Virginia Tech Beaten by No. 19 UVA 65-39

Virginia Tech
It was a tough day for Mike Young’s Virginia Tech team. (Ivan Morozov)

Virginia Tech was beaten by No. 19 UVA 65-39 in Charlottesville on Saturday afternoon.  The Hokies dropped to 10-4 overall and 1-2 in the ACC with the loss, while the Hoos improved to 11-2 and 3-0.

Through three ACC games, nobody has been able to crack 50 points on the UVA defense, with UNC scoring just 47 and Syracuse managing only 34.  The Hokies were right in the middle at 39, which was their worst offensive output since a loss to East Carolina way back in 1967.  The Hoos rank No. 1 in the country in defensive efficiency.

Virginia Tech was just 4-of-25 (16%) from three-point range, with Landers Nolley making three of those four outside shots.  The redshirt freshman led the team with 18 points, and scored 15 of his team’s 17 first half points, all consecutively.  Fellow redshirt freshman Tyrece Radford scored the first two points of the game for the Hokies, and after that it was all Nolley in the first half.  However, such a one-man show meant that Tech couldn’t manage much on the offensive end, and they found themselves trailing 30-17 at halftime.

Radford scored eight points for the Hokies, while nobody else managed more than four.  UVA gave Virginia Tech center PJ Horne numerous open looks from three-point range, but the junior was 0-of-9 from the outside despite coming into the game shooting 43% on the season.  Horne’s tough shooting night, plus Kihei Clark’s one-on-one victory over Wabissa Bede, were the key factors in the blowout loss.  Clark had 18 points and six assists, while Bede has no points and only two assists.

Overall, the Hokies shot just 13-of-48 (27.1%) from the field, while the Hoos were 25-of-54 (46.3%) from the field and 7-of-21 (33.3%) from the outside.  Rebounds were 38-25 in UVA’s favor, though much of that was because of the disparity in missed shots.  Tech had 13 turnovers to the Hoos’ 11.

Virginia Tech returns to action on Tuesday, January 7 when they face Syracuse in the Carrier Dome.  Tipoff is scheduled for 9pm, and the game will be televised by The ACC Network. 

Box Score

27 Responses You are logged in as Test

  1. Nice summary Chris. I knew it was going to be a bad day when I saw the Hokies wearing Orange@ UVA. Let’s hope whoever makes those uniform decisions doesn’t repeat that on Tuesday in the Carrier Dome.
    And let’s hope we can find the 3 point shot on Tuesday. Syracuse is tall and long. Young team (pun intended) will continue to grow and get better. Everyone needs to be patient and continue to support these guys. More talent is coming.
    Go Hokies!

  2. That’s how I’d expect a bunch of mostly 1st year players running a new system to compete against the defending national champion and current national leader in Team D. Good experience for the young Hokies. Just looking for steady improvement this season and a better performance in the rematch. There’s a lot of potential with this squad but need to be patient.

    1. Nice summary – agree completely. We will steal a few more wins but it will be a tough year but I’m very hopeful for the future.

  3. Without a guard that can consistently get in the lane and a big that is a threat to score, we don’t have much of a chance against UVA. We just don’t have the personnel. I would have played Bede less, but there’s always a shot to beat them in B’Burg. I hate UVA with every ounce of my being, but you have to respect them for being really good at what they do. To me, they’re similar to the NE Patriots.

    1. Love Bede’s effort but with him in the game it’s 5 defenders on 4. At least when Wilson was in he could drive the lane every once in a while.

  4. I was surprised when I saw the line at just 7.5 but I guess that’s because of the overall low scoring in UVA games. Against this kind of team you really need a
    PG who can put offensive pressure on their defense either by penetrating or hitting outside shots.

    1. Agree. Bede has 4-5 inches on Clark, drives to the foul line, pulls up, AND PASSES!! EVERY TIME!! Either put up that 15 footer, or drive to the basket!!

      1. He really has never been aggressive on offense. He usually is pretty stable regarding his defense but when you keep on chasing a smaller quick guard it wears you down. Bede is a very mediocre point guard that has a very mediocre jump shot. CMY might need to re-evaluate how his current team runs his offense and defense.
        We’ll see how we do at Syracuse this coming Tuesday night.
        I really have a lot of faith in CMY and his staff and also the players. We are a work in progress and I hope we start to show signs of positive results. We have good talent that’s very ACC BB young.
        Go Hokies!

  5. I feel a good part of today’s was mental. UVA has the reputation of being a strong defensive team and they are. However it looked like our early shots were often rushed because we were concerned about UVA’s pressure. Then we let our shooting struggles bleed over to our defense. We seemed to lose our discipline on the screens and gave up too many easy buckets. I found it disappointing our veteran players seemed to lack composure. We needed poised play from Bede and Horne and they appeared to be flustered. While uva played really well I would not assume they sweep us. Not predicting a win but expecting a very competitive game in Blacksburg and one we have a chance to win.

    1. Yeah, we let them get into our heads. We had too many wide open looks that we should have connected on more often.

      1. When the same shooters aren’t connecting we need to go to another shooting option. Cattoor played 23 minutes and took only one shot. That’s glaring.

  6. I have to disagree with most posts. We had numerous wide open 3 pointers and no one could hit one! This team is very small and has to live by the 3 or die by the 3 and this was one of those death days! We have some very good shooters but not today! The defense was a little slow at times but overall average and good enough to win this game. The longer we missed shots the more confidence UUUUUVA got. I see a much better game in BBurg with a little more experience and feeling much more comfortable at home. We have got to get over the ice cold slow starts also.

  7. What a disgrace. High school teams score more than 39 points. No excuses please. I got enough after the football disaster. What say Whit?

      1. Exactly – DA. This lacks perspective. uVA is still elite and the best defensive basketball program of the last decade. For MY to even have a team that is competitive this year is an accomplishment. Continue to grow, win a few you shouldn’t and add the top 25 recruiting class next year and we are getting somewhere.

  8. I dvr’ed the game instead of watching it live. I can’t stand the announcers because they all have a love affair with UVA BB and Tony Bennet. I didn’t even listen to our radio guys.
    Before the game I thought we probably won’t score over 40 points. I was hoping I was wrong, but unfortunately I wasn’t.
    I’ve been really uncertain if our team the last few games. Our O is very stagnant and undisciplined as is our D.
    We are young and very basketball immature!
    I hope we gain a lot of valuable experience and listen to the coaching staff.

  9. That was painful to watch but I brought it on myself! 🙂 Bede looked like a lost ball in high weeds and there was no one cutting in and out of the lane to leave any other options except 3 pointers that hit the rim all day! Glad we play them at Cassel next 🙂

    1. Doesn’t matter where we play them , they will kill us! This team/program is a long ways away from being competitive against a team like UVA .

  10. This game exposed the major flaws in this team. There seemed to be no off ball movement on offense and when it did happen it was too slow to produce a shot, Bede struggles against smaller more athletic guards, no one including Nolley can create a consistent shot one on one, and we still lack a goal defender inside. Plus this team seems to start slow and dig themselves a hole they then have to craw out of. I’d consider changing the starting 5. Think Cattoor needs to be on the floor.

      1. Cattoor is great against bad conpetition, but he struggles in defense vs good teams. He is an excellent small D1 player, maybe mid major contributor.m

    1. Cattoor was on the floor 23 minutes against UVa and had one 3 point attempt. He needs to be in position to shoot more.

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