ATLANTA — To have a chance against No. 13 Virginia on Saturday, Georgia Tech needed to play at its peak. Yellow Jackets coach Josh Pastner had aimed to have his team primed for its first post-Christmas game, grinding players through a week of intense practice sessions to address weaknesses and tweak schemes.
The Jackets, however, were unusually sloppy with the ball, did not defend with consistency and were devoured by the visiting Cavaliers at McCamish Pavilion. Virginia was not at its best either, but used a 23-0 run that bridged the first and second halves to score a 74-56 win over the Jackets. Tech (7-6, 0-3 ACC) lost for the 10th consecutive time to Virginia and coach Tony Bennett, who tied the legendary Terry Holland for most career wins (326, against 119 losses) at the helm of the Cavaliers program.
It probably was the low point of the season for Tech, which was picked to finish last in the ACC after finishing 14th last season. Tech turned the ball over 23 times, many of the giveaways not because of Virginia’s pressure but more from failures to handle the ball cleanly. At least with regard to possession of the ball, Tech looked little like the team that came into the game averaging 10.1 turnovers per game, 11th in Division I. The 23 turnovers matched the team high in a regulation game in Pastner’s tenure, now in its seventh season.
The Jackets weren’t especially effective even when they weren’t giving the ball away. While Tech’s offense emphasizes ball movement — Pastner’s abiding maxim for the offense is that the open man is the go-to man — the Jackets continued to struggle at passing effectively to create open shots for teammates.
Tech finished 20 for 45 from the field (44.4%), but had made 12 of 31 field-goal attempts (38.7%) through the first 31 minutes of the game before Virginia (10-2, 2-1) relented.
The Jackets actually were competitive with the Cavaliers through most of the first half before a 9-0 run leading into halftime capsized their bid for an upset.
Tech trailed 27-25 after two free throws by forward Jalon Moore with 2:57 remaining. Virginia guard Kihei Clark failed to handle a pass from forward Ben Vander Plas, giving the Jackets a chance to tie or take the lead, but guard Miles Kelly’s 3-point try was just off the mark. Moore gave the Jackets another chance with a steal on the perimeter, but his throw-ahead pass to Deivon Smith to start a fast break was off the mark and recovered by Clark, who passed to Armann Franklin for a 3-pointer, a swing of potentially five points.
Deebo Coleman tried to answer, but his 3-point try bounced twice on the inside of the rim before hopping out. The Jackets fought for a stop on the next Virginia possession for another chance to cut the score to one possession, but lost the ball on a travel by Smith with 41.6 seconds left.
The bottom fell out after that. Virginia’s ball movement got the Tech defense out of alignment, leaving Clark open for a 3 from the corner and a 33-25 lead. The Jackets turned the ball over again, and Clark found Isaac McKneely for a 3-pointer as the final seconds ticked off the clock for a 36-25 halftime lead.
Tech surrendered any remaining chance to win in the first 5 1/2 minutes of the second half. Giving the ball away repeatedly to create open-court baskets for Virginia, Tech gave up a 16-0 run to start the half and fell behind 52-25, adding to the 9-0 surge allowed at the end of the first half.
