Virginia Tech, Virginia hoping to catch late wave of success

It takes a deep dive into the history books at Virginia and Virginia Tech to discover that the last time both teams had losing records when they squared off was in 1970.

It's happening again on Saturday as the Hokies (9-12, 4-6 ACC) travel to Charlottesville to face the Cavaliers (10-11, 3-7).

The teams have played 81 times since that meeting in January 1970, when a 3-7 Virginia squad topped 3-5 Virginia Tech in Charlottesville, 81-71.

Fifty-five years later, the teams are here again for the first of two meetings in a span of 15 days.

Despite their lowly records, both are coming off road victories and have reason for optimism as they face the final five weeks of the regular season.

Virginia has won two of its last three thanks largely to its 3-point marksmanship. In the three games, the Cavaliers have made 32 of 67 shots (47.8 percent) from deep.

Isaac McKneely has hit half of those triples for Virginia in 31 attempts (51.6 percent), while Taine Murray has drilled 5 of 7 (71.4 percent).

They were the standouts Wednesday in an 82-71 win at Miami. While McKneely had 26 points, Murray delivered career highs in both points (20) and assists (seven).

Their play helped the Cavaliers compensate for the absence of starters Elijah Saunders and Andrew Rohde, who both were seen this week in walking boots.

"We try to invest a lot of time into guys that don't get an opportunity to play a big role," Virginia interim coach Ron Sanchez said. "We coach them like they're starters."

Virginia Tech also is on an upswing, winning three of its last six, including a 76-66 victory Wednesday at Florida State. Tobi Lawal had 17 points and 13 rebounds to help deliver coach Mike Young his 400th win.

Lawal has improved as the season has progressed. In 10 games against ACC opponents, he has averaged 15.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game while shooting 52.0 percent (13 of 25) from 3-point range.

"If you had told me back in September when we kicked it off that I'd be running a play for him to shoot the ball from 3, I'd give you an example that involves some ugly words," Young joked this week. "I never thought I'd do that."

--Field Level Media