March 7, 2026; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies guard Neoklis Avdalas (17) drives to the basket while defended by Virginia Cavaliers guard Dallin Hall (30) and Cavaliers center Johan Grünlo (17) in the first half at John Paul Jones Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Image Malik Thomas and Ugonna Onyenso each scored 16 points and No. 13 Virginia finished the regular season with a 76-72 win over rival Virginia Tech in an Atlantic Coast Conference win Saturday in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The Cavaliers (27-4, 15-3) finished 16-1 at home in their first year under coach Ryan Odom and will be the No. 2 seed in next week’s ACC Tournament in Charlotte, North Carolina. They have won 11 of their last 12 games.
Sam Lewis added 15 points and Thijs De Ridder had 13 for Virginia, which never trailed as it avenged a 95-85 three-game road loss to the Hokies (19-12, 8-10) on Dec. 31.
The Cavaliers managed to make it through the entire regular season without an opponent shooting better than 50% from the field. Virginia Tech shot 41.9% overall and 25.0% (8 of 32) from 3-point range.
Ben Hammond led the Hokies with 21 points. The Hokies will need to make some noise in Charlotte to impress the NCAA Tournament selection committee. Amani Hansberry and Jailen Bedford each had 12 points.
The Hokies flipped the script after the break, erasing a 16-point halftime deficit, and two free throws by Neoklis Avdalas knotted the game at 51-51 with 10:56 left.
Onyenso’s alley-oop dunk sparked eight straight points and gave the Cavaliers a 59-51 lead with less than eight minutes remaining.
After Hammond’s layup put Virginia Tech up 67-63, Hammond got to the line with 2:10 left, but missed both free throws.
Onyenso buried a 3-pointer at the other end to give the Cavaliers a 70-63 lead with 1:47 left.
Virginia Tech made it 75-72 on Bedford’s corner 3-pointer with seven seconds to play. Devin Tillis made 1 of 2 free throws for Virginia with 4.4 seconds left in the final margin.
The Cavaliers earned their 100th win in a rivalry dating back to 1914-15 (100-62 record).
Virginia got off to a fast start, scoring the first 12 points of the game and taking a 22-5 lead on Tillis’ 3-pointer.
Virginia Tech countered with a 27-21 lead, but the Cavaliers finished strong to take a 41-25 halftime lead.
–Field level media
