If it wasn’t for bad luck, the Virginia Tech Hokies wouldn’t have any luck at all. Ahead of Saturday’s game at No. 23 Louisville, it was revealed that Cardinals star guard Mikel Brown Jr. was off the injury report and would play against the Hokies. Brown had been out with a back injury since December 13. In his return, the 6-foot-5 freshman scored 20 points to lead Louisville to an 85-71 victory over Virginia Tech.
Brown was terrific in his return, but the Hokies didn’t necessarily help themselves.
In the first half, outside of senior guard Jailen Bedford, no one could put the ball in the basket.
The numbers were ugly in the first half. Louisville dominated inside, outscoring the Hokies in the paint, 16-4. They dominated the offensive glass, finishing the first 20 minutes with 15 second-chance points. Amani Hansberry had more turnovers (5) than points (1) in the first half. Speaking of turnovers, Tech had nine in the first half.
Finally, VT shot only 24% in the first half. After Bedford drained a 3-pointer to trim Louisville’s lead to 18-17, the Cardinals would outscore the Hokies 19-5 over the final seven minutes to take a 37-22 lead at halftime.
Things would be much different in the second half, but the Hokies dug too deep a hole. Tech would actually outscore Louisville in the second half, 49-48, and shot an amazing 59% from the floor. After the Cardinals opened up a 20-point lead, Tech finally got hot from the floor, making 10 of its next 11. The Hokies would get the score under 10 points, but it didn’t last long.
Amazingly, Tech made 11 of 17 from behind the 3-point line in the second half and finished 16 of 30 (53%) for the game. Unfortunately, Virginia Tech couldn’t get anything going inside the 3-point line, finishing only 9 of 32 (28%).
In addition to VT’s troubles outside of 3-point shooting, the Hokies also struggled on the glass, with the Cards holding a 44-31 rebounding advantage. For the game, Louisville would outscore Virginia Tech 36-14 inside the paint, and held a 20-7 advantage on second-chance points.
Bedford was terrific again on Saturday, scoring 24 to lead all scores, making six of his eight attempts from beyond the arc. Sophomore guard Ben Hammond continues to be outstanding, scoring 18 for the Hokies. Hansberry turned things around in the second half and finished with 12 points and 7 rebounds, but did turn it over seven times. Tobi Lawal only scored 2 points for Tech, but did have 9 rebounds and 5 blocked shots.
That was about it for VT. Freshman Neoklis Avdalas continues to struggle. He made only one of his eight attempts from the field, finishing with 2 points. Interestingly, after playing 17 minutes in the first half, Avdalas only played six minutes in the second half and Virginia Tech’s offense was much better.
The loss dropped Virginia Tech to 15-6 on the season and 4-4 in ACC play. Next up for the Hokies is a meeting against Georgia Tech on Tuesday in Blacksburg.
