From start to finish, it didn't matter that Virginia Tech and No. 21 Virginia were offense-first teams and that both teams were without some significant players including a pair of starters for the Hokies in Tobi Lawal and Tyler Johnson. However, both teams delivered a thrilling game with unsuspected stars like Ben Hammond and Christian Gurdak stepping up to deliver the best performances of their careers to date amidst an instant classic to lead the Hokies to a thrilling victory.
Virginia Tech won a triple overtime thriller 95-85 to improve to 12-2 on the season while the 21st-ranked Cavaliers fell to 11-2 on the season. With UVA entering the day ranked 26th in the NET, this is the first Q1 win of the season for the Hokies and fourth win in the top two quadrants as of now. The Hokies are also now 4-0 this season in games that went to overtime.
This game stayed within a few points after VT used a 13-0 run to gain an early lead amidst a defensive slugfest. Both offenses improved slightly as the game progressed but this continued to be a dogfight throughout with Christian Gurdak tying the game with less than 35 seconds to go in regulation.
The first overtime was back and forth with Thijs De Ridder putting UVA with just under 15 before a perfect pick and roll led Ben Hammond to find a wide open Christian Gurdak for an easy dunk to force second overtime with less than five seconds to go.
Tech looked like they had the game during that second overtime, leading by five with less than 15 seconds before Malik Thomas had an and-one and a three amidst Ben Hammond going 3-4 at the FT line, followed by Chance Mallory with a putback that he got off with a tenth of a second left to force a third overtime.
Hammond took over even more in that final overtime, putting up 11 points during those five minutes as the Hokies finally gained some significant separation and breathe only in the final few seconds on their way to a 95-85 victory over the Cavaliers.
One of the most impressive things about this victory was what Virginia Tech did on the glass outrebounding UVA 60-54 including 20-17 in offensive rebounds. More importantly, Tech turned those second chances into points with a 22-13 edge in second chance points that was crucial in this game. UVA had a 44-34 edge in points in the paint but on a day where the Hokies were without Tobi Lawal, Tyler Johnson, and Antonio Dorn; the performance of Amani Hansberry and Christian Gurdak against a strong UVA frontcourt was admirable.
UVA entered the day as one of the best offenses in the country but the Hokies held them to 36.0% from the field including 22.2% from three-point range. Tech wasn't much better as they were 35.4% from the field including 32.1% from three-point range. Fouls proved crucial in this game as the Hokies only had 16 fouls compared to 27 for UVA, which led to VT having 26 more free-throw attempts (41-15) and 17 more makes (28-11) than the Cavaliers. Tech's free-throw shooting outside of Ben Hammond was underwhelming as VT was 28-41 overall including 12-23 without the sophomore PG.
Tech was a little sloppier than normal in this game with 14 turnovers but cleaned things up as the game went along. UVA also had 17 turnovers with the Hokies turning that into a 15-11 edge in points off turnovers.
Ben Hammond was truly sensational, taking over the game in overtime on his way to having 30 points on 7-16 from the field plus an insane 16-18 from the free-throw line while also having five rebounds, five assists, and zero turnovers in over 42 minutes of playing time. Hammond stepped up again and again when the lights were brightest with UVA head coach Ryan Odom rightly calling him the difference maker after the game.
If Hammond scores in double figures at Wake Forest and the Hokies win, there's no doubt in my mind that he should be the ACC Player of the Week. Whether he wins that or not, his performance will live on in the lore of his rivalry.
Christian Gurdak may be a freshman, but he didn't look it for much of this game as he had 17 points and 19 rebounds in only his second career start while playing 46 minutes. He wasn't perfect in this game, but he had plenty of big moments on the glass and on offense including the game-tying dunk to force a second overtime with less than five seconds.
Amani Hansberry wasn't particularly efficient in this game but he still delivered a solid game especially on the glass with 17 points, 15 rebounds, two steals, and two blocks. His 5-10 from the free-throw line and 5-16 from the field were disappointing, but he likely can be encouraged by his 2-5 three-point shooting including a big three in the third overtime that gave the Hokies a lead they would never relinquish.
Tech won this game despite the fact that Neoklis Avdalas was pretty pedestrian for most of this game, having 17 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and five turnovers while shooting 5-21 from the field including 3-11 from three-point range and 4-6 from the free-throw line. The lack of efficiency and turnovers were a little disappointing in what was not a great game for the Greek star though he did have his moments where he showed why he's most likely a future first round draft pick.
That also makes Tech's victory a little more impressive given Avdalas' largely pedestrian game combined with not having Lawal, Johnson, and Dorn.
Jaden Schutt had nine points, four rebounds, and two steals while shooting 3-8 from three-point range and having a game-high+28 in plus/minus. Jailen Bedford had five points and three rebounds in a quiet 28 minutes while Sin'Cere Jones provided 13 valuable minutes off the bench with one steal and Izaiah Pasha had a block in nine minutes of action.
Malik Thomas led the way for UVA with 26 points while Thijs De Ridder added 22 points despite neither having more than five points at halftime. De Ridder also had 13 rebounds, five assists, and six turnovers in this game. Chance Mallory was strong off the bench with 11 points and six rebounds while Johann Grunloh added nine points, six rebounds, and four blocks, and Devin Tillis had eight points, eight rebounds, and three assists.
This was an instant classic of a Commonwealth Clash that will be remembered for a long time among Hokie faithful, with Ben Hammond and Christian Gurdak both etching their names into rivalry lore.
This was a also a tremendous by the Hokies to beat a top 25 UVA team without a pair of a starters and one of their backup big men along with Neoklis Avdalas having a fairly pedestrian performance. Good teams worthy of the NCAA Tournament and then some can find ways to win games like this and the Hokies did just that led by a pair of unsung heroes in Ben Hammond and Christian Gurdak.
Virginia Tech showed today that they have all the makings of a NCAA Tournament team, and truly earned a Quad 1 win along with a boost to their other metrics, as already shown by their jumps in KenPom (68 to 62) and T-Rank (75 to 69) which were the weakest points of the resume previously.
As the calendar turns to 2025, the Hokies appear ready to make lots of noise in March with many likely projecting them inside the Field of 68 to start the new year thanks to a gritty win amidst a career-defining game for Ben Hammond.
