For the second time in December, the Virginia basketball team exited a longer break with a nearby rival waiting in the next game. The Cavaliers got away with a poor first half and some sluggishness in an 80-72 win against Maryland at home, but they couldn't pull off a carbon copy against Virginia Tech on New Year's Eve. The Hokies topped the Hoos 95-85 in triple overtime on Wednesday in the ACC opener for both teams.
This snapped a six-game winning streak for the Cavaliers. The program played its first triple overtime game since a 115-11 loss vs. Georgetown in the NIT on March 15, 2000 way back in the Pete Gillen era.
"It was a great college basketball game. Virginia tech, Coach [Mike] Young, their players, they battled," Virginia coach Ryan Odom said. "To play a three overtime game like that in this rivalry is a pretty cool thing for all the players. ... Both teams made big plays to extend it or get a little bit of a lead and then the other team would come back. Just really impressed with all the players out on the court and the plays they were able to make."
Both teams came into the game after a layoff. No. 21 UVA last played on Monday, Dec. 22 against American in a 95-51 romp, while Tech last played against Elon in an 82-81 overtime win. Whether the calendar break caused it or not can be debated, but neither team came out of the gates strong. Virginia shot 29.0%, including just 17.6% from 3-point range, and committed 7 turnovers in the first half. VT shot 27.3% overall and from 3-point range to go with 6 turnovers in the first half.
That resulted in Virginia leading by a 24-23 halftime score. Both teams improved in the second half, but neither team created much separation or took control of the game. Eventually, it took three extra periods to decide the outcome.
At the end of regulation, UVA forward Thijs De Ridder scored with 1:03 to go to give the visitors a 55-53 lead. Tech guard Neoklis Avdalas missed on the other end, but Christian Gurdak came up with an offensive rebound and scored (a goal-tending call stood after review, though the ball appeared to hit the rim prior to a blocked shot attempt) to force OT. The Hoos tried to hold for a final shot, but an isolation post-up for Devin Tillis was blocked and Ben Hammond's floater racing the other way missed at the buzzer.
In the first overtime, Virginia had three different chances to steal the win. De Ridder made a free throw for a 63-62 edge with 1:30 on the clock, but he fouled after he missed his second free throw and Avdalas gave the Hokies the lead by making both free throws. Chance Mallory made a 3-pointer for a 66-64 lead at the 1:00 mark, but a foul on a rebound allowed Gurdak to tie it again with free throws. De Ridder scored in the paint with 13 seconds left for a 68-66 lead again, but UVA's defense allowed a wide open Gurdak dunk that led to another extra period.
The roles were reversed in the second OT as the Hokies couldn't put the game away. The hosts led throughout those five minutes and eventually built a two-possession lead with 14 seconds to go. Virginia extended things, however, as Malik Thomas got 3 points on an and-one drive and made a 3-pointer at the top of the key, those 6 points sandwiched around a pair of Hammond free throws that made it 77-76 in Tech's favor. Hammond missed a free throw on his next trip that left the door open and a last-gasp offensive putback by Mallory tied the score at 78-78.
In the third overtime, the teams traded early baskets with De Ridder and Thomas scoring for UVA, while Hammond hit two driving shots for Virginia Tech. The Hokies took the lead for good with 2:24 to go, though, when Amani Hansberry nailed a kickout 3-pointer that made it 85-82. Virginia didn't make another field goal the rest of the way and the Hokies eventually iced the game at the free throw line.
"We'll learn from this. We'll go back and get ready. It's hard to win on the road," Odom said. "I thought the crowd was excellent tonight. They did a good job of energizing their team. We've got to be more disciplined going forward."
For the game, Virginia landed at 36.0% shooting overall (32-89) and 22.3% from 3-point range (10-45). That included 60.0% on layups (12-20). The Hoos had more turnovers than assists, 17-15, and committed 27 fouls. Thomas led the team with 26 points on 8-20 shooting (2-9 on 3's), while De Ridder added 22 on 9-20 shooting (3-11 on 3's). Chance Mallory (11 points, 4-11 shooting/1-5 on 3's), Johann Grünloh (9 points, 4-10 shooting/1-4 on 3's), Devin Tillis (8 points, 3-12 shooting/2-7 on 3's), Ugonna Onyenso (6 points, 3-4 shooting/0-1 on 3's), and Dallin Hall (3 points, 1-5 shooting/1-4 on 3's) provided the other scoring.
