Buzz Williams brought Frank Beamer to tonight’s game as an honorary assistant coach, perhaps hoping that the magic he worked against us over the last decade of football games would carry over to the basketball side of the rivalry. Instead, he brought his knack for offensive innovation to Charlottesville.
Tech never led in this game, making them the fourth ACC team that hasn’t led Virginia at any point this season. They went down 10–0, managed a brief rally, but went down 22–10 on a Kyle Guy three (!) at the 7:05 mark and never cut the margin below 10 in the game’s last 27 minutes.
Virginia’s defense set the tone for this one from the beginning. We got back in transition (aided in part by committing just six turnovers before the Green Machine entered the game) and held Tech to just four fast break points. Bereft of transition chances, the Hokies settled for (sometimes) questionable jumpers at the first sign of daylight, an approach that led to 35.7% shooting from the floor and a 3–20 mark on threes (Justin Bibbs and Ahmed Hill combined to go 1–6). They turned the ball over 14 times (to just five assists) and managed just 0.79 points per possession, the best efficiency mark our defense has logged since Robert Morris put up a 0.61 back in December.
The shots didn’t always go down — we had a couple of first half cold stretches and one in the second — but quality looks were easy to come by against the Hokies’ 3–2 zone.
Devon Hall assumed Malcolm Brogdon’s old spot at the elbow and looked like he belonged there, doing damage driving into open space and finishing with a team-high in points (a career-high 17) and assists (four) while tying Isaiah Wilkins for rebounding honors with nine (another career high). I wanted domination on the glass, and I got it: we owned the boards in the first half (92% of defensive rebounds, 50% of offensive) and finished the game at 89.7 and 36.7.
Wilkins has been effective against zones throughout his career thanks to his feathery touch from midrange and good passing eye, and he showed both off tonight. Isaiah dominated parts of this game, scoring five of our first 10 points and six of our last 15 before the half. He hit his first six shots (tying a school record for consecutive field goals at 12 after his sixth and then airballing a tough layup on his next look), alternating putbacks (he had five offensive boards) and soft midrange jumpers on his way to a career-high 15 points.
London Perrantes had what I would call a quiet 14 points, but it included nine in the second half and six during a decisive run that put the game away for good after Tech had cut the margin to 11. We opened the game moving the ball very well (nine assists on our first 11 baskets) and kept it moving throughout, finishing with 15.
Contributions came from up and down the roster, as they seem to when things are going well: eight of the (sigh) nine rotation guys scored, with only Jack (held to 11 minutes thanks to four fouls) not cracking the box score. Marial went scoreless on one shot in a quiet half for anyone, much less a guy who finishes 31% of his possessions with shots, but finished with nine after going aggressively to the basket in the second half (he finished the game with seven free throw attempts).
Ty Jerome followed up his breakthrough in Philly by taking five shots in two and a half minutes after checking in, Kyle Guy hit a three that will hopefully spawn more threes, and Jarred Reuter had three offensive boards and stuffed longtime University Ball punching bag Seth Allen on a meaningless last second layup attempt. Darius Thompson — perhaps squeezed by Ty’s 24 minutes — played just seven minutes, but got a driving layup in.
Beating Tech at things is fun, and tonight makes it nine wins in the last 10 meetings dating back to the 2011–2012 season. The return match — in dark, dank Cassell Coliseum — is less than two weeks away. Syracuse is up next.
