Behind Isaac McKneely’s 22 points and six made 3-pointers, Virginia held off Virginia Tech 73-70 on Saturday afternoon inside Cassell Coliseum.
The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Hokies (11-14, 6-8 ACC) at home in the series and denied them their first season sweep of the Cavaliers (13-12, 6-8) since 2009-10.
“[UVa’s] playing well,” Tech sixth-year head coach Mike Young said. “[It’s just] exhausting chasing Isaac off that stuff. He’s been in that program for a long time, seen a lot of plays, and he got the best of us.”
UVa found its rhythm early, leading by as many as 15 in the first half, with five different Cavaliers knocking down threes to pull ahead 32-17. Not only that, it shot 56 percent (15-of-27) in the first 20 minutes of play, hitting 47 percent (7-of-15) of its attempts from the outside.
That was the start the Cavaliers needed and the exact opposite of what took place in Charlottesville in the Hokies’ 75-74 win on Feb. 1.
“Golly day, we’re just doing dumb things,” Young said regarding Tech’s first-half defensive performance. “Not to get too technical, [but] you can’t cut. You can’t go a man removed when you’re chasing the [ball], especially down on the baseline. … We made mistakes in that portion [of the game].
“We got it corrected and played better in the last 10 minutes.”
McKneely benefited from some of Tech’s defensive mistakes, though he made some tough shots down the stretch. He was the first opponent to make six treys against the Hokies since Notre Dame’s Nate Laszewski on Feb. 11, 2023.
“He doesn’t stop moving, he’s a great player,” Tech guard Ben Hammond said of McKneely. “They run a lot of stuff for him, so he’s active the whole possession, that’s what we’ve been going over in scout. … It’s just really difficult to chase him down.”
McKneely, who finished 7-of-16 from the field and 6-of-14 from behind the arc, had a quiet first half with just six points. Dai Dai Ames led the Cavaliers with nine points while Anthony Robinson added eight in seven minutes off the bench. However, McKneely burned the Hokies for 16 in the second on 5-of-10 shooting while the rest of UVa’s team combined for just three made field goals.
“I don’t have a great matchup,” Young said. “We need a bit more size and a bit more length on Isaac. Ben and Brandon [Rechsteiner] worked their tails off, and I could not ask another thing of those two young men and how they pursued him and how they guarded him over the course of the game.
“That’s a hard matchup. … He didn’t have many just catch and rip it. He was flying off that stuff and we were right in his footsteps and he got it turned around and made a couple of really tough ones.”
Despite some first-half struggles on the defensive end, Tech found itself still in the game. It trailed 40-33 at halftime with Tobi Lawal’s 19 points guiding the way.
Though he was limited to just four points in the second half, the Hokies slowly chipped away and cut the lead down to just one with over two minutes to go. Tech hit shots when it needed to, too, shooting 50 percent (12-of-24) in the final frame.
“We’re hard-nosed,” Young said. “We had an opportunity to tuck tail and go away, but they’re not going to do that. They’re going to play really, really hard, connected and fight.
“All the way back we come, and we missed a couple of shots that we typically get down that would’ve drawn it back even more. Proud of their toughness.”
Tech had its chance when a Hammond layup made it 69-68 in UVa’s favor with 2:02 remaining. Cavaliers guard Andrew Rohde proceeded to get fouled and knock down two free throws from the line before Tyler Johnson responded to pull the deficit back down to one with 1:17 to go.
The Cavaliers drew up a play executed to perfection out of a Hokies timeout, though. A lob from Rohde to Anthony Robinson turned into an alley-oop slam and gave the visitors a 73-70 cushion.
Still, the Hokies had one final chance after two empty possessions on both ends.
Surging up the floor and opting not to use one of two timeouts, Tech got it to Ben Burnham in the corner. After a slight pump fake, he hoisted up a potential game-tying three, just for it to clang off the right side of the rim, with the Hokies’ second-half rally falling just short.
“The [UVa] kid fell down,” Young said. “We were at an advantage. I thought we might’ve been able to get something. In hindsight, I may have called timeout. … The decision for me in that moment was playing against a set defense, when in that instance we had a bit of a broken floor and I thought we could get something at the rim, get fouled.
“Not a bad situation; [just] missed the shot.”
Lawal paced Tech with a game-high 23 points while Hammond added 11, Tyler Johnson put up nine, Jaydon Young scored eight, Rechsteiner and Burnham finished with six and Mylyjael Poteat scored four.
Jaden Schutt, who posted three points, was limited to just 18 minutes because he was dealing with the flu. Young kept him off the floor for the final 13:12 of play. Fellow guard Rodney Brown Jr. was also unavailable.
A trip to Boston College on Tuesday evening at 9 p.m. ET is up next for Tech, who still seeks a first-round bye in next month’s ACC Tournament. There are still plenty of winnable games left to play, including Saturday’s trip to Miami.
“We’ve got to go play better basketball and find a way to win,” Young said.
Box Score: Virginia 73, Virginia Tech 70