Connect with us

Virginia

LSU vs. Virginia Tech score, takeaways: Angel Reese returns as Tigers dominate Hokies in Final Four rematch

Published

on

LSU vs. Virginia Tech score, takeaways: Angel Reese returns as Tigers dominate Hokies in Final Four rematch


Angel Reese was back in the lineup as No. 7 LSU took down No. 9 Virginia Tech 82-64 on Thursday night in a rematch of last season’s Final Four meeting. It also served as coach Kim Mulkey’s 700th career win.

She became the fastest, in NCAA Div. I men’s or women’s basketball, to reach the 700-mark as a head coach, and Mulkey pulled it off in just her 813th game on the sideline.

“These victories are special to me, but my impact on these girls is the most important,” she said. “All in all, reaching 700 victories is nice, but I am most proud of my basketball team and where they have come.”

Reese, a unanimous first-team All-American selection last season, had missed four consecutive games for what was reported as locker room issues. However, everything had been resolved as Mulkey and Reese shared a long hug after the game. 

Advertisement

“It feels great. My teammates were holding it down and I’m just super happy to be back with the team,” said Reese, who led LSU to its first national championship last season. “This atmosphere, I missed this so much. I’m just happy to move forward and be back.”

As for her relationship with her coach, Reese said she needs Mulkey and always will.

“I’m going to say that today, tomorrow, next year, ’til the day I die. That’s just how I feel. I’m at LSU because of Kim Mulkey,” she said.

Reese was honored for reaching 1,000 career rebounds before the game and got a warm welcome from the crowd at Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Although she didn’t have a perfect night, the junior forward flirted with a double-double of 19 points and nine rebounds. Nine of those points came from the free-throw line. 

While Reese’s return grabbed much of the attention, her LSU teammates quietly filled the stat sheet. Freshman Mikaylah Williams led the Tigers’ offense with 20 points on 60% shooting. Junior guard Aneesah Morrow registered her 56th career double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds, along with two blocks and three steals. 

Advertisement

“It feels great, I’m just trying to be as consistent as I can for the team,” Morrow said.

Sophomore guard Flau’jae Johnson also contributed with 13 points and eight boards.

LSU got off to a slow start with seven turnovers and shot just 4 of 15 from the field in the first quarter. But the tables turned as Virginia Tech was held to only three field goals in the next 10 minutes. After the Tigers collected themselves in the locker room at halftime, they started to pull away in the third quarter. 

As a team, LSU outrebounded Virginia Tech 43-29 and held a 17-8 advantage in second-chance points. The Tigers got to the free-throw line significantly more, getting 26 attempts while the Hokies got 11.

Senior guard Georgia Amoore led the Hokies with 25 points. Grad student center Elizabeth Kitley fouled out with 4:35 left after contributing 16 points and 11 rebounds. 

Advertisement

Thursday’s game was a rematch from the 2023 Final Four in which LSU took down Virginia Tech 79-72. After the Tigers dropped their season opener to Colorado, the reigning national champions have rolled off eight straight victories.

Next up, LSU plays host to the University of Louisiana-Lafayette on Dec. 10. Virginia Tech faces Long Island University in Blacksburg on Wednesday.

Here are the main takeaways from LSU’s victory over Virginia Tech:

Gaining confidence was key for Reese

Reese hasn’t been quite the same dominant player she was last season, but having her on the roster still makes the Tigers better. 

She wasn’t off to the best start, as she picked up just four points and two fouls in the first quarter. Potential foul trouble for a star player is usually concerning for head coaches, but Mulkey wanted to make sure Reese found her rhythm. 

Advertisement

“I don’t put them back in, usually, in the first half. But I don’t want to lose the confidence,” Mulkey said in the broadcast at halftime. “I’ve got her in the right mindset. The team feeds off of her.”

Mulkey already demonstrated she is not afraid to bench a player, even Reese, when needed. In fact, Reese got benched the entire second half of the Kent State game on Nov. 14. She played a total of 30 minutes on Thursday, and when she was on the bench, Reese was visibly supportive of her teammates. 

She didn’t go off and had a historic game, but her 19 points and nine rebounds were still a solid contribution. Reese finished the night going 5 of 10 from the field and 9 of 16 from the free-throw line.

This is not just Reese’s team anymore

Reese led the team in scoring and rebounding last season, but this year the roster has a lot of other star players. Although the games the Tigers played without her were against unranked opponents, it was still clear this team has potential to be really strong even without Reese.

“They can obviously play without me. Just coming back and doing whatever it takes to win and I did as much as I could today,” Reese said. “We have a lot of leadership outside of me. Seeing this team grow from when I wasn’t here really shows a lot and I’m really happy for this team, where we are right now.”

Advertisement

Junior guard Aneesah Morrow and freshman Mikaylah Williams were the Tigers’ leading scorers in Reese’s absence, and they continued to dominate on Thursday. According to ESPN Stats & Info, this was Morrow’s 30th career game with at least 15 points and 15 rebounds –-  4th most in D1 women’s basketball over the last 25 seasons. 

