No. 4 Virginia 72, Georgia Tech 52
Virginia got some revenge on Georgia Tech -- one of the few teams to defeat UVa this season -- in the ACC tournament quarterfinals, clobbering the Yellow Jackets on Thursday. It was a dominating second-half performance as the Wahoos moved on to the semifinals, where they will face No. 11 Miami, which downed Virginia Tech in the last quarterfinal of the day.
The ACC's overall and defensive player of the year, Malcolm Brogdon, led the way for the Cavaliers with 26 points on 10-of-15 shooting. He was 3 for 6 from 3-point land. Anthony Gill had 12 points and eight rebounds, and London Perrantes contributed eight points and eight assists (two turnovers).
Virginia got off to a fast start behind role players Mike Tobey and Devon Hall, as the two scored Virginia's first seven points as the Cavs led early, 7-2. And after getting down 16-11 at one point, Darius Thompson made a great play on a steal off a long pass by Georgia Tech that he turned into a fastbreak dunk.
But it was two of the big three that got UVa the lead back, and for good this time. Gill blocked a shot, and on the other end, Brogdon sunk the first of his 3s for a 23-20 lead. He followed that up by making a long step-back jumper, and capped it off with another 3 at the top of the key for a 28-22 lead.
Later in the half, Gill and Isaiah Wilkins combined for a monstrous block on Georgia Tech's James White, which was reminiscent of the "triple block" Virginia had against Pittsburgh two years ago in the ACC tournament, which has now become famous among UVa fans.
Early in the second half, the game might have turned on an injury. Gill turned a terrific hard hedge on a pick into a steal from Marcus Georges-Hunt. Georges-Hunt chased Gill down and fouled him hard, preventing a layup, but Georges-Hunt hurt himself as he hit the floor. He wasn't out of the game long, but Virginia ended up going on a 12-2 run that was capped by a four-point play by Evan Nolte, making the score 44-32. Georges-Hunt even came back in for the end of that spurt, getting stonewalled by Brogdon on one particular possession, resulting in a shot-clock violation. It was more the tone of the game that changed, but not necessarily because Tech's best player got hurt. Georges-Hunt wasn't successful either game this season against UVa, scoring just seven points Thursday and five in the January win over the Cavs. But the injury is when UVa started to get separation. You could tell it would be an uphill climb for the Jackets to try to get back in it.
Not long after the four-point play, Nolte made another jumper (he finished with six points) and also drew a foul on a great hustle play when he went after a rebound and kept going for it as he was getting held, making it obvious there was a foul. Every time Nolte made a good play, the pro-UVa crowd went wild.
Wilkins made a great hustle play with just fewer than 10 minutes left when he tipped out an offensive rebound to Perrantes, who made a 3-pointer. Another highlight play in the second half was when Hall went up and under, sinking a layup with plenty of English and getting the foul. He failed to convert the 3-point play, though.
It was a great start to tournament play for Virginia, which got its biggest win in the event since 1983. Remember when UVa seemingly could never get back to the semifinals? Yeah, now it has been three years in a row.
Those hustle type plays and breakthrough moments for UVa's role players are going to be what can take the Cavaliers far into March. The big three are on most games, and will need to be. But these other contributions are what will make the difference -- a Nolte 3, a Thompson steal and dunk, a 3 and at least one more bucket from Hall. A breakout game from Tobey, like he had vs. Louisville. He had nine points against the Jackets on 4-of-5 shooting in just 18 minutes, showing he could've been on pace for another great game. He had only one rebound, a stark contrast from the regular-season finale when he grabbed 20.
