BLACKSBURG — The debilitating leg cramps didn’t strike Ben Hammond until he was high-fiving fans after Virginia Tech’s triple-overtime conquest of No. 21 Virginia on Wednesday. Good thing for the Hokies, because they needed every ounce of energy that their reserve point guard could muster.
“Oh my gosh,” Tech coach Mike Young said after the 95-85 marathon at Cassell Coliseum. “Oh my gosh. He was awesome. He’s cramping unlike any young man I’ve coached in the locker room right now. He was exceptional.”
What exactly did Young see from the shortest (5-foot-11) player on his roster in the first triple-overtime clash in the rivalry’s history?
“What didn’t I see?” Young said. “What didn’t I see? And it was both ends of the floor. He created havoc for the Cavaliers. Arguably, he was the best player on the floor today. How could you dispute that?”
Virginia coach Ryan Odom certainly wasn’t about to argue.
“Hammond was the difference in the game,” he said. “Clearly his ability to get inside our defense, to make the key plays, even the tip there at the end in transition. He was a big-time player tonight.”
Where to start with this tireless, selfless sophomore who has started just three times this season but has carved out an essential role?
Hammond scored a game- and career-high 30 points, 18 coming in the final two OTs. He added a game-best five assists and played 42 minutes without a turnover.
The tip-in that Odom referenced came off a Neo Avdalas miss late in the final OT and extended Tech’s lead to 92-83.
And how about his blocked shot? Yes, early in the second overtime, Hammond recorded just the second rejection of his college career, of Dallin Hall’s attempted layup, igniting a fast break that Amani Hansberry finished with a dunk off an Avdalas assist.
That Hammond and the Hokies (12-2, 1-0 ACC) turned the tide with such plays at the rim was beyond counterintuitive.
First, Tech was without starters Tobi Lawal (foot) and Tyler Johnson (foot), plus reserve Antonio Dorn (back), each of whom is a force in the paint.
Second, it was UVA (11-2, 0-1) that entered the game among the nation’s leaders in offensive rebounding and blocked shots.
But the Hokies outrebounded the Cavaliers on the offensive end 20-17 and outscored them 22-13 in second-chance points. The ringleaders were Hansberry (17 points and 15 boards) and freshman Christian Gurdak (17 points, 19 rebounds and 46 minutes in only his second college start).
“We knew they’re a good offensive rebounding team, but so are we,” Gurdak said. “… I knew I was going to be able to crash the glass hard, really attack them and just kind of outwork them.”
Gurdak is “super-smart, unselfish, and he is all about doing what our team needs to win,” Young said. “And that’s a pretty good formula for an 18-year-old playing his 13th college game in an unbelievable atmosphere.”
Odom, Virginia’s first-year coach, spent seven years on Seth Greenberg’s Virginia Tech staff, the Hokies’ final season in the Big East (2003-04) and first six in the ACC. That span included five home victories over ranked opponents, including No. 1 North Carolina in 2007 and No. 7 Duke in ’05.
So Odom knew full well what type of Cassell reception awaited his Cavaliers, even during Tech’s holiday break. And though every seat wasn’t occupied, the building rocked, quieting for one of the few times when Virginia’s Chance Mallory forced the third OT with a tip-in at the horn of a Malik Thomas air-ball.
The Cavaliers also were short-handed, absent Jacari White, their best 3-point shooter, for the second consecutive game with a wrist injury. And it showed as Virginia shot 22.2% (10 of 45) beyond the arc.
Thomas and Thijs De Ridder carried UVA with 26 and 22 points, respectively, but De Ridder committed six of the Cavaliers’ 17 turnovers, an all-around team performance that Odom called “undisciplined.”
“We knew it was going to be hard,” Young said. “Really hard. It was just that.”
Indeed, the teams were tied 17 times and swapped the lead 21 times. And coming off extended breaks for exams and the holidays, they competed for 55 grueling basketball minutes that lasted about three hours as these Hokies became the first team in program history to win four overtime games in a season — they’re 4-0.
Tech is the first ACC team to win four overtime games in a season since Florida State in 2018-19.
“We’re probably not going to do a whole lot tomorrow,” Young said.
The Cavaliers and Hokies return to competition Saturday on Tobacco Road as Virginia travels to NC State, while Virginia Tech visits Wake Forest.
“We’re gonna be whole here pretty soon, fellas,” Young said of his injured trio returning to action.
“It’s scary when those guys get back,” Hammond said of Tech’s prospects at full strength.
But the return of Lawal, Johnson and Dorn will not diminish impact of No. 3, the first Hokie to score 30 points against Virginia since fellow Northern Virginia product and Paul VI graduate Erick Green had 35 in 2013.
“I assure you this,” Young said. “Ben Hammond’s gonna play a lot, and he’s gonna play a lot when it matters, and that’s not going to change as long as he’s in a Hokie uniform.”
The Hokies’ most accurate free-throw shooter at 84.5%, Hammond made 16 of 18 at the line Wednesday, while the Cavaliers only attempted 15, 26 fewer than Tech.
But officiating didn’t determine the outcome. The Hokies’ resolve did.
“Great admiration for them,” Young said of Virginia, “but dammit, I’ve got a good basketball team, too, all right? And I’m not gonna shy away from that.”
David Teel, david.teel@virginiamedia.com
