UVA’s win streak halted with 62-53 loss at Virginia Tech

By Scott Ratcliffe

Virginia’s four-game win streak came to an end Monday night in Blacksburg, as Virginia Tech held on for a 62-53 win to split the season series.

The Cavaliers (16-10, 10-6 ACC) had taken four of the last five meetings against VT, including three of the last four at Cassell Coliseum, but Tech took advantage of poor UVA second-half shooting to extend its ACC-best win streak to six games.

Keve Aluma scored 16 of his game-high 24 points after halftime, as the Hokies (16-10, 8-7) connected on 17 of 21 free throws to seal the victory.

UVA senior forward Jayden Gardner, who was named ACC Player of the Week a few hours before Monday’s tipoff, had another big first half (15 points, 8 rebounds), but struggled in the second. He only made one of his six shots after halftime, as the Cavaliers shot 33 percent in the second half (10 for 30), and missed all nine attempts from 3-point land on the evening.

The Hokies opened the second half on a 10-2 run, capped by an Aluma and-1 with 15:38 to play, giving them a 35-31 lead.

The Wahoos came out sloppy after halftime, missing eight of nine shots to start the half, until Armaan Franklin converted on the ensuing trip down the floor. That turned out to be the last Cavalier points for over four minutes, as Tech went on to take a 38-33 lead on a Storm Murphy triple.

Kadin Shedrick threw down an alley-oop dunk to get the Hoos within two points as the clock went under 10 minutes, and then Reece Beekman’s monster slam off a Gardner steal drew his team back even, 42-42, with 8:20 to go.

Moments later, Beekman lobbed one up for Shedrick for another highlight-reel finish to knot the game up at 44-apiece, but the Hokies went back up by five on a Nahiem Alleyne 3-pointer as the game approached the six-minute mark.

Gardner got his first bucket of the second half to fall, trimming the Tech lead to 49-46 with 5:46 left, but the Hokies extended it to 54-48 on two Justyn Mutts free throws with just over three minutes to play.

Aluma sank a baseline jumper over Shedrick with 1:19 remaining to beat the shot clock, giving the Hokies a 58-50 lead, and a flagrant foul called on Kihei Clark with 56 seconds left was the final dagger for the Hoos.

Virginia shot 44 percent on the night (22 of 55), making 9 of 12 from the free-throw line and outrebounding Tech, 33-26. The Cavaliers committed 10 turnovers while forcing 6 by the Hokies.

Gardner led the team with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Shedrick had 11 points and 6 boards, while Beekman added 10 points and 4 assists, and Franklin scored 9 points.

FIRST HALF

After two quick baskets by Aluma, the Hoos knotted it up at 4-4 with a pair of putbacks — one by Gardner, one by Francisco Caffaro.

Gardner followed a Franklin miss with an emphatic jam to give Virginia its first lead, and then after a Maddox triple on the other end, Caffaro spun around Mutts and flushed one home as the teams traded punches.

Franklin put the Hoos ahead and then scored again on a mid-range jumper to cap a 6-0 run as UVA held a 14-11 advantage with 10:45 left in the half.

Just as the Hokies cut it to one, Gardner answered with consecutive buckets to make it a five-point Cavalier lead, but Tech struck right back to tie it at 18-all as the half went under six minutes.

Franklin briefly broke the tie with another basket before Hunter Cattoor connected from deep, and the Hokies led 21-20 at the final media timeout. The lead continued to change hands, as Gardner’s three-point play with two minutes remaining gave Virginia a 25-23 edge.

Gardner, who led all scorers with 15 points in the half, sank one from just inside the 3-point line with 49 ticks left, then in the closing seconds, Beekman drove, drew a foul and knocked down two free throws as the Hoos took a 29-25 lead into the locker room.

Clark, who finished the game without just 2 points (1 for 9, 0 for 5 from downtown), picked up his second foul with 5:47 on the clock and watched from the sideline the remainder of the half, with Malachi Poindexter providing minutes off the bench.

There were four ties and nine lead changes in the opening stanza alone, as Virginia shot 48 percent (12 for 25) and the Hokies shot just 36 percent (10 for 28).

Tech, one of the top 3-point shooting teams in the country, made 3 of 13 (23 percent) from long range by halftime, while the Hoos misfired on all three of their first-half attempts from beyond the arc.

Box Score

Team Notes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

• Virginia fell to 16-10, 10-6 ACC
• UVA is 2-2 against the Commonwealth this season (1-1 vs. Virginia Tech)
• UVA is 74-18 against teams from Virginia since 1999-00
• UVA outrebounded VT 33-26
• VT used an 8-0 run to gain a 35-31 lead
• UVA shot 10 of 30 from the field in the second half and finished 22 of 55 (40%)
• UVA led 29-25 at halftime, falling to 12-2 when leading at the half
• UVA failed to make a 3-pointer (0 of 9) for the first time in 176 games
• The last time UVA failed to make a 3-pointer was on Nov. 15, 2016, vs. St. Francis Brooklyn

Series Notes

• Virginia Tech earned a half point in the Smithfield Commonwealth Clash
• The Hokies lead this year’s Clash 5.5-1.5
• Virginia is 96-58 all-time vs. Virginia Tech in the series that dates back to 1914-15
• The Cavaliers are 23-32 all-time at Cassell Coliseum
• Head coach Tony Bennett is 17-8 all-time vs. Virginia Tech

Player Notes

• Double Figure Scorers: Jayden Gardner (17), Kadin Shedrick (11), Reece Beekman (10)
• Gardner (14 rebounds) recorded his 36th career double-double (6th at UVA)
• Gardner tied a season high with 14 rebounds
• Gardner had 15 points and eight rebounds in the first half
• Gardner has made 26 consecutive free throws dating back to Jan. 19 at Pitt
• Gardner reached double figures for the 21st time (94th career)
• Gardner has a nine-game double figure scoring streak
• Shedrick reached double figures for the eighth time (10th career)
• Beekman reached double figures for the ninth time (12th career)
• Beekman’s steal streak ended at 15 games

UP NEXT

The Cavaliers remain on the road for another important conference rematch Saturday at Miami (5 p.m., ACC Network). The Hoos defeated the Hurricanes, 71-58, on Feb. 5 in Charlottesville.