Before the first sellout crowd of the season, Georgia Tech could not capture the magic that had propelled the Yellow Jackets to upset wins of four AP top-15 teams in the past two seasons.
Rather, No. 2 Virginia did what highly-ranked teams typically do. The Cavaliers played their style, frustrated the Jackets and finished the game going away, taking a 64-48 win out of McCamish Pavilion Thursday night.
Five observations from the game
1. One decisive possession
In a game with a slowed-down tempo and limited scoring, each possession’s value was magnified, and perhaps none mattered more than the Cavaliers’ last time with the ball in the first half. Guard Curtis Haywood hit two 3-pointers in the final four minutes of the half to give the Jackets some life, the second reducing Virginia’s lead to 24-19 with 17 seconds to play.
Under instructions to not surrender any 3-pointers and also to stay with guard De’Andre Hunter, Tech forward Abdoulaye Gueye made a mental mistake, leaving Hunter to play help defense and then, when the ball was kicked out to Hunter in the corner, challenging the shot and getting a piece of him. The shot was true, a foul was called on Gueye and, with .5 seconds left, UVA had a four-point play and a nine-point lead to take into the locker room.
While center Ben Lammers acknowledged that the Jackets shouldn’t have let the effect of the play carry over, “it was definitely not the way you want to end the half,” he said.
Said coach Josh Pastner, “’A.D.’ has come a long way. He has come a long way. It was a tough game for him (Thursday).”
2. Turnovers are decisive
Virginia (17-1 overall, 6-0 ACC) didn’t need Tech’s help to win its ninth consecutive game, but Tech provided generous assistance. The Jackets turned the ball over 18 times, which Virginia converted into 16 points, which was, among other things, the Cavaliers’ margin of victory. Tech (10-8, 3-2) had done better in stewarding possessions, committing 9.8 turnovers per game in the past six games. It had been a key component of its four-game winning streak going into Thursday’s game.
But the Jackets gave the ball away in egregious fashion, on occasion losing the ball on the dribble and passing it directly to Virginia players. Part of the Cavaliers’ defensive tactics are their aggressive double-team posts and their general ability to make players uncomfortable, but Tech still gave away the ball in uncharacteristic fashion.
With the score 36-26, Lammers intercepted a pass in the post and gave the ball to guard Jose Alvarado, who promptly lost the ball in the backcourt, ending a potential fast break before it could even start.
“You can’t do that, and they have nine (turnovers),” Pastner said. “We cut that in half and get a couple extra shot attempts, who knows where the game goes?”
An attempt to tease out Pastner’s scenario: Tech averaged 1.12 points per possession on the 43 possessions that didn’t end with a turnover. If the Jackets had committed nine turnovers instead of 18, that’s another 10 points, enough to make the game interesting.
3. Lammers’ struggles continue
It was another labored night on the offensive end for Lammers, who was 1-for-5 from the field for four points along with five turnovers, tying his career high. Lammers, a second-team All-ACC pick last year, is averaging 11.7 points and shooting 44.7 percent from the field. He was at 14.5 points per game and a 51.6 percent shooter last season.
Pastner said he told Lammers to take 30 shots in a game if that’s what he needs to get out of his funk. Lammers was encouraged by a 4-for-9 game against Pitt on Saturday, but again missed jump shots Thursday that he made routinely last season. Pastner said that Lammers is “just a little fragile right now” with his confidence shooting the ball.
“If it’s a bad shot, take it, but we’ve got to get you going,” Pastner said he told Lammers.
Tech’s chances were further impaired as the team’s other scorer, guard Josh Okogie, was also off the mark. Okogie was 3-for-8 for nine points, almost 10 points below his season average and his first game in single digits in his 10 games this season.
One of Okogie’s misses was particularly costly. Midway through the second half, the Jackets had cut a 17-point lead down to 10 points with a 10-3 run and had the ball. Okogie drove the baseline and appeared to have a shot at a dunk, but attempted a reverse layup which failed to go down. On Virginia’s ensuing possession, Ty Jerome hit a pair of free throws to push the lead back to 12 and Tech never got that close again.
“He should have just gone and dunked the ball, and he tried to avoid contact,” Pastner said. “You can’t miss layups against this team, and that was a major play.’
4. Not bad on defense
It was somewhat lost in the glaring failures on the offensive end, but Tech defended reasonably well. Virginia shot 46.6 percent from the field, a little under its season average, and its 64 points were also under the Cavaliers’ average. The Jackets defended the 3-point shot well, as Virginia was 3-for-13 beyond the arc.
“It really wasn’t the problem on the defensive end,” said Lammers, who had six blocks and eight rebounds. “We couldn’t convert on the offensive end.”
Tech didn’t have much of an answer for Hunter, who led all scorers with 17 points on 7-for-9 scoring from the field. Hunter scored repeatedly on drives to the basket and also hit the critical 3-pointer to end the first half. He also had a team-high seven rebounds, four offensive.
“Hunter hurt us,” Pastner said. “Hunter was an X-factor.”
5. Next game coming quickly
The challenge for Tech will be to put the game in the past. Virginia did to Tech what it has done to opponents routinely over the years – stifle the offense and force bad shots. After their one-point win over Boston College in their ACC opener, the Cavaliers won their next four games by an average of 15.5 points. Tech’s 16-point defeat fits in line with those, for better or worse.
“I would say it’s frustrating, but again, this is the ACC,” Lammers said. “You play against very good teams every single day.”
Tech has to re-focus quickly, as the Jackets will have just one practice Friday to prepare for No. 15 North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., on Saturday. The Tar Heels play a very different game than Virginia, but one that can similarly overwhelm opponents.
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