Hauser Lifts No. 13 Virginia Past Georgia Tech

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Sam Hauser (Stevens Point, Wis.) scored a season-high 22 points to lead No. 13 Virginia (10-2, 6-0 ACC) to a 64-62 win over Georgia Tech (7-4, 3-2 ACC) on Saturday night at John Paul Jones Arena.

Hauser scored 11 of his points in the final 10 minutes of play, including three three-pointers. Jay Huff (Durham, N.C.) matched his career-high with 18 points and added five blocks. Kihei Clark (Woodland Hills, Calif.) had eight assists and his lone basket gave UVA its final lead of the game.

Virginia came back from an 11-point deficit and trailed in the second half until the final five minutes of the game when it took a 57-56 lead on a Hauser jumper. Jose Alvarado led Georgia Tech with 20 points.

The Cavaliers shot 48 percent for the game, while Georgia Tech shot 45 percent. The Yellow Jackets were 60 percent from three-point range. UVA had a 32-25 edge in rebounds.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Hauser scored the first five points for UVA, then Reece Beekman (Baton Rouge, La.) had a steal and fast break layup followed by a Huff dunk to give the Cavaliers a 9-5 lead over Georgia Tech at the 13:08 mark. The Yellow Jackets took the lead with a 7-0 run. Virginia trailed 19-14, but a 7-0 run swung the lead back in its favor. Casey Morsell (Fort Washington, Md.) had a layup, Murphy III hit a three and Beekman scored on a fast break layup. GT responded with a 12-2 run. Virginia scored the final five points of the first half to trail 36-32 at halftime.

Georgia Tech scored the first five points of the second half and had a 49-38 lead with 15:26 to go. Virginia had a 15-2 run that included Hauser’s three triples. Georgia Tech tied it up 62-62 on a last second three with 1:29 remaining. Clark drove the lane and made a jumper to put UVA ahead 64-62 with 1:08 left. Huff came up with his fifth block of the game on the ensuing possession for Georgia Tech and Morsell grabbed the rebound as UVA was able to hold on.

THE GAME BALL GOES TO

Sam Hauser led the team with a season-high 22 points, going 4-for-5 from beyond the arc. He also led with six rebounds.

FROM TONY BENNETT

What did you see happening defensively that gave you guys a chance to be in the position to win this thing?

“Georgia Tech is a good team. They’re really good at playing with great confidence, they play fast and they’re quick. What I saw down the stretch is, I thought our on-ball defense really stepped up. Whether it was Reece (Beekman), Kihei (Clark) or Casey (Morsell) and then I thought Jay (Huff) did a heck of a job. You know, his blocks were a little different than (Moses) Wright’s but there was a lot of paddleball going on up there the way Wright was blocking our shots. Jay used his length, he came up with some big shots, stay disciplined and he stayed down. I thought our individual slides really good. They ran some stuff and then they said, we’re spread and attack you. It was that kind of buckling down and saying we’re going to be hard to get by and score against, and I thought that took place and those guys in particular and Sam (Hauser) played good position defense too because you could see when they got either a little bit of momentum and transition or just a crease, boom, it was up. There was one-time Jay (Huff) got the switch and (Jose) Alvarado hit the tough three. Then (also) the three on the out of bounds play. That’s the one thing we’ve been pushing for, there shouldn’t be a one on the shot clock. I digress but it shouldn’t be just one, it should be .5 or .8. That’s what they do in the NBA. I don’t know why we have just a plain second. I think that’s not good for the game. I’ll say that in victory instead of complaint in a defeat. I think it’s something that should be change and the officials all agree with that.”

NOTES

• No. 13 Virginia (10-2, 6-0) has a six-game winning streak and has started 6-0 in the ACC for the first time since starting 12-0 in 2017-18
• Georgia Tech held its largest lead of 11 at 49-38 before UVA outscored the Yellow Jackets 26-13 to gain the win
• Hauser matched a season high with four 3-pointers
• Huff (5 blocks) moved into a tie for fifth with Travis Watson on UVA’s career blocks list with 130
• Huff has 36 multi-block games (9 this season)
• Kihei Clark handed out a season-high eight assists
• Casey Morsell had nine of UVA’s 13 bench points

UP NEXT

Virginia remains home to host Syracuse on Monday, January 25 at 7 p.m. at John Paul Jones Arena. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.