Takeaways Power Virginia to Dominant 74-56 Victory at Georgia Tech

The Cavaliers scored 30 points off of 23 Yellow Jacket turnovers in a wire-to-wire victory on New Year's Eve in Atlanta

On the final day of 2022, the Cavaliers were hoping for a strong performance that would help build some momentum entering the new year. 

Mission accomplished. 

Virginia knocked down ten three-pointers, scored 30 points off of 23 Yellow Jacket turnovers, and led by as many as 27 points in a wire-to-wire 74-56 victory over Georgia Tech on Saturday afternoon in Atlanta. 

With UVA struggling from beyond the arc over the last several games, Josh Pastner and the Yellow Jackets opted for a zone defense approach, purposefully yielding three-point attempts in order to prevent Virginia from scoring inside. Unfortunately for Georgia Tech, Virginia's eight-game shooting slump, a stretch in which the Cavaliers made no more than six three-pointers in each game since November 18th, finally came to an end on Saturday. Virginia knocked down eight three-pointers in the first half alone and finished with ten threes on 22 attempts (45.5%). 

The Cavaliers thoroughly picked apart the Georgia Tech zone leading to consistent open looks for Virginia's shooters. Armaan Franklin knocked down three three-pointers in the first half and Isaac McKneely and Kihei Clark hit two threes apiece. Eight of UVA's 13 made field goals in the first half were three-pointers. 

Georgia Tech kept pace behind nine points from Miles Kelly and six from Rodney Howard, but Virginia ended the first half on a 9-0 run over the final three minutes. Clark and McKneely assisted on each other's three-pointers on back-to-back plays to put Virginia up 36-25 at halftime. 

The run continued for the Cavaliers in the second half, as they scored the first 16 points of the half. All told, Virginia put together a massive 25-0 run to build a 52-25 lead just five minutes into the second half, which essentially ended the game right there. 

Georgia Tech entered the game averaging just over ten turnovers per game, a figure that ranked inside the top ten in all of college basketball. Against Virginia on Saturday, Georgia Tech turned the ball over 23 times, the most turnovers forced by UVA since 2010. The Cavaliers had 14 steals as a team, including five steals from Armaan Franklin and three from Kihei Clark, and UVA scored a staggering 30 points off of Georgia Tech's turnovers. 

In the entire 2021-2022 season, Virginia essentially never had a comfortable victory against an ACC opponent. With the game essentially out of reach early in the second half, the Cavaliers were in cruise control the rest of the way and played their entire bench unit, including walk-ons Chase Coleman and Tristan How, for the last several minutes. Georgia Tech scored a few baskets in the final minutes to make the final score more respectable, but this was a dominant win for Virginia, who never trailed in the game. 

Kihei Clark led the way with 15 points and eight assists and Jayden Gardner added 14 points on 7/12 shooting. Armaan Franklin and Kadin Shedrick both reached double figures with 11 points apiece and Reece Beekman had eight points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals as he returned after missing the Albany game to rest his hamstring.

The win also gave Tony Bennett 326 wins at Virginia, tying Terry Holland for most all-time in UVA program history. 

The Cavaliers will hope to build on the momentum of this win in the new year as they continue their two-game road swing. Virginia (10-2, 2-1 ACC) will play at Pittsburgh on Tuesday at 9pm. 

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