Morrow was also guarding one of Virginia Tech’s top stars, Elizabeth Kitley. She shared that difficult job with Flau’jae Johnson. Kitley is averaging 23.1 points per game while shooting 56.3% from the field this season. She only went 6 of 16 on Thursday on her way to 16 points.

Johnson was one of the “unsung heroes,” as described by Mulkey. Another one was senior guard Hailey Van Lith, who was assigned to guard Georgia Amoore –- the Hokies’ other leading scorer.

The team took a hit after losing sophomore forward Sa’Myah Smith with a knee injury last week. She was averaging 11.7 points on 66% shooting while adding 7.6 rebounds per game and a total of 11 blocks. However, LSU still has five other double-digit scorers and some tough defenders. Reese being back also helps in the rebounding category. 

The Hokies need more time together

Virginia Tech has potential to make make some noise in the NCAA Tournament again, but it’s going to take some patience and more players to step up.

Advertisement

The Hokies did have some good moments against LSU, but overall there wasn’t a lot of balance. As a team, the Hokies had 14 turnovers, and only six assists on the night. Amoore and Kitley combined for 41 of the Hokies’ 64 points. They also took 40 out of Virginia Tech’s 64 field goal attempts.

Head coach Kenny Brooks acknowledged his team has some work to do, but he also felt positive about the fact that it is still early in the season.

“We need to get better. Gotta figure out our kids, their roles. We need to get tougher,” he said. “I’m just trying to build the chemistry amongst each other so we understand where we need to be. That’s what these games are for so we’ll continue to work and we’ll be a much better basketball team because of opportunities like this.”





Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Virginia

Virginia Lottery Mega Millions, Pick 3 Night results for Nov. 26, 2024

Published

on

Virginia Lottery Mega Millions, Pick 3 Night results for Nov. 26, 2024


The Virginia Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big. Here’s a look at Nov. 26, 2024, results for each game:

Mega Millions

Mega Millions drawings take place every week on Tuesday and Friday at 11 p.m.

05-22-24-39-42, Mega Ball: 03, Megaplier: 3

Check Mega Millions payouts and previous drawings here.

Advertisement

Pick 3

DAY drawing at 1:59 p.m. NIGHT drawing at 11 p.m. each day.

Night: 7-3-0, FB: 2

Day: 7-2-1, FB: 5

Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.

Pick 4

DAY drawing at 1:59 p.m. NIGHT drawing at 11 p.m. each day.

Advertisement

Night: 1-6-6-8, FB: 5

Day: 7-4-5-8, FB: 4

Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.

Pick 5

DAY drawing at 1:59 p.m. NIGHT drawing at 11 p.m. each day.

Night: 0-5-4-9-9, FB: 2

Advertisement

Day: 6-9-5-3-2, FB: 0

Check Pick 5 payouts and previous drawings here.

Cash4Life

Drawing everyday at 9 p.m.

04-11-13-30-39, Cash Ball: 02

Check Cash4Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Advertisement

Cash Pop

Drawing times: Coffee Break 9 a.m.; Lunch Break 12 p.m.; Rush Hour 5 p.m.; Prime Time 9 p.m.; After Hours 11:59 p.m.

Coffee Break: 04

After Hours: 05

Prime Time: 06

Rush Hour: 09

Advertisement

Lunch Break: 12

Check Cash Pop payouts and previous drawings here.

Cash 5

Drawing every day at 11 p.m.

12-22-31-38-44

Check Cash 5 payouts and previous drawings here.

Advertisement

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Center for Community Journalism (CCJ) editor. You can send feedback using this form.



Source link

Continue Reading

Virginia

Virginia Basketball Holds Off Manhattan 74-65 | Key Takeaways

Published

on

Virginia Basketball Holds Off Manhattan 74-65 | Key Takeaways


Virginia (4-2) got back in the win column with a 74-65 victory over Manhattan (3-3) on Tuesday night at John Paul Jones Arena. Here are our five quick takeaways from the Cavaliers’ win over the Jaspers.

Virginia was in serious need of a win after suffering those two humbling losses to Tennessee and St. John’s in The Bahamas. But a convincing and comfortable victory would have been even better and for a while, it seemed like the Cavaliers were on their way to doing just that. UVA led by as many as 15 points in the first half and opened up a 16-point advantage midway through the second half. But rather than putting the game away, Virginia let Manhattan hang around and the visiting Jaspers were in a situation where they were fouling to stop the clock in the final minutes, narrowing the deficit to as little as six points. A win is a win, but this was far from a confidence-boosting performance.

Virginia went with a new starting lineup on Tuesday night, as Andrew Rohde replaced TJ Power. Rohde has been playing very well recently, particularly with his resurgent outside shot, while Power came into this game shooting 25% from beyond the arc this season.

