Second half rally falls short as Hokies drop regular season finale to No. 13 Virginia 76-72

BLACKSBURG - On the final day of the regular season, the Virginia Tech men’s basketball team fell at No. 13 Virginia 76-72 Saturday afternoon. The loss leaves the Hokies' record at 19-12 ahead of the T. Rowe Price ACC Men's Basketball Tournament next week in Charlotte.

The hosts got out to a hot start with nine quick points in the first two minutes leading to a 30-second timeout called by the Hokies. The next few minutes went much of the same way as the game arrived at a media timeout with the Cavaliers leading 14-3 thanks to a 3-for-4 performance from beyond the arc and three Tech turnovers.

But the Hokies would settle down later in the half after the Cavaliers took a 22-5 advantage layups by Ben Hammond and a jumper from Amani Hansberry gave the team a quick 6-0 spurt to begin chipping away at the lead.

All told, the Hokies put together a 13-3 run to quiet the crowd at the under-8 media timeout.

At halftime, the Hokies trailed 41-26 after allowing 50% shooting and six threes from the Hoos. Hammond had 11 points on 4-for-8 shooting at that stage.

Out of the locker room, the Hokies scored the first seven points on a Hansberry triple (19:34), Tobi Lawal dunk (19:12) and a Jailen Bedford layup (18:31). Tech made its first three triples of the half to aid in the comeback.

Two free throws from Neoklis Avalas (10:56) tied the game at 51. From there the Hokies missed an opportunity to grab the lead as they missed the next four shots and Virginia scored eight points to regain the lead.

Twelve second half free throws helped the Cavaliers close out the game, which was a nine-point game with 86 seconds to play before Tech pressed and closed the gap.

The result gives the Cavliers a half point in the Commonwealth Clash, presented by Smithfield. The score for the Commonwealth Clash currently is 10.0-4.0 in favor of Virginia. For more information, visit hokiesports.com/commonwealth-clash. 

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The Hokies will head to Charlotte for the T. Rowe Price ACC Men's Basketball Tournament which will be contested at the Spectrum Center from March 10-14.