On a day when Virginia paid homage to former coach Tony Bennett, the Cavaliers played to the standard he set in the previous 15 seasons as they toppled visiting Georgia Tech 75-61 Saturday in Charlottesville, Va.

Isaac McKneely scored 18 of his 20 points in the first half as Virginia (12-12, 5-8 ACC) won its second straight game and extended its home winning streak against Georgia Tech to 11 games.

Dai Dai Ames took over in the second half when he scored 14 of his 18 points for the Cavaliers who made 49.2 percent of their shots, including 11 of 27 (40.7 percent) from 3-point range.

Andrew Rohde contributed 11 points and nine assists for Virginia. Playing point guard for the first time in his career, Rohde has 33 assists while committing just one turnover in his last five games.

Virginia held a 41-36 lead at halftime, when it raised a banner to Bennett who guided the Cavaliers to a 364-138 record, 10 appearances in the NCAA Tournament and a national championship in 2019.

In the second half, Virginia stretched its lead to as many as 17 points.

Nathan George delivered 20 points, six rebounds and five assists for Georgia Tech (11-13, 5-8), which was coming off its two best wins this season in upsets of Louisville and Clemson.

Duncan Powell scored 18 points for the Yellow Jackets and Baye Ndongo produced 15 points and five rebounds for short-handed Georgia Tech, which was without four injured rotation players.

The most recent Yellow Jackets player to go down was second-leading scorer Javian McCollum (12.2 points per game), who was hurt in a collision with a teammate in a win Tuesday at Clemson
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Before the game was two minutes old, McKneely hit two 3-pointers and Rohde added another as the Cavaliers bolted to a 9-0 lead.

But the Yellow Jackets responded with the next eight points and eventually took the lead as they hit four straight triples, including three from Powell.

Late in the half, Virginia went on a 10-3 burst, fueled by triples from McKneely and Rohde before George drained a buzzer-beating step-back 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 41-36 at the break.

Georgia Tech cooled off in the second half, hitting just 1 of 7 shots from 3-point range after making 7 of 11 in the first half.

Virginia went on a 10-point spree early in the second half, triggered by 3-pointers from Rohde and Ames, to take a 51-38 lead.

– Field Level Media