Cavaliers Now

The Plus/Minus: Virginia Stomped by Virginia Tech

In Virginia’s ugliest game of the season, the Cavaliers crumbled in Blacksburg, losing 75-41

Val Prochaska

The Plus/Minus: Virginia Stomped by Virginia Tech
The Plus/Minus: Virginia Stomped by Virginia Tech /
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Virginia suffered a a 75-41 loss to Virginia Tech in the Commonwealth Clash on Monday night at Cassell Coliseum. Val has the Plus/Minus to break down this historically-lopsided defeat. 

Minus

75-41. Yes, you read that right. The 34-point loss is the greatest of Tony Bennett’s tenure against an ACC opponent. I had to work late and didn’t get to the TV until the 11-minute mark, at which point Virginia was down 13-12. Over the next 9 minutes, Virginia Tech would go on a 23-4 run as Virginia went 8+ minutes without scoring. To be frank, if I didn’t have this column to write, I would have turned the game off at halftime.

Minus

Both teams had the same short turnaround following grueling Saturday games. Virginia eked out a 49-47 win over Wake Forest while Tech was run up and down the court by North Carolina. The Hokies were clearly better off as they shredded Virginia’s defense at will. (Now I understand the win vs Miami. The ‘Canes were similarly flat on a two-day turnaround.) Virginia’s D was like Swiss cheese.

14 – 18 Tech scored in 9 seconds
14 – 20 Tech scored in 8 seconds
14 – 24 Tech scored in 14 seconds
14 – 26 Tech scored in 8 seconds
14 – 28 Tech scored in 14 seconds
14 – 30 Tech scored in 13 seconds
14 – 33 Tech scored in 8 seconds

Eight, nine seconds? That’s pretty much one pass and somebody is shooting it. That was five different players scoring those buckets.

Minus

Virginia had 12 turnovers. Virginia Tech scored 24 points off of them. Every single TO led to Tech points. Virginia sucked, but Tech was pretty efficient on the night. 

A buddy of mine – not a Virginia alum – sent me this tweet because I’m the soccer friend in his life. Pretty close to how the Hoos performed tonight.

Plus

The sole Virginia highlight was that after going 1/11 from the free throw line versus Wake, the Cavaliers went 5/7. Of course, the Hokies went 13/17 to negate even that positive. Oh well, at least Jordan Minor was 3/5 from the line and effectively denied the Cassell denizens their free bacon. Seriously, that’s about all I can find positive from this game.

Minus

The eight-game win streak is long gone as Virginia has lost two of their past three games. Over the last two games, Virginia has scored only 90 points, shooting a combined 37% from the floor and 24% from three. Not going to win many games like that.

More: Matt’s got the game report here. But really, why would anyone want to spend any more time thinking about this game?

Next Up: Time to move on. Virginia does have a longer week before hosting UNC at the JPJ on Saturday, February 24th. Game time is 4:00pm and the game is on ESPN. 

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Val Prochaska
VAL PROCHASKA

Val graduated from the University of Virginia in the last millennium, back when writing one's senior thesis by hand was still a thing. He is a lifelong fan of the ACC, having chosen the Tobacco Road conference ahead of the Big East. Again, when that was still a thing. Val has covered Virginia men's basketball for seven years, first with HoosPlace and then with StreakingTheLawn, before joining us here at Virginia Cavaliers on SI in August of 2023, continuing to cover UVA men's basketball and also writing about women's soccer and women's basketball.

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