Tech's offense falters in 72-57 loss at Virginia

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.- After weeks of struggling offensively to hit shots, Virginia caught fire late in the first half and pulled away from Georgia Tech 72-57. As hot as the Cavs were offensively the Jackets were equally cold from three. Tech with the loss dropped to the 13th seed in the final ACC regular season standings and will face Notre Dame the 12th seed on Tuesday at 2 pm in Washington DC in the ACC Tournament. The Jackets had won four of five before the loss on Saturday night.

The Jackets remain winless in John Paul Jones Arena against Virginia dating back to the 2008 season.

Tech struggled hitting just 4 of 21 from three including a very late three by Deebo Coleman to push that to 19 percent. Virginia on the other hand, was 12-26 from three.

First-year Tech coach Damon Stoudamire fell to 7-13 in his first season of ACC play and 14-17 overall with the loss.

"I thought Virginia did a good job of taking us out of our stuff early on. When we don't make shots we don't stay aggressive and you can't do that against Virginia. On the offensive end, we didn't play well and we didn't shoot well. What usually happens with teams is when you don't shoot well, you don't play as well on the defensive end. I think we can learn something from a team like Virginia," Stoudamire said. "I've heard that Virginia doesn't have the same team they usually have and I have watched from afar, they are a really smart team and their minds control their bodies and mentally their approach is the same every day. The uniqueness of having guys like that is something I aspire to have and something I talk to my team every day."

Freshman big man Baye Ndongo scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds including five offensive boards, but he also had five turnovers and zero assists in the game.

Virginia keyed on junior guard Miles Kelly holding him scoreless in 23 minutes and 0-4 from the floor with just one rebound and zero assists. It was the third time this season Kelly failed to score in a game and all three games were losses with two, this game and the Wake Forest game in Atlanta being blowout losses for the Jackets.

"I'll say it for him and I'm not trying to make excuses, but (Miles) has had a bad back for the last two weeks. So there are a lot of things out there that limited him at times. Tonight was one of those games where it didn't get going early and it is the rhythm and physicality of the game, I'm not going to put too much on what he didn't do. That is why I didn't put him back in the game. I could tell he was laboring. The most important thing for him is getting ready for next week and that was more important," Stoudamire said.

Stoudamire said that Kelly has been bothered with a back injury and that flared up early in the Virginia game leading the Jackets’ first-year coach to sit him in the second half playing just seven minutes.

On the other side, Virginia had three players in double figures with Reece Beekman leading the way with 21 points, six rebounds, and nine assists in his final game at John Paul Jones Arena. Beekman added three steals. Virginia coach Tony Bennett was pleased with his team's effort in their win.

“Just play, let the stuff go. There is pressure to perform and don’t be afraid to fail. Playing with and for your brothers and playing with freedom and past mistakes. Tech had won four of their last five and was playing good basketball. It was really important when they get the ball moving they can really shoot it, we stayed behind them and the crowd got into it and then we leaned on each other,” Bennett said.

Guard Isaac McKneely who dominated Tech in Atlanta, smothered Kelly on defense and added 16 points on 4-8 shooting from three. Taine Murray added 12 points off the bench for Virginia.

Tech won the rebounding battle 34-25, but Virginia shot 51.8 percent from the floor compared to just 40.4 percent by the Jackets. Virginia was outshot at the line by Tech 13 to 4.

George the other part of the Tech freshman duo had eight points on 4-10 shooting with five assists and three turnovers. Bennett was impressed with George and Ndongo, but also impressed with McKneely's defense on them.

“George can get going for them, the freshman, their front court player (Ndongo) too. Isaac has taken a step defensively with his ability to sit down and slide and after the Duke game he struggled and they took it to us and we tried to recommit. We’ve been knocked down six or seven times, but our guys have gotten back up. They ate their humble pie and they got back up and made some shots. Isaac was a key in this game,” Bennett said.

Turnovers haunted the Jackets in the first half as Tech had nine turnovers and a six-minute scoreless stretch coupled with some defensive miscues that allowed Virginia to take a 14-point lead at the half, 38-24. The Jackets were also 1-8 from three while Virginia converted 7-14 from the arc led by senior Reece Beekman’s 13-points.

Georgia Tech trailed by one at the first media timeout with 15:44 left in the half 7-6 as both teams started slow. Tech kept things close at the second media timeout 12-12 with 10:56 left thanks to a strong defense. Tech turned the ball over four times and allowed a 6-0 run by the Hoos to go down 21-15 after the U-8 media timeout. The Jackets went down ten during a stretch of over six minutes without a field goal before a Ndongo putback. Virginia hit six straight shots to close out the half going up 14 at the break 38-24 over the Jackets.

Tech started the second half with a 6-0 run but then allowed three straight field goals from Virginia to allow the lead to balloon back to 15 points, 49-34 at the first media timeout of the second half. It did not get closer and Virginia extended the lead to 23 with 6:05 left before Tech was able to narrow things late to make the score more respectable.

Georgia Tech will face Notre Dame for the third time this season in Capital One Arena in Washington DC on Tuesday afternoon for a 2 pm tipoff to open the ACC Tournament in the 12/13 game. The winner of that game will face Wake Forest on Wednesday at 2:30 pm. Tech lost to Notre Dame twice this year and split with the Deacs with the road team winning both games.