ishan Sharma 3-ball — to break an early tie and grab a 17-8 advantage with 12:26 left in the opening half. Rohde, Dai Dai Ames and Elijah Saunders each added triples across the following five minutes and change, as the Cavaliers took their largest lead of the day, 32-17.

The Hokies went on a 14-3 run of their own to get within four points in the final minute of the first half, but Saunders had the last laugh, sinking a 3-pointer from the corner just before the halftime horn. There was some extra-curricular trash-talking from both teams after the play that led to two technical fouls for each squad (Rohde and Saunders for Virginia). That resulted in Rohde battling foul trouble for much of the second half after he was whistled for his third personal just 14 seconds in. Luckily for Cavalier fans, his teammates were able to pick up the slack and emerge with the big win.

UVA converted on 23 of its 50 field-goal attempts (46 percent), knocking down 11 of 31 from 3-point range (36 percent) and 16 of 19 (84 percent) from the free-throw line, and prevailed by a slim margin in the rebounding category (30-28). The Hoos scored 17 points off of Tech’s 10 giveaways.

Robinson set career highs in points (15) and rebounds (7), doing a good deal of his damage from the free-throw line (7 for 8). The Peachtree City, Ga., native was 4 for 5 from the field and also blocked a pair of shots across 18 productive minutes off the bench.

Ames also finished in double figures, scoring 9 of his 11 points in the first half while also dishing out 5 assists. Rohde continued his impressive play, adding 7 points, 9 assists and 4 rebounds, only turning the ball over twice.

The Hokies, who also shot 46 percent (23 for 50) from the field, went 42 percent (10 of 24) from downtown and 82 percent (14 for 17) from the charity stripe, and were paced by Tobi Lawal’s 23 points and 7 rebounds, both game highs. Hammond added 11 points, while Johnson scored 9 and Young chipped in 8 in the losing effort.

Team Notes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

• The Cavaliers improved to 13-12 overall, 6-8 ACC
• Virginia earned a half point with the win in the Smithfield Commonwealth Clash, but the Cavaliers lead this year’s Clash 6.0-3-0
• UVA is 4-7 away from home, including a 3-5 mark in ACC road games
• UVA has a three-game road win streak (Miami, Pitt, Virginia Tech)
• UVA shot 55.6 percent and made 7 of 15 3-pointers en route to a 40-33 halftime lead
• Virginia went on a 12-1 run to gain a 17-8 lead
• UVA (11 3-pointers) has made six or more 3-pointers in 23 games
• Virginia is 176-12 all-time when scoring 70 or more points since 2009-10 (8-1 in 2024-25)
• UVA won the rebound battle 30-28, improving to 10-1 when outrebounding its opponent

Series Notes

• UVA ended its four-game losing streak against the Hokies at Cassell Coliseum, winning for the first time since Feb. 26, 2020 (56-53)
• Virginia is 99-61 all-time vs. Virginia Tech, including a 24-34 mark in Blacksburg, in a series that dates to 1914-15
• Virginia Tech defeated Virginia 75-74 on Feb. 1
• Virginia’s 73 points were its most against the Hokies at Cassell Coliseum since posting a 78-52 win on Jan. 3, 2018

Player Notes

• Double Figure Scorers: Isaac McKneely (22), Anthony Robinson (15), Dai Dai Ames (11)
• McKneely netted his sixth 20-point game (11 career)
• McKneely matched a career high with six 3-pointers
• McKneely reached double figures for the 19th time (45 career)
• McKneely (6 3-pointers) has made multiple 3-pointers in 18 games
• Ames reached double figures for the fourth consecutive game and eighth time this season (16 career)
• Robinson had career highs in points (15) and rebounds (7)
• Robinson reached double figures for the first time
• Robinson matched a career highs with two blocks
• Andrew Rohde registered his third straight game with nine assists
• Rohde’s assist streak without a turnover ended at 34
• Rohde has 34 assists and two turnovers in his last four games

UP NEXT

Virginia has another short turnaround before hosting No. 3 Duke on Big Monday (8 p.m., ESPN).