The No. 21 Virginia Cavaliers lost a heartbreaker on New Year’s Eve, falling 95-85 in triple overtime to Virginia Tech inside Cassell Coliseum.
With 14 seconds to play in double overtime, Virginia’s deficit grew to 75-70 as Hokies’ guard Ben Hammond knocked down a pair of free throws. During the stoppage, Cavalier guard Malik Thomas checked into the game for the first time since the 3:04 mark of the second half of regulation.
During the ensuing 14 seconds, Thomas put the ’Hoos on his back to lead a furious comeback. The grad transfer from USF kept Virginia alive, slicing through the VT defense to convert an old-fashioned three-point play before nailing a contested step-back three-pointer following another pair of Hammond free throws.
Change Mallory would cap off the rally with a heroic putback layup as time expired to send the game to a third overtime — where the ’Hoos would ultimately run out of gas.
Virginia gave itself more than enough opportunities to steal one on the road and escape Blacksburg with an ACC-opening victory. Instead, the ’Hoos couldn’t deliver a knockout blow down the stretch and now start conference play 0-1. It’s more than fair to wonder, however, if things would have turned out differently had Thomas been on the floor for the end of regulation and the first nine-plus minutes of overtime.
The veteran guard — who finished as Virginia’s leading scorer despite playing only 29 of 55 minutes — wasn’t in foul trouble (he finished the game with just two personals) and, based on his performance after re-entering the game, didn’t seem to be injured.
So why wasn’t Thomas on the floor? Ryan Odom didn’t address the decision in his postgame press conference, so it’s unclear if there were non-matchup-related reasons behind the benching. But from a purely basketball perspective, it was incredibly puzzling.
Granted, the Hokies rolled out a guard-heavy look after regulation, so Odom might have wanted his best ballhandlers and on-ball defenders on the floor in the form of Dallin Hall and Chance Mallory. But the Hall-Mallory backcourt often comes at the expense of scoring, especially on an afternoon when the pair combined for just 14 points in 73 total minutes of action.
Meanwhile, despite a slow start, Thomas was clearly Virginia’s most effective and confident scoring threat late in the game, pouring in 12 points (5-8 FG, 1-4 3PT) in the second half alone and adding another 11 points in his minimal playing time in OT.
With the ’Hoos on the ropes, they needed a veteran scorer like Thomas — someone who’s not afraid to have the ball in his hands when it matters most — on the floor.
Nevertheless, Virginia showed a lot of heart on the road, and proved it’s a team that won’t go away quietly in big moments. The ’Hoos will quickly have to shake off the loss, as they travel to NC State for an 11 AM EST tipoff on Saturday. The Wolfpack enters Saturday riding a three-game winning streak and represents a second-straight quadrant-one matchup for UVA.
