Malik Thomas and Ugonna Onyenso each scored 16 points and No. 13 Virginia finished the regular season with a 76-72 victory over rival Virginia Tech in Atlantic Coast Conference action Saturday in Charlottesville, Va.
The Cavaliers (27-4, 15-3) finished 16-1 at home in their first year under coach Ryan Odom and will be the No. 2 seed in next week’s ACC tournament in Charlotte, N.C. They have won 11 of their last 12 games.
Sam Lewis added 15 points and Thijs De Ridder had 13 for Virginia, which never trailed as it avenged a 95-85 triple-overtime road loss to the Hokies (19-12, 8-10) on Dec. 31.
The Cavaliers made it through the entire regular season without any opponents shooting 50% or better from the field. Virginia Tech shot 41.9% overall and 25.0% (8 of 32) from 3-point distance.
Ben Hammond scored 21 points to lead the Hokies, who will need to make some noise in Charlotte to impress the NCAA Tournament selection committee. Amani Hansberry and Jailen Bedford each scored 12.
The Hokies flipped the script after intermission and erased a 16-point halftime deficit, knotting the game at 51-51 on two free throws by Neoklis Avdalas with 10:56 to play.
An alley-oop dunk by Onyenso sparked a run of eight straight points that put the Cavaliers ahead 59-51 with less than eight minutes remaining.
After Hammond’s layup pulled Virginia Tech within 67-63, Hammond went to the line with 2:10 to play but missed both free throws.
Onyenso buried a 3-pointer at the other end to give the Cavaliers a 70-63 lead with 1:47 left.
Virginia Tech got within 75-72 on Bedford’s corner 3-pointer with seven seconds to play. Devin Tillis made 1 of 2 free throws for Virginia with 4.4 seconds left for the final margin.
The Cavaliers collected their 100th victory in a rivalry that dates back to 1914-15 (100-62 record).
Virginia started fast, scoring the game’s first 12 points and taking a 22-5 lead on a 3-pointer by Tillis.
Virginia Tech fought back to within 27-21, but the Cavaliers finished strong to take a 41-25 lead into halftime.
–Field Level Media
