Virginia bolts out to big lead, has to hang on late, to defeat Georgia Tech, 63-53

Georgia Tech cut a 17-point Virginia first-half lead all the way down to two with 5:44 to go, but the Cavaliers got stops on defense down the stretch to cement a 63-53 win over the Yellow Jackets on Saturday.

Big win for UVA (16-9, 10-5 ACC), which will keep pace with the ACC leaders with its fourth W in a row, ahead of a pivotal Big Monday matchup with in-state rival Virginia Tech in roughly 48 hours.

This one was getting more and more pivotal as the Yellow Jackets (10-14, 3-10 ACC) methodically cut into the Virginia lead.

The ‘Hoos got out to a 22-6 lead in the first 11 minutes, shooting 8-of-12 from the field as Tech coach Josh Pastner switched from man to a 2-3 zone to a 1-3-1 matchup zone.

He finally settled on the two zones, eschewing man, and that was a difference-maker for the Yellow Jackets in terms of getting back into the game.

Virginia still led by 13, 32-19, at the break, but that was after Georgia Tech closed on a 4-0 run in the final 34 seconds.

A 7-0 Tech run out of the break would get the margin down to six on a Kyle Sturdivant layup witih 17:32 to go.

The game would hang around in that general vicinity pretty much the rest of the way.

The Yellow Jackets got as close as two on a three-pointer from Michael Devoe with 5:44 that got it to 49-47.

Back-to-back buckets from Jayden Gardner, who finished with a game-high 26 points, pushed the lead back to six.

A little later, a Kihei Clark three at the 2:34 mark would give UVA a 57-49 lead.

The game wouldn’t get closer than six after that, as Virginia held the Jackets to six points in the final 4:41.

Gardner got his 26 on 10-of-19 shooting from the field. Clark had 15 points on 4-of-8 shooting, 3-of-7 from three, and two assists in 36 minutes.

Francisco Caffaro had six points and a game-high eight rebounds for Virginia, which shot 38.8 percent for the game (19-of-49) and was 4-of-18 (22.2 percent) from three.

Devoe scored 17 points on 6-of-15 shooting to lead Georgia Tech. Usher added 11 on 3-of-8 shooting.

The Yellow Jackets shot 45.7 percent (21-of-46) from the floor and was 4-of-12 (33.3 percent) from three.

Virginia had a big advantage at the free-throw line, making 21-of-23; Georgia Tech was 7-of-10 at the line.

Story by Chris Graham