Tale of the Tape: Virginia at Georgia Tech
Posted on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020, 3:51 pm
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Virginia’s Jay Huff lofts a one-hander over South Carolina’s Alonso Frink earlier this season (Photo by John Markon).
Virginia squares off against Georgia Tech in Atlanta tonight at 8 p.m. on ACC Network, as the Cavaliers will be hungrier than ever to get back into the win column. UVA is a 1½-point favorite, and has won 13 of the last 15 against its old conference rival to the south.
The Wahoos (11-5, 3-3 ACC) have dropped three in a row, the latest a four-point heartbreaker in Tallahassee Wednesday night. Virginia has been competitive, using second-half scoring spurts to get back in the game after falling behind in the first 20 minutes of all three losses, but hasn’t been able to finish.
UVA sits at No. 42 overall (2nd AdjD, 240th AdjO) in the latest KenPom ratings, with GT ranked 85th in the land (28th AdjD, 194th AdjO). The Yellow Jackets (8-9, 3-4) have been inconsistent all season, alternating wins and losses over their past nine games dating back to a week before Christmas.
Josh Pastner’s club has already dropped five games on their home floor at McCamish Pavilion — against Arkansas (62-61 in OT), Syracuse (97-63), Ball State (65-47), Duke (73-64) and Notre Dame (78-74).
The Jackets have also won on the road at NC State, North Carolina and Boston College, however, while hanging tight with Kentucky into the second half at Rupp Arena, so it’s hard to say which Tech team will show up Saturday night.
Sophomore guard Michael Devoe is the Ramblin’ Wreck’s leading scorer at 16.5 points per game, and he did all he could in the loss Wednesday against the Fighting Irish, finishing with 22 on 9-of-15 shooting. Devoe has scored in double figures in all but four games in 2019-20.
The UVA bigs will have their hands full in the paint against one of the best interior duos in the conference. Junior power forward Moses Wright is the team’s top rebounder with 8 a night, while also scoring 13.8 points per game, and senior big man James Banks III (6-foot-10, 250 pounds) scores 10.4 points an outing to go along with 7.5 boards, and is one of the ACC’s top rim protectors with 50 blocked shots on the season, nearly three per game.
Third-year point guard Jose Alvarado (10.4 ppg) is one of the league’s most talented point guards with 5.3 assists per contest. Senior Junior wing Jordan Usher (8.8 ppg) rounds out the starters, with Bubba Parham and Khalid Moore contributing significant minutes off the bench.
Just like the Cavaliers at 27 percent from deep on the season, the Jackets have had their struggles from 3-point range, shooting just 29 percent from downtown. It could all come down to who can get the most 3s to drop, as each team puts up at least 17 a game, despite the poor results.
UVA senior forward Mamadi Diakite has been putting up solid numbers despite foul trouble, averaging 14.5 points and 7 boards over his past two games. Sophomore Kihei Clark must recover from a career-worst, nine-turnover performance against Florida State. The Wahoos’ supporting cast will need to step it up a notch and chip in, in order to put an end to the losing streak.
No matter the outcome, it’ll be a quick turnaround for the ‘Hoos, as they will have less than 48 hours to head back and get ready for NC State on Monday night in a nationally-televised affair (7 p.m., ESPN) at John Paul Jones Arena.
