Keve Aluma's disappointing day mimicks past Wofford defeat

Jackson Didlake

March 12, 2021

GREENSBORO, N.C. —As the final horn sounded, ending No. 22 Virginia Tech’s ACC Tournament hopes in the quarterfinal, the team convened together before walking off the court.

But one Hokie was absent — Keve Aluma.

After an 81-73 loss to North Carolina, Aluma saw his squad exit the ACC Tournament similar to his final loss at Wofford, in close, heartbreaking fashion. The redshirt junior has made it known that he still thinks about the Terriers close defeat in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament in 2019, including in a video that was shown during Thursday night’s contest.

Aluma was the Terriers second-leading rebounder during their magical 2018-19 season. Wofford has its best season in team history, going 30-5 and rolling through No. 10-seed Seton Hall in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament.

But then, a tall order arose for the Terriers in a matchup against two-seed Kentucky.

Mike Young’s Wofford team was known for their sharpshooting abilities, especially from Fletcher Magee.

The Terriers led by six points with four minutes to go in the first half, but the Wildcats went on a run to walk into the locker room with a two-point lead.

Then, Wofford went cold.

Magee is one of the greatest three-point shooters in college basketball history, drilling an NCAA record 509 during his time at Wofford. But it wasn’t his day.

Magee shot 0-of-12 from deep, the only time a player has ever done so in an NCAA Tournament contest. To make matters worse, the Terriers missed their first seven threes of the second half.

Wofford continued to battle back, making the game come down the wire.

Down four with 38 seconds left, a Storm Murphy shot missed, but Aluma was there for the tip in to cut the lead to two.

But after a Magee miss on the other end of the court, Wofford fell just short, 62-56.

After the loss that saw Young take the Virginia Tech job and Aluma’s choice to follow his head coach to Blacksburg, Aluma found himself in the same position on Thursday night.

In 2019, it was a miserable night for Magee that doomed the Terriers, but on Thursday it was Aluma.

The six-foot-nine forward went 4-of-13 from the field, the worst shooting performance of his collegiate career when shooting over 10 times.

Like Wofford made its March loss close despite key contributions from its key player, the Hokies were able to put up a fight against North Carolina thanks in large part to Justyn Mutts and Tyrese Radford who scored 24 and 20 points, respectively.

Virginia Tech ultimately fell short 81-73, ending its shot at an ACC Tournament championship.

Perhaps the saddest part of Wofford’s time at the NCAA Tournament in 2019 ending was the departure of Magee, who had his worst shooting day of his collegiate career before walking off for one last time.

Magee will forever have to remember walking out after a close night when he let down his team when they needed him the most, but for Aluma and the Hokies, they hope this is only the beginning of their postseason.

Aluma and Co. await Selection Sunday to see where they fall into the NCAA Tournament before finally, Young and Aluma will get another crack at the tournament nearly two years after they walked off of the court in defeat on that disappointing Saturday afternoon.