Usually, a deflected pass spells doom for the team that throws it. But that was not the case Saturday night when, with 34 seconds remaining in overtime, J.R. Reynolds' pass to the outside was deflected by a Virginia Tech defender and into the hands of freshman Laurynas Mikalauskas. Mikalauskas did not miss a beat as he collected the errant pass and proceeded to go up for an uncontested lay-up that essentially sealed a 81-77 win for the Cavaliers (12-9, 6-5 ACC). The victory was the 400th win at University Hall and completed the season sweep over the Hokies (13-11, 3-8).
"It just happened," Mikalauskas said of the lay-up. "It was the right moment and the right place. And I just went to put the ball in the basket; it's very simple, actually."
The lay-up helped secure a win in which the Cavaliers blew a 15-point lead and missed a shot to win at the end of regulation. After seeing Virginia Tech score six consecutive points in overtime, Virginia went on an eight-point run of its own. Six of those eight points came from the free throw line, where the Cavaliers shot 82.6 percent for the game.
Virginia took a one-point lead in overtime when guard Sean Singletary hit two free throws with 1:35 remaining to bring his point total to a team-high 23. Following the free throws, Virginia called a 30-second time out to set up its defense. Out of the timeout, the Hokies passed the ball around the perimeter until the Cavaliers forced Virginia Tech forward Wynoton Witherspoon to take a long three-point shot that was off the mark.
"The possession that I would want back is the one coming out of the time out," Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg said. "They went zone [defense], and, instead of attacking and trying to get some penetration, we just reversed it around the perimeter. No one really stepped up and attacked and made a play. We needed to be aggressive on that possession because they were more aggressive on their final few possessions."
Intensity in overtime was a theme Virginia coach Dave Leitao harped on in the time between the end of regulation and the start of overtime as he reminded his team of a 87-82 overtime loss to Florida State Jan. 11.
"I told the team after regulation that the last time we found ourselves in this position was against Florida State, and we didn't do the necessary things in the final five minutes," Leitao said. "I would like to think [overtime] is where you define yourself. We weren't perfect in our execution at times, our defense was good -- okay at times -- but, in those last five minutes, I thought we did what was necessary."
One of the Cavalier players who made sure the game was close was Reynolds, who tallied 19 points and a career-high 12 assists. In regulation, Reynolds secured a double-double by scoring 17 and notching 10 assists. In overtime, Reynolds was involved in three plays essential to the Cavalier win. Reynolds had an assist on an Adrian Joseph three-pointer and, a few possessions later, he was able to get to the free throw line and cut the overtime deficit to one point. On Virginia's next possession, Singletary was able to get to the line for his own pair of clutch free throws. But it was Reynolds's 12th assist, the pass that ended up in Mikalauskas' hands, that was probably most important in his stellar game.
"It's really hard for a two guard [to get 12 assists]," Reynolds said when asked if he had ever had that many assists in one game. "I really wasn't paying attention to it too much. I was so into the game that I wasn't even paying attention. I had a lot of assists, but I was too into the game to notice."
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