Atlanta, GA —The Virginia Cavaliers finally figured it on the road and played forty-minutes of hard nose basketball.
Issac McKneely drained 3-pointers and finished the game with 20 points, Reece Beekman chipped 19 points and a season-high 11 assists Saturday night to help Virginia (13-5, 4-3 ACC) down Georgia Tech (9-9, 2-5 ACC) 75-66 at at McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta, earning UVA’s first road victory of the season.
Yellow Jacket Baye Ndongo drained a jumper that gave his team a eight-point lead with 3:45 left in the first half. Beekman came back with a quick layup, McKneely hit a pair of deep threes, Taine Murray made a layup as time ticked off the clock to cap a 12-0 run that made it 33-29 at the break. Virginia scored 11 of the first 14 second-half points and led by at least two possessions the rest of the way.
“All that’s important is just trying to take a step, ” said Virginia head coach Tony Bennet after the win. “We took a step by playing a decent half against Wake Forest and then sort of fell apart, and partly due to them, then came home and played, got back. I thought we took a step in who we had to be and how we had to play to the best of our abilities at home. And then the next challenge is can you do it on the road? And so yeah, to be able to finish a game, play well in a second half, and withstand…consistently making some shots, getting some stops and handling some real game pressure was important, but it’s just another step.”
In the second half, Jake Groves made a layup to give the Cavaliers a 15-point lead with about eight minutes left in the game —- Minor’s jumper made it 67-53 two minutes later. George and Ndongo each scored four points in a 9-0 run to cut the Georgia Tech’ lead to five points with 1:39 remaining on the clock, but Groves answered with a long three but could not get any closer.
Ndongo made 6 of 7 from the field and scored 15 points for the Yellow Jackets. Naithan George also poured in 15 and had nine assists.
Jordan Minor scored 11 points and Ryan Dunn snatched 10 rebounds to go with nine points and three blocks for the Cavaliers.
Virginia shot 50% (29 of 58) from the field, hit 11 3-pointers and outscored Georgia Tech 34-18 in the paint.
Georgia Tech coach Damon Stoudamire had his troop playing hard to the final whistle, as evidenced by 12 games determined by single digits this year. The Yellow Jackets fought to the end and made the Cavaliers work for every basket in the second half, stringing together a late 9-0 run to get the game back within five but Virginia got a few crucial stops in the last few minutes of the contest to close it.
“It’s a mindset thing,” Beekman said. “We talked before the game about the difference how we played from home and away. We just wanted to bring the same energy and confidence. Coach Bennett wanted us to come out and just play the same way. Be confident, trust ourselves and trust our game. And I feel like we did that.
UP NEXT:
Virginia plays host to N.C. State on Wednesday.
