Virginia and Virginia Tech faced-off Saturday at the JPJ with a ton on the line for the Hokies. For most of the game, it was difficult to tell which team was attempting to solidify their fate for the NCAA selection committee, and which team was just trying to keep the ship from sinking further near the bottom rung of the ACC .
The Hoos found a way to get it done, beating the dreaded Hokies for the second time this season, this time 61-54. Jontel Evans had five assists, Mustapha Farrakhan scored sixteen points, and Joe Harris scored fifteen. Akil Mitchell played splendid defense, and also flashed a bit of brilliance offensively as he finished with seven rebounds.
Tech never really got going offensively till the last five minutes of the contest, and the Hokies totally disbanded their pre-game preparation which was get the ball inside to Jeff Allen, and attack Mitchell and Sene.
Virginia made eleven three-pointers, and they moved the ball offensively much better than they had been doing the past ten games. Mustapha Farrakhan had a terrible fall going for a rebound in the second half, and for a time it looked like he was not going to come out of the locker room at all, but he came back off the bench and appeared to be fine.
The Wahoos out-rebounded Tech 32-30, and also were credited with thirteen assists to Tech’s seven. Tech had three players play all forty minutes (Delaney, Allen, and Green). I’m not sure I have seen that in many years in a game in Charlottesville.
Tech was led by Malcolm Delaney (22 points), who scored most of his points late in the second half as Virginia’s fifteen-point lead was cut to four. Delaney hit some incredibly difficult shots as the Hokies looked like they were going to overtake the Hoos.
Virginia returns to action as they travel to play struggling Georgia Tech Wednesday night in Atlanta. Nice game Hoos!