Power initially responded well to the benching, swishing a corner three shortly after he first entered the game, hitting the deck for a loose ball, and coming up with a steal to stop a Manhattan fastbreak. But he wound up playing only six minutes, fewest among Cavaliers who saw the floor in the game. That does not bode well for the Duke transfer.

Advertisement

Read Val’s Plus/Minus breakdown of the game here.

Rohde, on the other hand, had another solid game and was perhaps the top performer for the Hoos on Tuesday night. Though he missed his only three-pointer, which was a desperation off-balanced heave at the end of the shot clock, Rohde finished with a season-high 14 points, two assists (with one turnover), two rebounds, and four steals. Rohde showed excellent feel for the game, getting exactly where he wanted to go and exhibiting some nice touch on a couple of floaters plus a short jumper off the glass. If Rohde is playing like this and his three-point shot continues to be there, this could be a big season for the former St. Thomas transfer.

The main reason why this game continued to be close deep into the second half is because UVA’s defense frequently broke down and gave up open shots to Manhattan, particularly from the perimeter. The Jaspers shot 11/26 (42.3%) from beyond the arc and and seven different players knocked down a three. A couple of those Manhattan triples were well-contested, but the vast majority of them were wide-open. That’s very concerning and shows that this Virginia defense, with its many new faces, is still very much a work in progress.

Virginia’s offense was pretty well neutralized by Tennessee and St. John’s in The Bahamas. Tuesday night against Manhattan was a small step in the right direction, but there’s still a lot of room for improvement.

Let’s start with the good. Five different Cavaliers scored in double figures, including a game-high 18 points from Isaac McKneely, who hit three of his four three-point attempts and went 5/6 from the free throw line. We still think McKneely needs to shoot way more, but we’ll leave that alone for now. Dai Dai Ames scored 10 points and dished out five assists, but fouled out of the game. Blake Buchanan made his first four shots and finished with 11 points and five boards. Cofie made five of his seven shots and finished with 10 points and five boards. The best part of the game was that Virginia had 15 assists on 29 made baskets and turned the ball over only eight times, a vast improvement over the team’s turnover issues in The Bahamas.

Advertisement

Virginia outscored Manhattan 42-22 in the paint. That looks like a good stat, but it’s also an inevitable stat because of UVA’s size advantage over the Jaspers, whose tallest player in the rotation is 6’8″. Still, Manhattan snared 10 offensive rebounds and scored 11 second-chance points. In The Bahamas, UVA was dominated on the glass and was simply outmatched from a physicality and athleticism standpoint. Nothing we saw from the Cavaliers on Tuesday night did anything to alleviate those concerns.

Up next, Virginia remains at home for another (supposed) tune-up game against Holy Cross on Friday at 4pm at John Paul Jones Arena.

Virginia vs. Manhattan Live Updates | NCAA Men’s Basketball

UVA Basketball: Ten Things We Learned About Virginia in The Bahamas

Virginia Basketball Falls to St. John’s 80-55 | Key Takeaways

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Virginia

Virginia vs. Manhattan Live Updates | NCAA Men’s Basketball

Published

on

Virginia vs. Manhattan Live Updates | NCAA Men’s Basketball


Virginia (3-2) is set to host Manhattan (3-2) on Tuesday night at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia. Follow along with score updates, play-by-play, and live analysis for the game in the thread below. Updates will be posted at each timeout in reverse chronological order with the most recent updates at the top of the article. Refresh the page for updates.

As we await our 7pm tip between Virginia and Manhattan on the ACC Network, read a full preview of the game here: Virginia Basketball vs. Manhattan Game Preview, Score Prediction

Virginia has posted its starting five for tonight’s game:
– Dai Dai Ames
– Isaac McKneely
– Andrew Rohde
– Elijah Saunders
– Blake Buchanan

Notably, TJ Power has been replaced by Andrew Rohde in the starting lineup after starting the first five games of the season. Power is shooting 25% from three (4/16), while Rohde is currently shooting 50% from beyond the arc (7/14).

Advertisement
  • Virginia and Manhattan will meet on Tuesday night for just the second time ever and first time since March 19th, 1993, when the Cavaliers defeated the Jaspers 78-66 in the first round of the 1993 NCAA Tournament.
  • UVA is 9-0 against current members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
  • Virginia’s last game against a MAAC team was back in 2012, when the Cavaliers defeated Fairfield 54-45 at John Paul Jones Arena.
  • UVA is 2-0 at John Paul Jones Arena this season and 3-0 against unranked opponents this season.

Read more Virginia men’s basketball news and content in the links below:

UVA Basketball: Ten Things We Learned About Virginia in The Bahamas

Virginia Basketball Falls to St. John’s 80-55 | Key Takeaways

The Plus/Minus: Virginia Gets Skunked by Tennessee in The Bahamas

Virginia Basketball Falls to Tennessee 64-42 | Key Takeaways



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending