ACC Roundup - Virginia Sweeps An Ice Cold Virginia Tech

Did the Pack Line psych the Hokies out?

As much as anyone in the ACC, Virginia Tech likes to chunk three pointers and they hit a lot of them too.

Well not Monday night.

The Hokies hit 10.7 percent from deep, just 3-28 and it wasn’t just Virginia’s defense although that obviously made a difference.

Even so, even without Justin Robinson, still out with a foot issue, the Hokies were not too far behind.

And surprisingly, Virginia’s recent issue with turnovers continued as the Cavs had 13. For most teams that’s really good but for Virginia it’s a problem. You can’t control the pace if you don’t control the ball. Kyle Guy had four which is also uncharacteristic.

As noted before, Nickeil Alexander-Walker does better when Robinson is in the lineup. In this game he hit just 4-14.

After the game, the Hokies debated whether Virginia’s defense forced them to rush things with Armand Hill saying “...they rotate extremely well. Once you’ve got it, you’ve got a split-second window to shoot it.”

When asked, Alexander-Walker said it was a factor: “[that’s] not crazy. But I don’t think our misses were like completely to the left and way off. I didn’t feel like we shot the ball like, ‘Oh, my God, they’re coming, so let’s get it up.’ But they are a great defensive team, and they proved it tonight.”

He also said this which was more interesting: “[w]e still have our pride. We didn’t get blown out on our home court. They did very well, but they hit and we hit and we tried to hit back. It wasn’t like we just let them beat us up. From the jump to the end, we were us.”

The win keeps Virginia in second place and puts more pressure on UNC in Wednesday’s visit to Duke: lose and getting out of third place becomes very difficult.

Virginia Tech now falls to seventh in the conference but as Alexander-Walker says, they have found themselves again.

Two games Tuesday with Wake Forest almost certain to lose at Notre Dame and hard luck Clemson hosting Florida State. The Tigers are five points from being 18-7 and fourth place in the ACC. Instead they’re 15-10 and 5-7. That’s pretty brutal.

• No. 3 UVa downs No. 20 Virginia Tech
• Virginia Tech abysmal from 3-point range in loss to Virginia
• No. 3 Virginia handles No. 22 Virginia Tech to complete season sweep
• No. 3 Virginia completes season sweep of Virginia Tech, 64-58
• Louisville Basketball: 3 reasons the Cards are a Sweet 16 team
• ACC Selection Sunday outlook: did FSU or Louisville earn a lock?