Struggles against Tech are nothing new, but it’s another troubling sign for this team

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No. 20 Virginia Tech 65, No. 8 Virginia 51

Did Virginia pick the wrong time to have a bad half, or did Virginia Tech expose some deeper issues with the Wahoos?

Perhaps a bit of both.

The Hokies doubled up then-No. 8 Virginia in the second half Saturday in Blacksburg, rolling to a 14-point win and snapping UVa’s seven-game winning streak and 15-game ACC winning streak, which dated to last season. Virginia also had a 15-game conference winning streak in 2018, and who ended that one? Also the Hokies, 61-60 in overtime, when the ‘Hoos were ranked No. 2 and “College GameDay” was in Charlottesville.

The Cavaliers (11-3, 7-1) fell to No. 14 in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 as a result of the setback, while Tech (13-3, 7-2), ranked No. 20 at the time of the game, climbed to No. 16.

Photo: Keve Aluma and Hunter Cattoor celebrate for VT. (The Roanoke Times)

It’s nothing new that Virginia had issues getting past Tech in basketball. Since UVa’s run of ACC dominance began in the 2013-14 season, no one outside of Duke and Florida State has given the ‘Hoos as many problems. In that time frame, Virginia is 3-6 against Duke (but 2-2 in the past four matchups), 8-4 versus Florida State (but 3-4 in the past seven), and 11-4 against Tech. Records against other ACC programs since 2013-14 include: North Carolina (9-3, but UVa has won six straight), Syracuse (8-3, though of course one of those losses is one of the worst in Virginia history), and Louisville (11-2, and UVa won nine straight before last season’s road loss). The other schools aren’t worth mentioning, because the ‘Hoos have taken a sledgehammer to just about all of them.

So three teams, maybe four or five, have consistently given Virginia fits despite its overall dominance: Duke, FSU, and VT, and you can throw in UNC and Syracuse if you want. But the Hokies stand out among those five, because in most seasons, the perception is that the ‘Hoos should not struggle against them as much as they do, relative to both teams’ success in the ACC and nationally. Regular-season conference records for the five schools since 13-14 are as follows: Duke (97-39), UNC (91-46), FSU (81-55), Syracuse (74-62), and VT (60-77).

Mike Young is building an ACC coach of the year resume this year, and his team is heading in the right direction, but even in seasons when the Hokies have been bad, they have fought tooth and nail against Virginia in certain games. In 2013-14, Tech controlled the matchup in Blacksburg before UVa rallied for a 57-53 win. Those Hokies finished with a record of 9-22 and were last in the ACC.

The same thing happened the next season. The Hokies were still bad in their inaugural season under Buzz Williams. They finished last in the conference again and went 11-22. But in Blacksburg, Virginia was only able to narrowly escape with a 50-47 victory.

In 2015-16, Virginia Tech was much improved at 10-8 in the league and 20-15 overall. The Hokies beat the Cavaliers 70-68 at Cassell Coliseum, but the ‘Hoos won by 18 at John Paul Jones Arena.

In 2016-17, Tech finished right behind the 11-7 Cavaliers in the ACC with a record of 10-8. UVa clobbered the Hokies in Charlottesville, but a mere 11 days later, Tech won 80-78 at Cassell in double overtime (the infamous ball-stopping-on-the-rim game).

The story was similar the next season, though it shouldn’t have been. Virginia blitzed the conference, going 17-1, and also won the ACC tournament. Twenty league wins. The lone defeat? That aforementioned 61-60 loss to the Hokies at JPJ. In the other meeting that year, the Cavaliers won by 26.

The two most recent seasons, UVa swept Tech, but the pattern of close games and blowouts held. The Cavaliers won by 22 and 26, but also 3 and 6.

I’ve noticed Virginia basketball fans underestimate Tech’s basketball program. Perhaps because of the Hokies’ dominance in football, we feel like we have to wave our hoops success in front of their faces a little bit. And hey, some of that is justified. Virginia still is 11-4 since 13-14 against its archrival, and of course, the Wahoos own a national championship in the sport. But I think our own success has made us quick to dismiss anything the Hokies have been able to build. Williams did a good job of bringing Tech out of the dark ages and to the doorstep of an Elite Eight appearance, and Young is starting to make a name for himself.

My colleagues and I at Hoos Place have underrated Tech as well. We pegged the Hokies 12th in our preseason poll. Only Kendall (10th) and me (11th) slotted the Hokies above 12th. I kind of wanted to put Tech a little higher, but peer pressure got to me.

