Hokies Beat UVA to Earn First ACC Win

Virginia Tech took a stout defensive game to Charlottesville and came away with a gutsy 47-45 win against #17 UVA on Sunday night.  The Hokies ended their 4-game losing streak and improved to 12-7 overall and 1-4 in the ACC.  UVA dropped to 15-3 overall and 2-2 in league play.

It wasn’t a great offensive outing for either team, as the final score indicates.  The Hokies had 13 turnovers, but they did shoot 45.2% from the field, including 5-of-13 (38.5%) from three-point range.  UVA shot just 32.6% from the field, and were only 1-of-14 (7.1%) from three-point range.  The Hoos were able to get the ball inside and attempt 22 free throws to Virginia Tech’s seven, but made only 14 of them for 63.6%.

Erick Green paced the Hokies with 15 points, two assists, two steals and a block in 35 minutes.  He did not commit a turnover.  Jarell Eddie added eight points and 10 rebounds.  Dorenzo Hudson came off the bench for the second straight game, and he nailed a huge three-pointer with just 17 seconds left, and then knocked a pass out of bounds with just seconds remaining to limit UVA’s next-to-last possession.  He finished with 12 points, he was 5-of-7 from the field, and he made his only three-point attempt.

Hudson was key for the Hokies down the stretch.  Tech isolated Hudson three times late in the game in the post on UVA point guard Sammy Zeglinski, who gives up four inches and over 30 pounds to Hudson.  Hudson converted the opportunities into a free throw and a hook shot for a total of three points, including the basket that put Tech up 44-41 with just 1:10 remaining.

Hudson wasn’t finished after that basket.  The Hokies had the ball coming out of a timeout up 44-43, and Jarell Eddie found him on the wing with a good look at the basket.  Hudson’s shot was true, and his three-pointer put his team up 47-43.  Joe Harris added a basket for UVA with one second left, and even though Robert Brown missed the ensuing free throw for Tech, the Hoos had to throw the ball the length of the court with just 0.7 seconds remaining on the clock.  The full-court pass bounced off the finger tips of Mike Scott, and the Hokies won the game.

Scott had decimated the Hokies in his last three games against Tech, but on Sunday night he had just 10 points, six rebounds, no assists and three turnovers in 36 minutes.  Seth Greenberg’s gameplan focused on denying Scott the ball, and being physical when he did get an entry feed, and the Tech players executed it flawlessly.  Tech played a mixture of man and zone defense, and Victor Davila deserves a lot of credit for matching up with Scott on the defensive end.

This was a back-and-forth game the entire way, with Tech leading six times and UVA five.  There were also three ties.  Virginia’s only two previous losses came in a narrow defeat to Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium, and a loss to TCU in which former VT point guard Hank Thorns scored 16 points.

The Hokies return to action on Wednesday when they host BYU in Cassell Coliseum.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7pm, and the game can be viewed on the internet on ESPN3.com.