No. 4 Virginia vs. No. 11 Miami in Washington, 9 p.m. ESPN/NBC29
In the semifinals, the Cavaliers face the Hurricanes in what will be a rubber match for the two teams. Earlier in the year, when UVa was really struggling, it came through with a win at home over then-No. 8 ranked Miami, 66-58. Then at Miami, when the Cavs had won eight of nine and with the Hurricanes coming off a blowout loss against North Carolina, Miami bowed up and got a big 64-61 win. In the victory, UVa got a more balanced scoring effort, with Brogdon recording 20, Gill 15, Perrantes 13, and Tobey 12. In the loss, Brogdon tied a career high with 28, but no other Wahoo scored in double figures. Perrantes had nine and Gill six. Perrantes made 3 of 5 field goals in the win, but just 3 of 11 in the loss. Gill was 3 of 9 in the loss, but 6 of 10 in the win. Overall in the win, Virginia shot 51 percent, 76.2 percent from the line; in the loss, 43 percent overall, and 66.7 percent from the line in the loss. The only stat that got better was 3-pointers. In the
loss, UVa made five 3s (out of 16, though). In the win, UVa made 2 of 7.
The main difference on defense was open 3-pointers. Miami sunk them (10 of 19) in its win, but did not (6 of 22) in its loss. In both games, though, I thought UVa gave the Hurricanes too many open looks. Davon Reed made 5 of 6 and Angel Rodriguez 3 of 6 in the Hurricanes' victory. Reed had just one in Charlottesville and Rodriguez made two. Ivan Cruz Uceda made two at UVa. UVa outrebounded Miami in both games: 35-27 in Charlottesville and 35-30 at Miami, but I noticed that Kamari Murphy had just three rebounds in Miami's loss, but 11 in its win. Surely some of those rebounds led to open looks. An interesting note from both games is Miami's free throw shooting. The Hurricanes are very good from the stripe on the year -- 75.1 percent -- but did not shoot well from there in either game -- 58.8 percent in their loss and 60 percent in their win.
Miami looked good but not great in its 88-82 win over Virginia Tech on Thursday. I think UVa played the better game. With two single-digit games in the books between these two, I don't see this one being different. It'll just come down to who plays the better game tonight. I'll give UVa the edge, which will have a much larger fan contingent than Miami.
Gut feeling: Virginia wins by 1-5 points.
Virginia got some revenge on Georgia Tech -- one of the few teams to defeat UVa this season -- in the ACC tournament quarterfinals, clobbering the Yellow Jackets on Thursday. It was a dominating second-half performance as the Wahoos moved on to the semifinals, where they will face No. 11 Miami, which downed Virginia Tech in the last quarterfinal of the day.
The ACC's overall and defensive player of the year, Malcolm Brogdon, led the way for the Cavaliers with 26 points on 10-of-15 shooting. He was 3 for 6 from 3-point land. Anthony Gill had 12 points and eight rebounds, and London Perrantes contributed eight points and eight assists (two turnovers).
Virginia got off to a fast start behind role players Mike Tobey and Devon Hall, as the two scored Virginia's first seven points as the Cavs led early, 7-2. And after getting down 16-11 at one point, Darius Thompson made a great play on a steal off a long pass by Georgia Tech that he turned into a fastbreak dunk.
But it was two of the big three that got UVa the lead back, and for good this time. Gill blocked a shot, and on the other end, Brogdon sunk the first of his 3s for a 23-20 lead. He followed that up by making a long step-back jumper, and capped it off with another 3 at the top of the key for a 28-22 lead.
Later in the half, Gill and Isaiah Wilkins combined for a monstrous block on Georgia Tech's James White, which was reminiscent of the "triple block" Virginia had against Pittsburgh two years ago in the ACC tournament, which has now become famous among UVa fans.
Early in the second half, the game might have turned on an injury. Gill turned a terrific hard hedge on a pick into a steal from Marcus Georges-Hunt. Georges-Hunt chased Gill down and fouled him hard, preventing a layup, but Georges-Hunt hurt himself as he hit the floor. He wasn't out of the game long, but Virginia ended up going on a 12-2 run that was capped by a four-point play by Evan Nolte, making the score 44-32. Georges-Hunt even came back in for the end of that spurt, getting stonewalled by Brogdon on one particular possession, resulting in a shot-clock violation. It was more the tone of the game that changed, but not necessarily because Tech's best player got hurt. Georges-Hunt wasn't successful either game this season against UVa, scoring just seven points Thursday and five in the January win over the Cavs. But the injury is when UVa started to get separation. You could tell it would be an uphill climb for the Jackets to try to get back in it.
