Hokies Close Out 2025-2026 Regular Season with 76-72 Road Loss to Virginia

Virginia Tech will head down to the ACC Tournament in Charlotte, North Carolina to make one last effort at a March Madness bid.

Saturday’s matchup against the archrival Cavaliers marked not only the end of the Hokies’ 2025-2026 regular season, but the Charlottesville, Virginia contest kicked off the Blacksburg bunch’s last-ditch push towards March’s big dance.

Although the Hokies came out on top in their first contest against the Cavaliers this season, Tech did so in a triple-overtime shootout in a very favorable home environment in Cassell Coliseum.

Nonetheless, every game serves as its own test; the Hokies would just have a bit of a tougher test ahead of them as they hopped, skipped, and flipped up north to Charlottesville for the 2025-2026 Commonwealth Clash sequel and finale.

Though the Hokies looked to start off Saturday's contest similar to how they finished the first time around against the Cavaliers, the maroon & orange found itself off to a rocky start before halftime. Tech found itself on the wrong side of a 41-25 score heading into the break.

Ben Hammond highlighted the Hokies’ scoring in the first half after he tallied 11 points in the half. Hammond’s hot hand in the first half against the Cavaliers not only helped keep the Hokies in the game going into halftime, but he also continued his success from the last time Tech faced off against Virginia, where he totaled 30 points in the triple-overtime classic.

The Hokies got themselves off to a much better start coming out of the break. Tech was able to outscore the Cavaliers 13-5 coming out of halftime, and Neoklis Avdalas was able to tie the game at 51 points apiece after knocking down a pair of free throws with just under 11 minutes remaining.

Despite Tech fighting its way back into the game, the Hokies found themselves down by nine points with 50 seconds remaining. Though a Hammond layup and a pair of Jailen Bedford free throws were able to cut the deficit to seven, Tech needed to start doing some fouling to avoid the clock running out.

After Virginia’s Malik Thomas only made one of two free throws, the Hokies were able to regain possession with 14 seconds left. Then, Bedford was able to cut the Cavaliers’ lead to three via a dagger from beyond the arc.

Though Tech made a valiant effort to come back, it just was not enough for the Blacksburg squad to overcome its first half deficit. The Hokies would end their regular season with the 76-72 defeat.

Just like he did against the Cavaliers earlier this season, Hammond led the Hokies in scoring against their archrivals. His 21-point outing came off seven made field goals and six made free throws. His performance Saturday also notched his seventh-consecutive game with double-digit scoring, and his fourth game with 20-or-more points against a conference opponent this season.

Bedford and Amani Hansberry were the only other Hokies with double-digit point totals against the Cavaliers Saturday. They each tallied 12 points in 25 minutes or less.

Tech will take a short drive down to Charlotte to possibly make a run in the ACC Tournament. Though the seeding has not yet been determined, the Hokies’ 8-10 in-conference record will likely land them in the bottom half of the bracket, thus causing them to play on either day one or day two of the tournament.

Saturday’s loss, in a way, marks a turning point in Tech’s season. The Blacksburg squad will have one more chance to make some magic happen before Selection Sunday. However, the ACC Tournament presents no room for errors; the Hokies will likely, at the very least, make a run to the tournament’s semifinals round in order to have a chance at landing on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble.

As legend Al Davis of the NFL’s Raiders would say, it’s time for the Hokies to “just win, baby.”