CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Georgia Tech played three strong minutes at the start of the first half and about six to begin the second. The rest belonged to Virginia, which didn't require nearly that much generosity.
Playing before a near-packed house at John Paul Jones Arena, the Cavaliers meted out a severe thrashing to the Yellow Jackets, playing better and with more effort in an 82-54 defeat for Tech.
“They kind of got us in all areas of the game,” guard Mfon Udofia said. “They played harder than us and they just got us (Sunday).”
Tech’s recent spate of road success (back-to-back wins at Virginia Tech and Wake Forest) came to an abrupt stop in Charlottesville. The 28-point margin of victory accurately depicted the difference between the two teams in the most lopsided loss for Tech since the Cavaliers routed the Jackets by 32 last January at Philips Arena.
Said coach Brian Gregory, “It’s the first time in a long time we did not compete at the level you need to in this league.”
It was a considerable reversal from the teams’ first meeting, when the Jackets came back from a nine-point deficit with 8:12 remaining to upset Virginia 66-60 at McCamish Pavilion Feb. 3.
“They snuck one in on us and we took it personally,” said Virginia forward Akil Mitchell, who exploited repeated defensive lapses for a game-high 18 points on just nine shots. “I feel like we had something to prove to ourselves, and I think we did that (Sunday).”
Tech (14-12 overall, 4-10 ACC) invited its fate with poor stewardship of its first-half possessions. The Jackets turned the ball over 10 times on their 30 possessions, which rendered moot their sizzling efficiency on the other 20 trips down the court. Tech made 13 of 24 shots in the half for a 54.2 shooting percentage, remarkable considering that Virginia entered the weekend 18th in the country in field-goal percentage defense at 38.3 percent. Bad passes, offensive fouls and a rare three-seconds call were among Tech's offensive sins, as well as continued errancy from the free-throw line (1-for-4 in the first half, 4-for-8 for the game).
With 4:55 remaining in the half, Tech was shooting 61.5 percent from the field and losing 29-18.
Meanwhile, Virginia (19-8, 9-5) turned the ball over twice in the half and finished with five for the game, compared to 17 for Tech. Turning Tech’s 10 first-half turnovers into 13 points, Virginia led 41-29 at halftime. With their ears singed by a Gregory halftime scolding, the Jackets made a push in the second half, closing to 45-40 on a 3-pointer by forward Robert Carter. On the next possession, Mitchell beat Tech to two rebounds to keep possession and then made two foul shots, the start of a 16-1 run that closed down the game for Virginia.
“We didn’t rebound the ball all day long,” Gregory said. “They were a little quicker to every ball and it showed on those two plays.”
Tech had averaged 11.8 turnovers over a recent five-game stretch when it went 3-2, but had 19 giveaways against North Carolina last Tuesday (a 70-58 loss) to go with Sunday’s 17.
“We were shooting ourselves in our own foot, rushing, not sharing the ball, as well, not moving the ball around, holding the ball too much,” said Udofia, whose frustration bubbled over with a second-half technical foul for griping over a call.
Virginia has now won 15 in a row at home, winning its seven ACC home games by an average of 18.4 points per game.
“You can’t put your head down and beat yourself up,” said forward Marcus Georges-Hunt, who led Tech with 12 points. “You’ve just got to get better.”
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