CAVS WIN FROM BEYOND THE ARC
Early hot shooting leaves Hokies all but hopelessly behind
CHARLOTTESVILLE — With top-10 rankings for Virginia and Virginia Tech generating national buzz about the rivalry, Tuesday night’s meeting was set up to be a classic.
U.Va. sucked all the drama out of the proceedings.
Cruising to an 81-59 win, No. 4 U.Va. avenged last season’s home loss to No. 9 Tech and made an early statement in the Atlantic Coast Conference. De’Andre Hunter led U.Va. (16-0, 4-0 ACC) with 21 points, shooting 8 of 12 from the floor and helping propel the Cavaliers to 58.5 percent field-goal shooting in the firstever meeting of the teams when they were both ranked in the top 10.
U.Va., which also got 15 points from Kyle Guy and 14 points and a career-high 12 assists from Ty Jerome, was hot from 3-point range in the opening half, making 10 of 14 shots from beyond the arc. It finished the game 13 of 24 (54.2 percent) on 3-pointers.
“We had to play that well, and I know we separated, but they did miss some shots early, but we played really hard, the atmosphere was incredible and we were so balanced,” U.Va. coach Tony Bennett said. “I really like how (Jerome) shared the ball, but everyone was moving the ball and sharing it. Because of the way Virginia Tech defends, if you don’t move it, they’re going to kind of
smother you.”
Tech (14-2, 3-1), which was led by Nickeil Alexander-Walker's 19 points, shot 43.2 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent (7 of 21) from 3-point range. Tech, which defeated U.Va. 61-60 in overtime last season in Charlottesville, saw a nine-game winning streak snapped.
Despite entering the game third in the nation in 3-point shooting percentage (42.3), Tech has slumped in its last three games, making just 18 of 70 attempts (25.7 percent).
Trailing 44-22 at halftime, Tech showed momentary signs of life in the first 4½ minutes of the second half, thanks to Ahmed Hill's scoring.
Hill missed four of his five shots from the floor in the opening half, but he authored a one-man 7-0 second-half run via an alley-oop dunk off a pass from Justin Robinson, a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer. Hill's binge trimmed U.Va's lead to 48-34 with 15:47 left. Robinson, who was hounded defensively by freshman guard Kihei Clark and Hunter, had just nine points on 2-of-7 shooting from the floor.
It was the first time Tech had U.Va.'s lead under 15 points since late in the first half, but it was a short-lived rally.
Tech missed seven of its next 11 field-goal attempts, while Guy and U.Va. guard Braxton Key scored seven points each over the next 7½ minutes. U.Va. went up 70-46 with 8:39 remaining when Key took a feed from Jerome and punctuated a fast break with a layup.
Cutting the deficit under 20 points for just 45 seconds the rest of the way, Tech shot 50 percent from the floor in the second half, but it was never able to recapture the momentum it had early in the half.
“It's very hard,” Hill said regarding the difficulty of trying to recover from a huge deficit against U.Va., which came into the game leading the nation in scoring defense (giving up 51.2 points per game before Tuesday night). “You know how they pace, and they try to whittle down possessions in the game. It just seems like you've got to throw everything you've got at them just to try to cut it down just a little bit.”
Jerome set the tone early for U.Va.'s perimeter shooting, knocking down his first attempt from 3-point range with 18:43 left in the opening half to put the Cavaliers up 5-0. Jerome and his teammates were just getting warmed up.
U.Va., which has beaten two top-10 teams in ACC play — including then-No. 9 Florida State on Jan. 5 — and travels Saturday to play at No. 1 Duke, made nine of its first 11 shots from beyond the 3-point line.
Tech couldn't keep up with U.Va.'s 68 percent field-goal shooting in the first half, as the Hokies connected on just 35 percent of their field-goal attempts and 22.2 percent (2 of 9) of their 3-pointers.
“It's a little bit of pick your poison, because I don't think that there is ever necessarily a nonshooter or a non-offensive player on the floor,” Tech coach Buzz Williams said regarding the challenge of trying to limit U.Va.'s shooters. “I think they are incredibly sound in what they do. They are doing more than they have done in the past . ... There is not a guy that they are going to put on the floor that can't make shots or make a play for one another.”
While Guy took his time finding room and his shooting touch as he worked against Wabissa Bede, Jerome stayed hot. He made 4 of 5 shots from beyond the 3-point line in the first 20 minutes.
Hunter, who was guarded by Alexander-Walker for much of the first half, was able to get to the basket on several occasions. Hunter had nine points and a team-high five rebounds in the first half.
“(Guy and Jerome) really create driving lanes for me and they can shoot it,” Hunter said. “Virginia Tech really packs it in (defensively), so just having those driving lanes and having guys on the court who can spot up just kind of made it easier for me to get my shots in the mid-range and get to the basket.”
Though he was quiet for the first 11 minutes, Guy came alive before the break. After finally scoring on a 3-pointer from the left wing with 8:28 left to give U.Va. a double-digit lead for the first time at 26-14, Guy would go on to score 10 points by halftime. He made 3 of 5 shots from 3-point range for the game, while Jerome finished 4 of 7.
Recognized more for his superb on-the-ball defense than his still-developing offensive game, Clark managed to get into U.Va.'s perimeter shooting act early on. He was playing with a light wrap on his left wrist, on which he'd worn a cast prior to Tuesday night's game after having surgery Dec. 10 to repair an injury.
Jerome rebounded a missed 3-pointer by Tech's Ty Outlaw with six seconds left in the first half, quickly dribbled up the court and found Clark in the deep right corner for a 3-pointer at the buzzer to put U.Va. ahead 44-22.
“(The wrist) affected me a little bit, but I was just going to keep shooting,” said Clark, who scored nine points on 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point range. “I knew they were going to fall. I knew I had put in the work, so I was just going to keep shooting.”