Rough Night on Road for Hoos

By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com

BLACKSBURG – The best 3-point shooting team in ACC men’s basketball, Virginia Tech, made only 25 percent of its attempts from beyond the arc Monday night at Cassell Coliseum. UVA would have happily settled for such accuracy against the Hokies.

“They held us to zero percent,” Virginia head coach Tony Bennett said with a rueful smile.

For the first time since Nov. 15, 2016, the Cavaliers failed to make at least one 3-pointer in a game. They came in ranked 12^th among ACC teams in 3-point field-goal percent (32.8) and were 0 for 9 on Monday night. But poor outside shooting was not Virginia’s only problem in its 62-53 loss to Tech before a frenzied crowd of 9,825.

There were defensive lapses, too, and costly turnovers. Tech, which trailed by four at halftime, shot 55.6 percent from the floor after intermission. Keve Aluma, who scored 22 points in the Hokies’ Jan. 12 loss at John Paul Jones Arena, punished the Wahoos again Monday night. He hit 10 of 14 shots and finished with 24 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots.

Tech’s other frontcourt starter, 6-foot-7 Justyn Mutts, had eight points, six rebounds and a game-high five assists, several of them to the 6-foot-9 Aluma.

“They have a nice connection,” said Bennett, whose team saw its four-game winning streak snapped.

Redshirt sophomore Kadin Shedrick, a force inside in the second half, threw down an alley-oop dunk to tie the game at 44-44 with 6:54 remaining. That was one of the final highlights for the Wahoos (16-10, 10-6). Tech responded with an 8-2 run, and UVA trailed by at least four points the rest of the way against the ACC’s hottest team.

The Hokies (16-10, 8-7), who came in shooting 41.5 percent from 3-point range, have won six games in a row.

“They made some plays,” Bennett said, “and we couldn’t answer. Other games we’ve answered when that’s happened. And again, certainly the crowd had them aroused and playing hard on both ends.”

Tech students were in full voice well before the start of this nationally televised game, and their enthusiasm never faded.

“I think the crowd was a big factor,” UVA forward Jayden Gardner said. “They really got into the game. They really made their mark and they gave [the Hokies] energy. Then they just kept going and we couldn’t stop the momentum.

“I think we did a poor job of matching their energy. It starts with the shots we were getting in the second half and turnovers. Being unsound, being undisciplined, we weren’t doing things that we were doing on our four-game win streak.”

Tech students took particular delight in heckling Virginia senior Kihei Clark. As a sophomore in 2019-20, Clark hit a 3-pointer with 2.6 seconds left to lift UVA to a 56-53 win at Cassell Coliseum, and he’s made countless other big plays during four seasons at Virginia.

On Monday night, however, 5-foot-10 point guard had a game to forget. He was 0 for 5 from 3-point range and 1 for 9 overall. Clark’s only points came on a jumper with 39.8 seconds left, and he had as many turnovers (two) as assists (two).

“We need him to look to score,” Bennett said, “but with all the guys it’s finding that sweet spot in this kind of game, because it was a physical game. Virginia Tech did a good job defensively, jamming the lane, playing good physical defense … They played good defense on [Clark], and that wasn’t one of his better games and he’ll bounce back and hopefully be ready for our next one.”

Clark shot an airball early in the game, and Tech’s fans made sure to remind him one of that miss every time he touched the ball thereafter. That’s college basketball, Bennett noted.

“Don’t shoot an airball, then, I guess, if you don’t want them to chant that,” Bennett said, smiling. “That’s the moral of the story, right?”

The 6-foot-11 Shedrick contributed 11 points, six rebounds, one block and one steal in 21-plus minutes off the bench. The 6-foot-6 Gardner led the Hoos in points (17) and rebounds (14) and also had two assists, but in the second half he had more turnovers (three) than points (two).

“We basically inflicted our own wounds,” Gardner said. “It started with me with turnovers and just being unsound. Credit Virginia Tech’s defense. We gave them life at the end of the day, and you can’t give home teams life. It’s hard to win on the road.”

Sophomore guard Reece Beekman (10 points) also scored in double figures for Virginia. His jump shot with 18:30 remaining put the Hoos up 31-27, but the Hokies answered with eight straight points. With 8:21 left, the 6-foot-3 Beekman capped a drive with spectacular one-handed dunk to make it 42-42, and Shedrick tied the game about 90 seconds later.

In the final six minutes, though, the Cavaliers had too many empty possessions in the final six minutes to get past an opponent fueled by its fans’ high-decibel support.

“They had a great home-court advantage tonight,” Bennett said.

SOUTHBOUND: Next up for the Hoos is a trip to Coral Gables, Fla., where they will meet Miami (18-7, 10-4) at 5 p.m. Saturday. The game will air on ACC Network.

“It’s a tough one,” Gardner said of the loss to the Hokies. “You live and you learn, and we have a great opportunity Saturday to bounce back.”

This will be the teams’ second meeting this month. The Cavaliers defeated the Hurricanes 71-58 at John Paul Jones Arena on Feb. 5.

UVa has won five straight over the Canes and leads the series 14-12. Miami plays Wednesday night at Louisville.

SOUND BITES: The Cavaliers were trying to sweep their regular-season series with Tech for the seventh time in Bennett’s 13 seasons as their head coach. Virginia leads the series 96-58. Among the postgame comments Monday night:

* Bennett: “I don’t think we started the second half well enough. We had some turnovers and then a couple breakdowns defensively and they ran some good stuff.  Aluma is a heck of a player and we just struggled to make some outside shots. Little things here and there … some empty possessions whether we rushed or try to either get it back too quick.”

* Virginia Tech head coach Mike Young: “We’re playing the way I envisioned us playing.”

* Bennett on the Hokies’ second-half defense on Gardner: “They got physical in terms of how they guarded him. He missed some shots. I think they guarded him a little harder. When a guy is going, they’re just going to be more mindful of him, and they jammed him a little more. And then again, he got a little rushed at times and had some of those turnovers or some of those empty possessions. I just think they made him earn a little more.”

* Bennett: “I said at the beginning of the year that I think Virginia Tech is one of the better teams in our league. They hit some bumps in the road early and obviously now they’ve won six in a row and certainly capable and they have a nice balance with their [starting lineup].”

* Beekman: “We came out the second half a little flat, I felt like, and they came out with a lot of energy. It was not a letdown, but we didn’t come out with the right energy.”

* Beekman: “When you come into a place like this, we know it’s gonna be crazy and their fans are just going to be wild. We kind of knew that. We matched it for a little bit, but I felt like we lost it.”

* Gardner on Shedrick’s growth this season: “He’s always tenacious on the glass and [with] his finishing ability around the rim. When we started setting more ball screens, he kept us going with the lobs and touches around the rim. Kadin’s a tremendous player, and he’s getting better every time he steps out on the court.”

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