March 3, 2026; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers forward Tis De Ridder (28) shoots the ball as Wake Forest Demon Deacons guard Mekhi Mason (8) watches during the second half at John Paul Jones Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Image No. 13 Virginia will face some mental hurdles as it successfully concludes its Atlantic Coast Conference regular season at home against Virginia Tech in Charlottesville, Va., on Saturday.
First, there is the risk of complacency. The Cavaliers (26-4, 14-3) have already clinched a No. 2 seed and a double-bye in next week’s ACC Tournament in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are also an NCAA Tournament berth.
Second, for Virginia students on spring break for a rematch with the rival Hokies (19-11, 8-9), the emotional support of the crowd may be somewhat limited.
“We’re definitely going to have to be ready to go,” Cavaliers coach Ryan Odom said. “I hate it when something like that happens on spring break. … (It) doesn’t really make sense to me, but it does. It’s not anybody’s fault, it just happened, and we’re going to make the best of it. That’s why we need as many Virginia fans here as possible.”
Despite the potential pitfalls, the Cavaliers are the favorites to perform well. They have won 10 of their last 11 games and are 15-1 at home this season.
The Hokies are 3-6 in road games and 2-3 against top-25 opponents. One of those wins was a 95-85 triple overtime thriller against then-No. 21 On New Year’s Eve in Blacksburg, Virginia, Virginia Tech had a chance to sweep its fiercest rival for the first time since the 2010-11 season.
“We’re looking forward to getting down there,” Hokies coach Mike Young said of the 150-mile trip to Virginia. “We love that stadium. The good guys down there have got to be the whale of a college basketball game. We look forward to being a part of it.”
Virginia avenged a 26-point loss to No. 1 Duke last weekend with a 75-70 home win over Wake Forest on Tuesday night.
“(Coach Odom) gave a great speech after the game at Duke and told us to expect it at practice the next day,” center Johann Grunloh said. “There was still unfinished business left in the meeting and we focused on that. It wasn’t easy, but we found a good way to put it behind us.”
Thijs De Ridder led five players in double figures with 16 points against the Demon Deacons, and the Cavaliers hit 10 3-pointers, their 19th game this season, with double-digit long buckets.
Ben Hammond scored a career-high 30 points to lead the Hokies against the Cavaliers in a first meeting that featured 17 ties and 20 lead changes.
Hammond scored 11 points in a 72-63 home win over Boston College on Tuesday night. Toby Rawal scored 16 of his team-high 20 points in the second half.
Unlike the Commonwealth team in Charlottesville, the Hokies will likely need a big win on Saturday and a berth in the conference tournament to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
“We need to go to Charlottesville and play some really good baseball, and that will help us. They’re really good,” Young said. “We’ve got to go to Charlotte, we’ve got to play good basketball. We’ve got to keep going. Yeah, I think about that a lot.”
–Field level media