Virginia Tech, playing with a shortened rotation due to injuries, got a monster game from Hammond. He scored 30 points on 7-16 shooting (16-18 free throws) to go with 5 assists off the bench. Avdalas (5-21 shooting/3-11 on 3's), Gurdak (7-10 shooting), and Hansberry (5-16 shooting/2-5 on 3's) all chipped in 17 points for the Hokies. The hosts recovered 20 offensive rebounds and got whistled for 16 fouls, while overcoming a bad assist-turnover game themselves with 12 assists vs. 14 turnovers.
It all added up to a rugged, rough around the edges type of game. Tech found a way to the winner's circle and now both teams will turn their focus to 2026 for the rest of the ACC schedule. VT comes to Charlottesville for the regular season conference finale on Saturday, March 7.
Before that all unfolds, here are three takeaways from the Hoos' loss in Blacksburg.
The Malik Thomas Puzzle
After waiting through a waiver process, Virginia added Malik Thomas after he gained an extra year of eligibility. He came to the Hoos after two years with San Francisco where he averaged double figures in scoring both years. He posted 12.4 points on shooting splits of 47.4% (overall), 40.0% (3's), and 86.1% (free throws) across 33 games in 2023-2024. Then he followed it up with 19.9 points on splits of 44.4% (overall), 39.4% (3's), and 85.1% (free throws) the next season.
At Virginia, Thomas has started every game this season. Prior to Wednesday's game, he has averaged 11.1 points on splits of 41.3% (overall), 28.9% (3's), and 72.7% (free throws). He's playing about 10 minutes less per game than a year ago (21 vs. 31 approximately), making this more like that 2023-2024 season than his other San Fran year. That season he attempted 8.8 shots per game, a number similar to his 8.7 this season. The last year with the Dons, he took 13.8 shots per game.
Thomas started the season well enough. He posted double-digit scoring efforts in six of the first eight games, averaging 13.1 points while shooting 51.8% from 2-point range while struggling a bit from 3 at 32.5%. Over the four games before the start of ACC play at Tech, that dipped to 7.0 points with just one double-figure game, while his 2-point percentage went up to 61.5% and his 3-point percentage went down to 16.7%.
In other words, good not great numbers and Thomas just hasn't been able to get super comfortable with the Cavaliers it seems.
At Virginia Tech on Wednesday, though, Thomas seemed to be finding his stride in the second half. He fired off 12 points in 13 minutes while making 5-8 shots (4 of 4 2's and 1 of 4 3's). Most of that came in a flurry midway through the half. With Tech up 36-33 at the 13:36 mark, Thomas made a 3-pointer to tie it. He got a pair of fastbreak leak-out dunks that pushed UVA ahead 40-36. He scored again at the 9:17 mark to break a new tie as well and added a free throw with 8:14 to go as well. Thomas subbed out at the under-8 media timeout with 6:54 to go, presumably setting the table for the closing stretch.
The senior returned to the game with 4:34 left and VT leading 49-48. Dallin Hall gave UVA the lead with a 3-pointer just before the final regulation media timeout at the 3:36 mark. Out of that huddle, Virginia went to Devin Tillis in an isolation situation and his shot was blocked. On the other end, Ben Hammond got by Thomas and it led to a foul on Johann Grünloh as he tried to help late on the drive. Thomas got pulled, presumably due to the defensive breakdown, and did not return until late in the second overtime.
That had the TV announcers and the message board world puzzled. UVA was struggling to score or create that many good opportunities in a close, down-to-the-wire, extra sessions game. Thomas can go get a bucket, something he showed with another quick 6 points that helped the Hoos get to that third OT. The TV cameras seemed to catch a little head shake during that burst, body language that could be interpreted as frustration potentially. It's unclear if he would have gotten in for that stretch if not for Hall fouling out as well.
The Thomas puzzle is not an easy thing to figure out necessarily. Virginia wants to press and play a lot of guys so 30+ minutes isn't happening. The team in general needs the ball to move with high assist rates to be successful overall. Thomas has tried to fit into that mold so he's not fighting that concept. On the other hand, Thomas seems to possess that go score mentality and ability that championship-chasing teams need. In UVA's two losses, he's found a way to generate offense when things were more bogged down for the team overall with 24 against Butler and 26 against Tech. But he also has some issues on defense.
So what's the bottom line here? Thomas seems to impact this team's best ceiling and finding a way to use his best skills at the right times is still a work in progress.
Recurring Defensive Problems
Sitting at 11-2 on the season and closing in on the halfway point in the schedule, the Virginia Tech confirmed again what the vulnerabilities for this year's Virginia team are.
First, the Hoos continue to have problems in ball screen defense and containing other team's guards. While the main approach - drop coverage from the screen defender, while the dribbler defender fights around the screen - isn't uncommon and has roots in analytics, some opposing players have really torched that coverage. NC Central's Gage Lattimore (25 points), Marshall's Landen Joseph (22), Northwestern's Jayden Reid (25), and Butler's Finley Bizjack (25) got going in particular with more than 20 points.
