Virginia Tech is 1-0 in the ACC after fighting off No. 21 Virginia in triple overtime. (Jon Fleming)

Down three key pieces, Virginia Tech entered Wednesday’s Commonwealth Clash vs. No. 21 Virginia with its back against the wall. However, behind the likes of Ben Hammond and Christian Gurdak, it prevailed in a 95-85 triple-overtime victory, the first of its kind in the 110-year-old rivalry.

“Our team did some great things, did some really bad things that we will learn from,” Tech head coach Mike Young said, “but great win, and I’m really, really proud of our team.”

Tobi Lawal (foot), Tyler Johnson (foot) and Antonio Dorn (back) were scratches for the Hokies (12-2, 1-0 ACC) against the Cavaliers (11-2, 0-1), who were without key weapon Jacari White (wrist).

On paper, UVa had an advantage inside with its frontcourt trio of Thijs De Ridder, Johann Grünloh and Ugonna Onyenso against VT’s Amani Hansberry and Gurdak. That’s not how it played out, though.

Tech’s duo was dominant on the inside, posting 17 points apiece and staying out of foul trouble while drawing 12 personals from UVa. Moreover, the tandem was pivotal in the Hokies outrebounding the Cavaliers 60-54, which included 20 offensive boards.

Hansberry, who played 51 minutes, corralled 15 rebounds, eight of which came on the offensive glass. Gurdak, a true freshman who earned his second collegiate start in his 14th career game, had 19 rebounds, a mark last hit at Tech by Jeff Allen in 2011.

“He’s super smart and he’s unselfish and he is all about doing what our team needs to win,” Young said of Gurdak. “That’s a pretty good formula for an 18-year-old playing his 14th college game in an unbelievable atmosphere. He’s a great person, a great kid to coach and was really, really good today.”

“Looking at them on film, they’re a good offensive rebounding team, but I think so are we,” Gurdak said. “We knew that they were better at offensive rebounding than rebounding on the defensive side, so I knew I was going to be able to crash the glass hard and really attack them and just out-work them.”

Then there was Ben Hammond, the rudder who guided the Hokies’ ship in the clutch. The 5-foot-11 sophomore scored 18 of his career-high 30 points in the second and third overtime, which included a crucial tip-in with 41 seconds left. The majority of his points came from the stripe, where he was 16-for-18. For comparison, Virginia attempted just 15 free throws as a team.

The first Virginia Tech player with 30 points in the rivalry since fellow Paul VI product Erick Green in 2013, Hammond did not turn it over in 42 minutes of action while tacking on five rebounds, five assists and two steals. He also posted his second career block with 2:27 remaining in the second overtime period, which led to a runout and a Neoklis Avdalas alley-oop to Hansberry. Both coaches called him the best player on the floor.

This block from Ben Hammond set up a transition basket for the Hokies. (Ivan Morozov)

“He was exceptional,” Young said of Hammond. “… It was both ends of the floor. He created havoc for the Cavaliers down there with a couple of things.”

“Hammond was the difference,” Virginia head coach Ryan Odom said. “… He was a big-time player tonight.”

The three-hour, seven-minute affair had many twists and turns, with 21 lead changes and 17 ties. Tech was in control for the majority of the first half before Virginia’s late 8-0 surge. In the second half, a Jaden Schutt 3-pointer gave the Hokies a four-point cushion with 5:47 to play, but the Cavaliers stormed back via two quick baskets from De Ridder, who finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds, and Dallin Hall.

UVa’s Belgian import, De Ridder almost willed his team to victory with back-to-back field goals to take a 55-53 lead into the final minute of regulation. However, Gurdak’s offensive rebound — one of his seven on the day — and putback with 34 ticks forced overtime.

Tech crawled out to a 59-55 lead before Virginia fought back after a scrappy tip-in from Devin Tillis and a 3-pointer from De Ridder swung the pendulum again. Then it was the Hokies on their heels, but a Schutt trey knotted things at 62.

After a De Ridder layup with 13 seconds left, they needed a big-time play once again, and Hammond found Gurdak wide-open in the lane for a dunk with four on the clock to send it to double overtime.

Tech pushed its lead to as many as five points after the aforementioned Hansberry lob, which followed Hammond’s block, and had a four-point cushion after a Hammond free throw with seven seconds to play in the period. However, a trey from Malik Thomas (26 points) gave UVa new life, and after another Hammond foul shot, Chance Mallory tipped in a missed three from Thomas at the buzzer to revive the Cavaliers entering triple overtime.

“Everyone was like, ‘We’re not losing this game.’ We manifested that,” Gurdak said. “We didn’t come back after we should have probably won in that second overtime and be like, ‘Aw, man,’ because they had all of the momentum. We weren’t down. We were like, ‘We’ve got to match the energy and play even harder,’ and we weren’t going to lose that game.”

Virginia had all of the momentum and had silenced a previously loud Cassell Coliseum crowd, and De Ridder provided a quick lead with a layup, but the Hokies soon took over for good.

Hammond got to his spot twice, knocking down two jumpers, and after Thomas responded for the Cavaliers, Hansberry drilled his second 3-pointer of the day. Tech got a few defensive stops, Hammond tacked on two layups and Avdalas added two free throws to pull away from UVa for the final time. Odom’s squad had no response.

Christian Gurdak had a monster effort for Virginia Tech against Virginia on Wednesday. (Ivan Morozov)

It marked the Hokies’ best win to date, even more impressive given the players absent. It required a team effort, and they got that from Hammond, Gurdak and Hansberry, but also from players like Avdalas (17 points, eight rebounds), Schutt (nine points, four rebounds) and Jailen Bedford (five points, three rebounds). Sin’Cere Jones and Izaiah Pasha provided some quality minutes, too.

They might’ve been shorthanded on paper, but they didn’t let it show on the court, instead imposing their will on the Cavaliers. They drew 27 fouls, only picking up 16 themselves, and made UVa’s life difficult from behind the arc, where it was 10-for-45. Moreover, they yielded just five fastbreak points over the 55 minutes and only six second-chance points in regulation (13 for the game) — both season-lows for Virginia.

“My thought process was rivalry game, big game, they’re ranked, let’s go take it from them,” Gurdak said. “No one was scared in that locker room, and so we just went in there and took it from them.”

It’s also not the first time this season Tech has shown the ability to grind out a game. It’s now won four times in overtime in its first 14 contests. The Hokies are the eighth ACC school to reach that mark in the last 30 years and the fastest to get there.

Few are ending 2025 on a better note.

“We’re Virginia Tech,” Young said. “We are Virginia Tech. That’s what we do. Great admiration for [Virginia], but damn it, I’ve got a good basketball team too, and I’m not going to shy away from that.”

Box Score: Virginia Tech 95, No. 21 Virginia 85 (3OT)