Another bad start sends Georgia Tech to eighth straight loss

Virginia, who won its seventh straight game, buried Tech early and the Yellow Jackets could never climb out of the hole. A 9-0 run put the Cavs ahead 14-5. A 13-0 run gave UVA a 27-5 lead. A 12-0 run made it 39-7 and sparked an audible murmuring of boos throughout the Tech fans who showed up for the 9 p.m. start. Virginia led by as many as 35 with 4:18 left and held a 59-27 lead at halftime.

“You play against a team like Virginia and you hope guys come out and play with some energy,” Stoudamire said. “You hope that we’ll play with more intensity, play with a little more pride.”

Virginia (23-3, 11-2) was led early by freshman Thijs De Ridder, who had been in a slump, scoring only 34 points over the last four games. He scored 13 in 13 minutes in the first half, going 5-for-9 from the floor, mainly around the basket. He finished with 22 points in 22 minutes.

Malik Thomas had three of the Cavs’ 10 first-half 3-pointers. He wound up making five and scoring 17 points. Dallin Hall scored 12.

“I’m proud of the guys and the way they started the game,” Virginia coach Ryan Odom said. “That was the key to the first half for us. Offensively our guys had much more thrust in our offense. We’ve been working on trying to get more aggressive and get the ball on the court a little bit faster, but credit our guys for playing really tough defense, fighting and being ready.”

The Cavs outrebounded Tech 27- 14 in the opening half and had eight offensive rebounds, leading to 14 second-chance points. Virginia dominated Tech 51-34 on the glass and blocked nine shots — four each by 7-footers Johan Grünloh and Ugonna Onyenso.

“After a while, it’s not even about winning and losing,” Stoudamire said. “I’m looking to see what we’re made of, just being honest. Sometimes you just want to see a little bit more fight and that for me was at times disappointing.”

Georgia Tech got a game-high 18 points from sophomore Jaeden Mustaf, who said the second half was all about pride.

“We want to come out and rep Georgia Tech well and we’ve got to keep fighting regardless of what the score says,” Mustaf said. “We come out every game trying to win and whether we get down or whether it’s a close game, whatever it is, we’ve got to keep fighting.”

Tech outscored Virginia 41-35 in the second half, but it was a meaningless statistic since the Cavs played nine guys off the bench and used none of their starters more than 28 minutes.

“They’re the No. 14 team in the country for a reason,” Mustaf said. “They’re a great team. For us it’s about pride. We’ve just got to stay strong, stay confident. At some point you have to forget what the scoreboard says and just fight.”