Not long after the four-point play, Nolte made another jumper (he finished with six points) and also drew a foul on a great hustle play when he went after a rebound and kept going for it as he was getting held, making it obvious there was a foul. Every time Nolte made a good play, the pro-UVa crowd went wild.
Wilkins made a great hustle play with just fewer than 10 minutes left when he tipped out an offensive rebound to Perrantes, who made a 3-pointer. Another highlight play in the second half was when Hall went up and under, sinking a layup with plenty of English and getting the foul. He failed to convert the 3-point play, though.
It was a great start to tournament play for Virginia, which got its biggest win in the event since 1983. Remember when UVa seemingly could never get back to the semifinals? Yeah, now it has been three years in a row.
Those hustle type plays and breakthrough moments for UVa's role players are going to be what can take the Cavaliers far into March. The big three are on most games, and will need to be. But these other contributions are what will make the difference -- a Nolte 3, a Thompson steal and dunk, a 3 and at least one more bucket from Hall. A breakout game from Tobey, like he had vs. Louisville. He had nine points against the Jackets on 4-of-5 shooting in just 18 minutes, showing he could've been on pace for another great game. He had only one rebound, a stark contrast from the regular-season finale when he grabbed 20.
No. 4 Virginia vs. No. 11 Miami in Washington, 9 p.m. ESPN/NBC29
In the semifinals, the Cavaliers face the Hurricanes in what will be a rubber match for the two teams. Earlier in the year, when UVa was really struggling, it came through with a win at home over then-No. 8 ranked Miami, 66-58. Then at Miami, when the Cavs had won eight of nine and with the Hurricanes coming off a blowout loss against North Carolina, Miami bowed up and got a big 64-61 win. In the victory, UVa got a more balanced scoring effort, with Brogdon recording 20, Gill 15, Perrantes 13, and Tobey 12. In the loss, Brogdon tied a career high with 28, but no other Wahoo scored in double figures. Perrantes had nine and Gill six. Perrantes made 3 of 5 field goals in the win, but just 3 of 11 in the loss. Gill was 3 of 9 in the loss, but 6 of 10 in the win. Overall in the win, Virginia shot 51 percent, 76.2 percent from the line; in the loss, 43 percent overall, and 66.7 percent from the line in the loss. The only stat that got better was 3-pointers. In the
The main difference on defense was open 3-pointers. Miami sunk them (10 of 19) in its win, but did not (6 of 22) in its loss. In both games, though, I thought UVa gave the Hurricanes too many open looks. Davon Reed made 5 of 6 and Angel Rodriguez 3 of 6 in the Hurricanes' victory. Reed had just one in Charlottesville and Rodriguez made two. Ivan Cruz Uceda made two at UVa. UVa outrebounded Miami in both games: 35-27 in Charlottesville and 35-30 at Miami, but I noticed that Kamari Murphy had just three rebounds in Miami's loss, but 11 in its win. Surely some of those rebounds led to open looks. An interesting note from both games is Miami's free throw shooting. The Hurricanes are very good from the stripe on the year -- 75.1 percent -- but did not shoot well from there in either game -- 58.8 percent in their loss and 60 percent in their win.
Miami looked good but not great in its 88-82 win over Virginia Tech on Thursday. I think UVa played the better game. With two single-digit games in the books between these two, I don't see this one being different. It'll just come down to who plays the better game tonight. I'll give UVa the edge, which will have a much larger fan contingent than Miami.
Gut feeling: Virginia wins by 1-5 points.
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