Virginia Tech injected a dose of intrigue into the dispute for the ACC title on Saturday. No. 20 Hokies rode a dominant second half for a 65-51 victory over No. 8 Virginia. It was the first loss at the conference to the Cavaliers (11-3, 7-1 ACC), who would have opened a two-game lead at the top of the standings with a win after Florida State’s loss to Georgia Tech earlier in the day.
Instead, the Hokies were less than a game away from their rival in the state and are now tied with the Seminoles in second place, thanks to 29 points from Keve Aluma, the best of his career. The 1.80m striker was left out last season after choosing to follow Wofford coach Mike Young to ACC. He consolidated his place as one of the stars of the league’s escape with his dominant match against the Cavaliers.
The night of 10 of 15 Aluma pitches and 10 rebounds came as the Hokies (13-3, 7-2) played without scorer Tyrece Radford, who was suspended indefinitely earlier this week. The timeline for Radford’s return is unclear, but Virginia Tech is doing well without him so far, after beating Notre Dame earlier in the week. Impressive as Aluma’s offensive blast was against a petty UVA defense, the Hokies moved away largely because of their defense.
Virginia was more than seven minutes late in the second half without strikes, after winning 39 to 29 at one point at the beginning of the break. Four UVA players reached double digits, led by Jay Huff with 13 points. But the Cavaliers scored just 12 points in the painting, compared to 24 at Virginia Tech, and hit just four free throws, compared to 14 for the Hokies.