Two weeks after losing a heartbreaker at the buzzer, the Virginia basketball team got a little payback at Virginia Tech on Saturday with a 73-70 win. That allowed the Hoos to avoid a season sweep by their in-state rivals and gave them their first victory in Blacksburg since 2020.
UVA has now won three straight games and five of the last seven. It's the first three-game winning streak since the start of the season in November. The Hoos have also won three consecutive road games after prevailing at Miami and Pittsburgh previously. They have scored more than 70 points in six of the last seven games.
"The guys just made plays. They made plays, they made shots, we took care of the ball," Virginia interim coach Ron Sanchez said. "I'm not sure how many turnovers we completely had, but those had been our biggest issues earlier in the year was taking care of the basketball, making sure we don't turn the ball over, and when we do that, we usually play pretty well offensively."
The Cavaliers used a shot-making wave to take control of the game in the first half. They made 15 of 27 shots overall (55.6%) in the first 20 minutes, which included 7 of 15 (46.7%) 3-pointers. Those 3's came from five different players as Isaac McKneely and Elijah Saunders canned two each, while Andrew Rohde, Dai Dai Ames, and Ishan Sharma all made one. Anthony Robinson and Jacob Cofie provided inside-the-arc balance by combining for 12 points on 5-8 shooting before intermission. When Saunders made a triple at the 6:38 mark of the first half, Virginia led 32-17 with that 15-point margin matching the largest of the day.
The hot shooting put UVA in the driver's seat for most of the afternoon. The double-digit lead in the first half slipped before halftime, but the margin stayed in the 6-10 range for most of the day and the visitors led for 35+ minutes overall. A late surge from Virginia Tech certainly elevated the nerves for Hoo fans as the Hokies were within one possession for the final 2:37, but their comeback fell short. That mirrored the situation in Charlottesville two weeks earlier when it was Virginia that rallied from behind, but missed a chance at the buzzer as VT won round one.
In the end, the Cavaliers shot 46.0% overall (23-50) and 35.5% from 3-point range (11-31) while scoring 1.259 points per possession. They logged 18 assists vs. only 8 turnovers. They also took the rebounding category 30-28, improving to 10-1 when they win the board battle. Five players posted at least 7 points with McKneely (22), Robinson (15), Ames (11), Saunders (8), and Rohde (7) all contributing. The Hokies countered with Tobi Lawal (23) and Ben Hammond (11) in double figures.
Here are some takeaways from the Virginia win this Saturday.
Dodging Heartbreak Repeat
When Virginia Tech trimmed its deficit to a single possession multiple times in the final minutes Saturday, UVA fans likely fought off worries of a collapse. After all, SMU came through with a late comeback win in January and Memphis did the same back in December. This time, however, Virginia held on.
To get to the winner's circle, the Hoos came up with some timely buckets more so than timely stops.
When Ben Hammond cut the score to 64-61 at the 4:12 mark, Anthony Robinson made a pair of free throws to stop the momentum. When Hammond converted an old-fashioned 3-point play with 3:25 to go, it was Isaac McKneely with the response as he nailed a 3-pointer on the next possession. Later when Tyler Johnson hit a pair of free throws and Hammond followed with a layup, the UVA lead reached its most precarious point at 69-68 with 2:02 to go. This time, Andrew Rohde stepped to the charity stripe and made both shots. Finally, after Johnson got the score back to a single point one last time at 71-70 with 1:17 remaining, Robinson slammed home a dunk on a play out of a timeout to get to the final margin.
The last minute featured a couple of breath-holding moments. Brandon Rechsteiner missed a clean look with 44 seconds to go that would have tied it, while Ben Burnham just missed a tough attempt to tie with 3 seconds left too. In between those two shots, Virginia had a fairly poor possession that resulted in a tough shot for McKneely. Still, the Hoos escaped any heartbreak and got the victory.
Isaac McKneely Fires Away
McKneely's late 3-pointer to hold off VT's rally was only part of a monster half for the junior. He poured in 16 points in the second half to account for almost half of the team's production. He made 5 of 10 shots including 4 of 9 3-pointers in the second half to keep his team on top.
The second half show started quickly as McKneely drained a triple at 17:37. He really got cooking late, though. At 10:02, he drove into the paint, pivoted, and hit a little jumper for a 56-48 lead. On the next trip, the West Virginia native converted a 3-pointer after Cofie tipped the ball back out to keep the possession going. A couple of minutes later at 7:53, McKneely made another 3 to quiet the crowd. His fourth and final trey was the one with 2:58 remaining that followed Hammond's 3-point play that cut the margin to 66-64.
On multiple shots, McKneely came off a screen and rose into a shot without hesitation. That sort of assertiveness is something Virginia had pushed him to do more often this season and he definitely had the confidence flowing in the rivalry setting. It all added up to 22 points for McKneely on 7-16 shooting (6-14 from 3). That matched a career high for made 3's. He chipped in 3 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal as well.