Tech's Ben Hammond joined the club on Wednesday. He poured in 30 points off the bench, making 7 of 16 shots and 16 of 18 free throws. He also dished out 5 assists. Odom noted that Hammond kept UVA off balance by attacking the screens in different ways, but despite throwing different defenders his way, the Hoos never found an answer.
"Hammond was the difference in the game," Odom said. "Clearly his ability to get inside our defense, to make the key plays, even the tip there at the end in transition, he was a big-time player tonight."
Second, the Cavaliers continue to give up too many offensive rebounds to the opponent. Coming into the game with Tech, UVA had allowed opponents to have a 28.6% offensive rebounding percentage. That ranked 176th (tie) nationally. Rider (13), NC Central (16), Hampton (11), Marshall (11), Butler (14), Queens (18), Texas (13), Maryland (17), and American (10) all grabbed double-digit O-Boards. Virginia Tech secured 20 offensive rebounds Wednesday, the most by an opponent this season though that was obviously aided by the 15 extra minutes of action. VT ended up with 22 second chance points.
"We've just got to be better," Odom said. "There's times where we're blocking out and it's getting tipped or whatever, I thought just they did a nice job overall."
Finally, Odom mentioned all the way back in the preseason that he thought his team still needed to improve its ability to play defense without fouling. At this stage of the season, that has been a pretty big issue. UVA entered the VT contest with a 26.7% foul rate (fouls per possession), which ranked 263rd nationally. The Hoos got called for 27 fouls on Wednesday and they put the Hokies in the bonus just 5:13 into the second half. The Hokies finished 28-41 at the free throw line.
"Two areas for us that we're constantly working on: defensive rebounding, certainly playing physical without fouling," Odom said. "It all comes back to discipline and getting to the next play. This is a new group that's together and we don't have that many shared experiences so this will certainly be one that hopefully will be beneficial for us."
Shots Not Falling?
Virginia is a team that seeks out 3-pointers and takes them in a volume. That can pay dividends. If you're making those long-range shots, that's more points per shot, more points per possession, and it can really stress a defense that has to cover so much ground. The Hoos have shown that in games against NC Central (14 made 3's, 38.9%), Hampton (11, 50.0%), Marshall (12, 42.9%), Queens (15, 45.5%), Texas (12, 50.0%), Dayton (12, 60.0%), and Maryland Eastern Shore (13, 41.9%) with double-digit makes in multiple games while shooting a high percentage.
The flipside, of course, is if you take a lot of 3's and don't make many, that can lead to struggles. VT took advantage of that in its win. UVA fired up 45 attempts from behind the arc to produce 10 makes. That 22.2% success rate likely isn't going to win many games in ACC play. The absence of Jacari White, out with a wrist injury, certainly didn't help the cause against the Hokies of course.
Maybe it's a byproduct of playing in a ballroom or a barn, but the league opener had some similarities to the only other loss to Butler in the Greenbrier Classic. In that game, Virginia finished at 29.6% from 3-point range on 8-27 shooting. More importantly, though, the Bulldogs really bottled up the various actions that the Hoos use to try to free up drives and subsequently kickout 3's.
Virginia Tech created a similar problem by flooding the paint on drives, but still protecting wing and corner kickouts (see the drive by Dallin Hall and attempted pass to the corner in the second overtime that resulted in a turnover). Instead, the Hokies seemed OK with leaving 3-pointers above the free throw line there for the Cavalier posts. So while Thijs De Ridder, Johann Grünloh, and Ugonna Onyenso all have shown an ability to make that shot at times, it's also clear that Virginia doesn't want to take a steady diet of those 3's unless De Ridder decides to take a high volume up there. It seemed equally clear that VT would pick that poison over the drive-and-kick or extra pass opportunities that UVA can thrive on offensively.
De Ridder made 3 of 11 3-point attempts. Grünloh hit 1 of 4 and Onyenso missed his only attempt from downtown. That 4 of 16 success rate (25.0%) was higher than the team percentage on the day, but one Tech was likely happy to give up.
"I thought they did a nice job of closing short and they're a good 3-point shooting defensive team, 29%, and one of the reasons is they get out on the 3 and they make it a little bit more difficult," Odom said. "Then in closeout situations they don't over-close. So sometimes those shots end up being contested so we talked to our guys before the game about just our discernment and trying to get the right closeout to maybe pass up one to get it to the backside. There were , several times where we took the bait a few times, but all in all there were some that were wide open too, we just didn't knock down enough."
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