Virginia's Seven-Game Win Streak Snapped in 74-68 Loss at Virginia Tech

Throughout the course of Virginia's now former seven-game winning streak, the Cavaliers experienced a lot of success running small-ball lineups with Ben Vander Plas playing the center position. While those lineups are far from UVA's most efficient on the defensive end, Tony Bennett has shown a surprising willingness to sacrifice some defensive efficiency for the benefits of spacing and shooting offered by those smaller lineups on the offensive end of the floor. 

That was Bennett's explanation in the postgame press conference on Saturday for why the Cavaliers continued to stick to the small-ball lineups even as their opponent diced up the UVA defense to the tune of 40 points in the paint and a 50.9% team field goal percentage. In the previous matchup between these two teams on January 18th in Charlottesville, Virginia Tech also shot well against UVA's defense and knocked down 12 threes, but Virginia simply executed at a higher level on the offensive end to offset what was one the team's worst defensive performances of the season. In the rematch in Blacksburg, the Hokies once again poked holes in the UVA defense with well-timed cuts and accurate passes from their forwards out of double teams. And this time, the Hoos couldn't keep up with the scoring output of the Hokies, who led wire-to-wire as Virginia Tech pulled the 74-68 upset over No. 7 Virginia on Saturday afternoon at Cassell Coliseum. 

In the first meeting between these two teams a couple of weeks ago, Sean Pedulla was outplayed by Kihei Clark on both ends of the floor, as Virginia Tech's leading scorer was held to just 10 points on 4/9 shooting and had two turnovers to just three assists. Pedulla was determined to play better in front of his home crowd in the rematch and he did just that, matching a career-high with 22 points to go along with five rebounds and two assists. 14 of those points came in the first half as Pedulla made five of his eight shots in the opening 20 minutes and helped Virginia Tech build a lead as large as nine points. 

Pedulla and Justyn Mutts combined to record 22 points and seven assists in the first half, as Mutts dished out five first-half assists, effectively neutralizing UVA's ability to double him in the post. When Virginia left either Jayden Gardner or Ben Vander Plas or another player alone to guard Mutts one-on-one, Mutts muscled his way to the rim for layups. The 6'7" senior forward finished with 17 points on 7/11 shooting and registered eight assists as well. 

The Cavaliers didn't do themselves any favors on the offensive end early in the game either, missing several shots from point-blank, including a pair of missed dunks from Armaan Franklin and Isaac McKneely, who had his dunk waived off for basket interference as the freshman hung on the rim while the ball was still rattling around the basket. 

Still, UVA ended the first half strong and managed to cut the deficit down to just two points, trailing 32-30 at halftime. Jayden Gardner paced the Cavaliers with eight points and Franklin and Reece Beekman added six points each. If the Hoos could clean up their defensive lapses in the second half, they had a very good chance of coming away with their eighth-straight win. 

Instead, those defensive woes became even more pervasive and more costly coming out of halftime. The Cavaliers had difficulty defending ball-screens throughout the game, so they opted to switch defenders on picks in the second half. The outcome of that move was a few head-scratching mismatches that the Hokies had no problem exploiting as both Justyn Mutts and Grant Basile found themselves guarded by much smaller players on multiple occasions. When UVA's defense collapsed to help the guards like Kihei Clark and Reece Beekman when they were stuck defending Virginia Tech's bigs in the paint, Mutts and Basile fired accurate passes to open teammates for easy baskets. 

Virginia Tech shot 56.0% from the floor in the second half and started to get going from beyond the arc too, as Hunter Cattoor knocked down three three-pointers in the second half alone. The Hokies also continued to get behind and underneath the UVA defense on backdoor cuts for easy layups. 

The veterans Kihei Clark and Jayden Gardner did what they could to will Virginia back into the game after the Hokies built a lead as large as 10 points at 55-45 with eight minutes remaining. Clark and Gardner scored 12 points apiece after halftime and Reece Beekman added nine points and four assists in the second half. 

The Cavaliers stayed within a couple of possessions down the stretch, but they simply couldn't string together enough stops to fully close the gap. After UVA tied the game early in the second half, Virginia Tech held at least a small lead for the final 15 minutes of the game. 

Virginia cut the deficit to four points on three separate occasions in the final two minutes, but Virginia Tech continued to convert on the offensive end and the Hokies also made their free throws down the stretch to seal what could be a season-changing victory for the Hokies, who entered the day 11th in the ACC standings at 3-8. 

Virginia Tech got 22 points from Pedulla and 17 points, eight assists, and four rebounds from Justyn Mutts. Grant Basile added 14 points, four rebounds and four assists and Hunter Cattoor finished with ten points, including three three-pointers. 

Jayden Gardner led Virginia with a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double, while UVA's point guard duo also had solid offensive showings as Kihei Clark had 17 points, five rebounds, and four assists and Reece Beekman had 15 points, five assists, and four rebounds. But on the defensive end, Virginia's efforts both as a team and individually left much to be desired as the Cavaliers suffered their third-consecutive defeat at Cassell Coliseum. 

While Virginia Tech's versatile bigs provided a very specific matchup problem for Virginia, any team with a center or forward capable of passing out of double teams will cause problems for UVA's small-ball lineups moving forward. Kadin Shedrick's alarming decline in playing time continued, as he did not even make an appearance in Saturday's game at Virginia Tech. Shedrick has played a total of 38 minutes over the last six games combined, causing many to wonder what has led UVA's starting center into the doghouse and what, if anything, Shedrick can do to get out of it. 

With its seven-game winning streak snapped, Virginia (17-4, 9-3 ACC) will look to get back in the win column back at home against NC State on Tuesday at 9pm at John Paul Jones Arena. 

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