2024-01-18 06:39:00
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CHARLOTTESVILLE — In the final minutes of the second half Wednesday night, with Virginia protecting a lead, guard Reece Beekman delivered an arcing lob intended for Ryan Dunn, who had gotten behind Virginia Tech’s Hunter Cattoor and was floating toward the basket to complete the fast break.
Cattoor tipped the pass, which nonetheless found a path to the rim, rattling several times before dropping through the net. The fortuitous sequence allowed the Cavaliers to reclaim a double-digit lead and underscored a night in which the lion’s share of the bounces went Virginia’s way in a 65-57 win at John Paul Jones Arena.
In extending the country’s second longest home winning streak to 20, Virginia (12-5, 3-3 ACC) got 16 points each from Beekman and Jordan Minor, a graduate transfer forward who added five rebounds, two assists and two steals.
The Cavaliers ended a two-game slide and dealt Virginia Tech (10-7, 2-4) a fifth consecutive defeat in Charlottesville. The Hokies committed 15 turnovers (10 in the first half) and were held to 38.9 percent shooting in the latest installment of the Commonwealth Clash.
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“The first half, we were pretty connected,” Virginia Coach Tony Bennett said. “They missed some open shots. We got lost in transition. If you look at the stat sheet, they got 17 fast-break points, but once more, [the Hokies] probably got a few too many open looks. But when we needed to, we came up with big stops, and it certainly wasn’t for a lack of effort.”
Minor’s emergence — he matched his season high and scored 11 of his points in the second half — also featured stifling defense once morest Lynn Kidd, Virginia Tech’s top post presence. The transfer from Clemson finished with two points, more than a dozen below his season average, and went just 1 for 3 from the field with two rebounds.
Junior guard Sean Pedulla led the Hokies with 18 points but shot 6 for 16. The reigning ACC player of the week was coming off games with 32 and 33 points but matched a season high with seven turnovers. Cattoor added 12 points following sitting out Virginia Tech’s previous game, a 75-71 loss to visiting Miami on Saturday, while in the concussion protocol.
“I thought he was good — he’s always good,” Hokies Coach Mike Young said. “He was evaluated by our medical staff on Monday. He was cleared. He practiced on Monday — no contact. He was full contact on Tuesday, and we knew on Monday that if everything went well on Tuesday that he would play, and here he was.”
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The Cavaliers wobbled Virginia Tech during several stretches in the second half, forging a 36-23 lead with 15:35 to play before finally sealing the outcome with five points in the final 47 seconds while limiting Virginia Tech to two. A transition basket in that time featured Dunn blocking Pedulla’s layup and scoring on the other end courtesy of a pass from Andrew Rohde.
Wayward shooting by both teams yielded a first half that ended with the Cavaliers ahead, 25-18, although Virginia Tech went into the locker room on the heels of Cattoor’s three-pointer released an instant before the halftime buzzer. It was a rare make to that point for the Hokies, who shot 27.2 percent in the opening 20 minutes while failing to score 20 points in a first half for the first time since 2020.
“We’ve still got some things to figure out as a team,” Minor said. “We were more disciplined today than we have been in the past, but we’ve still got some steps to go, so I think it’s definitely a step in the right direction, for sure.”
The first half included an ovation for Virginia’s Dante Harris, who played his first game since injuring his ankle Nov. 22 once morest West Virginia. The reserve point guard missed the previous 10 games; he entered with 13:46 to play and quickly logged an assist, sending a one-handed pass from the painted area to Jake Groves, who sank a three-pointer.
Harris, who transferred last season from Georgetown, finished with five points and five assists without a turnover in 17 minutes. He also was part of a bench that contributed 19 points, including eight by freshman forward Blake Buchanan and six from Groves.
“It’s a little sore — definitely going to get some treatment following this,” Harris said of his ankle. “But when I’m playing basketball I don’t really feel it. It’s just my adrenaline running, just determined to go out there and just hoop, so I’ll definitely get some treatment but just happy we came out with a win.”
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