The Shadow
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) – Mike Scott turned his attention away from offense and toward being more of a team player. He wound up having the kind of all-around night that Virginia needed.
Scott scored 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and Assane Sene made two big baskets in the final minutes Sunday night, leading Virginia to a 57-54 victory at Virginia Tech.
The Cavaliers (5-3, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), coming off a victory at No. 15 Minnesota in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, led throughout in beating Virginia Tech for just the second time in seven meetings, and the first time at Cassell Coliseum in five years.
“Just trying to make plays, be aggressive on the defensive boards,” Scott said of his approach. “Basically having a different mindset than just trying to score to help my team.”
The Hokies (4-4, 0-3) lost their third straight despite 26 points from Malcolm Delaney, and coach Seth Greenberg said the dominance of Scott made things tough for his team.
“Mike Scott basically kicked our tail in the first half and came up with two big plays down the stretch,” Greenberg said.
One of them was beating Jeff Allen to a length-of-the-court pass, drawing an intentional foul call and making the free throws, starting a critical four-point possession for Virginia.
The other was keeping alive a missed free throw by Will Harris with 10 seconds left, and even though he subsequently missed a free throw with the Cavaliers ahead 57-54, Virginia Tech only had time to rush the ball down court, where Dorenzo Hudson’s 3-pointer was off.
“We were leaking oil down the stretch, but had enough to come up with a big stop,” second-year Virginia coach Tony Bennett said after his team’s second solid victory in a row.
“Our guys scrambled well and kind of gutted it out,” Bennett said.
The Hokies, meanwhile, continued struggling.
They squandered a late lead in losing to No. 22 Purdue on Wednesday night, and have lost several games against quality opponents, the kind of games that matter when teams are hoping to get at-large NCAA tournament invites
