A 15-2 UVA run, fueled by 11 points from Sam Hauser, and maybe a little emotion from a salsa dance, lifted the 12th-ranked ‘Hoos to a 64-62 win over Georgia Tech Saturday night.
The Yellow Jackets (7-4, 3-2 ACC) led 54-45 after a Jose Alvarado three over Jay Huff, who got caught on the point guard on a switch, with 10:08 left.
Alvarado punctuated the three with a salsa dance on his way back down the court on defense.
He’d scored 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting, 4-of-5 from three, to that point.
Alvarado wouldn’t score again, which, funny how those things can happen.
Hauser hit back-to-back threes to get Virginia (10-2, 6-0 ACC) back to three at the nine-minute mark, the closest the game had been since a 10-0 Georgia Tech run had given Tech control late in the first half.
UVA would get its first lead of the second half on a floater from Hauser with 4:57 to go, and then Hauser connected from the left corner for a three that made it 60-56 at the 3:29 mark.
A Michael Devoe transition three, after a Kihei Clark missed wide-open layup, got Tech back to one, and after a Jay Huff jumper, Moses Wright hit a three on an inbound play initiated with one second on the shot clock to tie it at 62 with 1:29 to go.
Clark, 0-of-8 from the floor to this point, hit a floater with 1:08 to go to put Virginia back on top, and it was up to the defense from there.
Huff blocked a Wright shot in the lane with 41 seconds left, and then after Clark missed a late shot clock three, Devoe missed from three at the buzzer.
Whoa, that one was tight.
Georgia Tech made tough shot after tough shot, until the salsa dance, anyway.
The Jackets were 21-of-41 from the floor after the Alvarado make. They’d go 3-of-12 the rest of the way.
Alvarado had 20 points, eight assists and six steals in 39 minutes.
Jordan Usher had 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting, and Wright chipped in 13 – but was just 6-of-17 from the floor to get them.
Hauser finished with 22 points, going 9-of-12 from the floor, 4-of-5 from three, for UVA.
Huff had 18, on 7-of-11 shooting, 2-of-3 from three.
Clark finished with two points – the game-winning two – and had eight assists in 33 minutes.
Story by Chris Graham
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Chris Graham