That's the second straight game with 20+ points for McKneely and the fifth time he's cracked that barrier in 2025. He had 22 at Stanford, 21 vs. Boston College, 26 at Miami, and 20 vs. Georgia Tech before this latest performance.
"I feel like I-Mac's been shooting the ball well," Sanchez said. "I think he's playing with a really high level of confidence right now. What I'm trying to do is stay out of his way. I'm not trying to over coach him or under coach him. If he sees something, I want to trust that what he sees is good for us. ... We've got to encourage to keep shooting because his shooting also opens up opportunities for others."
Anthony Robinson Steps Up
While McKneely reached double figures for the 19th time this season and the 45th time in his career, his redshirt freshman running mate got there for the first time. Robinson, in fact, stepped up in a big way for the Hoos to get the rivalry win with 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots. He only committed 2 fouls. Those represent career highs in both points and rebounds, while the blocks tied for his best.
Impressively, even though it was a career high for playing time, that production came in just 18 minutes. He has played at least 11 minutes in seven of the last eight games.
"I loved Anthony Robinson's play today," Sanchez said on the Virginia Sports Radio Network. "I thought he was fantastic on the free throw line. His work is paying off."
The Georgia native proved equally effective in both halves. He had 8 points with 4 rebounds in the first half followed by 7 points and 3 rebounds in the second. It came in different ways, though. In the first half, Robinson made 3 of 4 shots and 2 of 2 free throws. In the second half, that flipped as he made his only shot attempt - more on that in a moment - and 5 of 6 free throws.
On those second half free throws, the 6'10" center came through in the clutch at the line. Hammond had just knocked down the 3-pointer that made the score 64-61 with 4:12 to go when Robinson got fouled while securing a rebound. That came at the 3:35 mark, which triggered the under-4 minute media timeout. Robinson had that whole break to think over those upcoming free throws - Sanchez joked that he talked to him about anything but that during the timeout - but returned to the floor to make both.
It wasn't his only big moment after a timeout late in the game either. With 1:17 on the clock, VT called a timeout after it cut the deficit to 71-70 and UVA used that opportunity to draw up a play. The result? Robinson rising up at the rim and slamming home an alley-oop that helped seal the win.
"Definitely pleased [with his progress]," Sanchez said on the Virginia Sports Radio Network. "I think he's developing some confidence. As I've been saying, the game is starting to slow down for him. He had a couple of crucial breakdowns down the stretch [defensively], but that's his growth and the beauty about it now is that he's learning through experience. When you've been in the fire is when you'll be formed and he's getting kind of baptized right now. He's played well and gives us playing time and produced when the game is on the line."
More From Andrew Rohde
The passer on that alley-oop to Robinson wasn't surprising. Rohde used a screen from Robinson, dribbled toward the paint, and when the defense committed lofted the lob pass for the big man to go get. It was one of three potential options.
"It was the first option. I think in that specific action, he has three and again back to trusting to Rohde," Sanchez said. "He's had back-to-back games with 9 assists, at that point in the game we are going to put the ball in his hands and trust that he's going to make the right decision."
Indeed, Rohde's recent play at point guard has been a big storyline. He dished out 9 assists for the third straight game in the win against the Hokies so even though that came with 2 turnovers this time, he continues to make plays that set the table for his teammates. Over the last 10 games, Rohde has 61 assists and only 9 turnovers. That's an absurd rate of nearly 7 to 1.
Slowing Down Tobi Lawal
Virginia Tech got another big outing from Tobi Lawal in the rematch. Two weeks ago, he posted 17 points and 5 rebounds and he followed up this time with 23 points and 7 rebounds.
UVA had not answer for him in the first half in particular. He poured in 19 points on 6-9 shooting before intermission, which included a perfect 2-2 from 3-point range. He also made 5 of 7 free throws and handed out 2 assists. That helped his team stay in the game while others struggled; his teammates had only 5 made shots in the first half combined.
After the break, though, Virginia figured out a way to slow him down. He attempted only 2 shots and 2 free throws in the second half on the way to 4 points with 0 assists. The Hoos switched screens liberally in the second half and that contributed to the change. The Hokies often tried to expose post players defending guards, which was one reason Hammond got going late, but Lawal did not get many opportunities after he made a jump hook in the paint at the 17:09 mark of the second half. His only other shot attempt came with 12:56 to go and Robinson blocked that one.
"First of all, he was fantastic in the first half," Sanchez said. "He's so gifted athletically. Some of his plays above the rim, his drives, he hit two 3's in the first half so he had a pretty complete game. Credit to him for doing that. He was a main part of the scouting report so even through that, he performed well so that's what good players do. In the second half, we did make some adjustments. I'm not going to tell you what they are (smiles), but he was the focus."
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