Turnovers were again an issue for third-ranked Virginia Basketball in a close win at No. 20 Virginia Tech.
The No. 20 Virginia Tech Hokies (20-6, 9-5) were the only team to defeat No. 3 Virginia (23-2, 11-2) in each of the last three years. On Monday night in Blacksburg, the Hokies got their second crack at the Wahoos this season but fell short in a 64-58 Virginia win.
📸📸📸Leaving Blacksburg with a W!!! #Wahoowa 🔷⚔️🔶 #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/w09EcYrTnI
— Virginia Men's Basketball (@UVAMensHoops) February 19, 2019
Virginia was in control from the beginning of this one behind junior guard Kyle Guy. Guy scored 17 points in the first half and led UVa with 23 points. Guy was six of 13 from beyond the arc and put an exclamation point on Virginia’s season sweep of their in-state rivals with a three-pointer with about one minute remaining.
Junior point guard Ty Jerome, battling a nagging back injury, played 38 minutes for the Hoos and finished 16 points, six assists and three rebounds.
Per the usual, Virginia’s defense was stellar. The Hokies entered this game as the nation’s No 3 ranked three-point shooting team, however, UVa held the Hokies to just three of 28 from three-point range, which was just under 11 percent. Tech stayed in the game, primarily because of junior big man Kerry Blackshear, Jr. Blackshear scored 23 points and pulled down 13 rebounds and was a force down low for the Hokies. It was the second straight dominant performance for Blackshear and even more impressive considering it came against UVa’s tremendous pack-line defense.
It was VT’s sixth straight game without senior point guard Justin Robinson. One of the better guards in the country, Robinson injured his foot in a win over Miami last month and Tech’s offense has struggled mightily without him. The Hokies have managed to go 3-3 without Robinson, mainly due to Blackshear and senior Ahmed Hill. Hill had a tough time against Virginia, though, hitting just one of nine from beyond the arc, although he did finish with 16 points.
If the Hokies are going to stay above .500 in ACC play until Robinson gets back, they need more from sophomore guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Alexander-Walker had another uneven performance on Monday night, scoring 11 points while shooting just four of 14 from the field.
In what has become a theme in recent games, the Cavaliers again turned the ball over 13 times. Before the last two weeks, UVa averaged around eight turnovers per game. However, that number has gone up recently and head coach Tony Bennett is struggling to find out why. That number must decrease as we head into March or Virginia could face another potential early exit from the NCAA Tournament.
The Hokies travel to Notre Dame on Saturday, while Virginia travels to Louisville for a huge matchup against the No. 18 Cardinals.