No. 9 Seed Virginia Comes Up Short Against No. 8 Seed Georgia Tech in ACC Tournament 2nd Round

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – No. 9 seed Virginia (15-17) fell 66-60 to No. 8 seed Georgia Tech (17-15) in the second round of the ACC Tournament on Wednesday afternoon (March 12) at the Spectrum Center.

After going into halftime tied at 25, Georgia Tech gained a 13-point lead [59-46] with three minutes remaining in the contest. The Cavaliers battled to cut the deficit to two [62-60] at the 25-second mark, but could not regain the lead following two pairs of made Yellow Jacket free throws.

Isaac McKneely led all scorers and matched his season-high with 27 points off 9 of 17 shooting with a career-high seven 3-pointers. UVA finished with a 36.2 percent (21 of 58) shooting mark from the field and went 9 of 25 (36 percent) from deep.

Georgia Tech shot 45.1 percent (23 of 51) and had three scorers finish in double figures. The Yellow Jackets outrebounded the Cavaliers 44-26 and committed 13 turnovers.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Virginia entered into halftime tied at 25 with the Yellow Jackets. Despite shooting just 29.6 percent (8 of 27), the Cavaliers led for over 15 minutes in the first half. Georgia Tech went nine minutes without a made field goal and committed seven turnovers before piecing together a 13-6 run over the final five minutes. A last-second foul call awarded the Yellow Jackets two free throws that knotted the contest going into the break. Isaac McKneely led all scorers with 11 points off 4 of 6 shooting with three triples.

Georgia Tech grabbed the lead coming out of halftime and held the Cavaliers at arm’s length for the first 17 minutes of the second half. Virginia used a 14-3 run down the stretch to bring the game within two [62-60] with 25 seconds remaining, but ultimately fell short as Georgia Tech drained four free throws in the final 20 seconds of play.