Perhaps this feeling from the fan base has rubbed off on the players. It’s easier to get up for basketball games when the opponents have “Duke,” “North Carolina,” or “Syracuse” written across their jerseys. They may be a little too relaxed when Tech turns up on the schedule. And the Hokies have been the perfect mix of dangerous and slightly above average. Not great usually, so Virginia has blown them out a number of times, but good enough to where they can sneak up on the ‘Hoos if they are being lazy.

Like Saturday night.

Tech wasn’t really playing remarkably well, but it was doing enough to stick around. Keve Aluma (29 points, 10 rebounds, four assists) was incredible, of course, single-handedly carrying the Hokies when his teammates weren’t doing too much. But they did have 7-0 and 5-0 runs in the first half, and separate 5-0 runs in the second half before the big 19-0 run put the ‘Hoos in a hole they could not climb out of. Jay Huff tipped in a missed shot with 8:29 remaining, and Virginia didn’t score again until Justin McKoy made a jumper at the 1:13 mark.

The game was kind of just meandering along in the second half. I didn’t truly get the sense that Virginia was on the verge of blowing Tech out, but I also wasn’t really that worried about the Hokies getting on a roll. The players may not have been ready for it either. It seemed like they kind of assumed they’d pull away without actually trying to grab the win by the throat.

“It’s never for the full 40 minutes, but you just can’t have big gaps where you’re not getting stops or being assertive enough,” coach Tony Bennett said after the game. “It was too easy for them to post up, do things and then make some plays, and we just weren’t right. And boy, let that be a lesson, because you can’t survive like that.”

Bennett noted that luck played a part in the lead Virginia built.

“A little bit fool’s gold. We made some [3s] at the end of the shot clock [and the shots looked] good, we separated the lead a little bit, but we almost had to bail ourselves out with some of those at the end [of the shot clock] with certain guys, and we probably took too many,” Bennett said. “But we were having a hard time getting post-ups or getting to the free throw line through drawing fouls or drives. Again, they really bottled up the lane and defended, and then they were pretty quick to [defend] the 3s, and sometimes we had to take them. Certainly wasn’t one of our better efforts, and partly due to their good defense taking the lane away and then challenging, leaving us with some late 3s, which is what you want to do when guarding the right way.”

The Wahoos made seven triples before the break but only three in the second half. The Hokies, meanwhile, made two in the first 20 minutes and seven in the second half. Jay Huff led Virginia with 13 points and went 3 for 3 from beyond the arc, but he only played 23 minutes due to (admittedly controversial) foul trouble.

Bennett intimated that his team wasn’t tough enough.

“Finesse does not work in this league, and we looked very finesse-y today,” he said.

On Monday, he expanded on those thoughts a bit.

“People come after [us]. … It always comes down to who’s hungrier, who’s tougher,” Bennett said. “I think Kihei [Clark] brings some fight. Sam [Hauser] will play hard. … We’re not the most vocal group. We’ve known that from the start.”

Another thing we know is that Tech seems to take this rivalry more seriously than UVa. I noted that in my recap of the football loss in December, and maybe that carries over to other sports.

After the game, Bennett said, “You could feel it, how badly they wanted it. I didn’t feel we answered that.”

“We knew Virginia Tech was going to bring it. In a rivalry game, you’re going to get their best shot, so we have to give them our best shot,” he said. “Partly due to them, partly due to us, we did not do that for long enough to win enough possessions at all. They just sort of got momentum, and we couldn’t hang on.”

While I’d like the ‘Hoos to take the Hokies more seriously, I also know that Virginia can accomplish its goals of winning the ACC, going deep in the NCAA tournament, and competing for another national title without beating Tech. Virginia has thrived in recent seasons even though it hasn’t always been able to brush aside the Hokies with the ease some of us would like to see.

The more alarming part of what Bennett said is that UVa just might not be a rugged team this season. That could be an issue that continues to crop up, as it has at other times already. Upon rewatching parts of the game, I noticed way too many open shots for the Hokies, and an overall lack of energy from the ‘Hoos. Tech’s players had more pep in their steps. Breakdowns on defense and a lack of enthusiasm are rare traits for Bennett’s squads, but it has been happening with greater frequency this year.

“I’m not saying we scored enough points, but you can’t guard like that at the end, or in that stretch fall apart and expect to beat a team a good team like Virginia Tech,” Bennett said.

So on the one hand, what happened is fairly normal. Virginia’s issues with the Hokies have not always foreshadowed future struggles for the team. They are frustrating, but not always indicative of how well the Cavaliers play over the course of a season, and especially in March.

But on the other hand, the loss could be one more sign that this team still needs to develop a better mindset and a tougher personality as we enter the stretch run of the season.

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