How would the Virginia Tech Hokies bounce back from Wednesday’s heartbreaking buzzer-beating loss to the SMU Mustangs? Well, if we’ve learned one thing about the 2025-26 Hokies, they’re a resilient bunch.
On Saturday, they proved that true again, dominating the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 89-76 to improve to 14-5 on the season, and 3-3 in ACC play.
Virginia Tech dominated from the start. After Notre Dame took an early 7-5 lead, the Hokies got a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Ben Hammond to take an 8-7 lead. The Fighting Irish would get within two points again in the first half, but the Hokies kept them at arm’s length all game. VT would go into halftime with a 45-34 lead, after shooting 56% from the field and making all 11 free-throw attempts.
The second half was more of the same from Tech. When junior forward Amani Hansberry hit a jumper with 17:22 remaining, it gave the Hokies an 11-point lead. The deficit would never be in single digits again, VT opening up a 19-point lead at different points in the second half.
For the first time in a while, the Hokies dominated an opponent and did not have a game come down to the final seconds. Senior forward Tobi Lawal, in his third game back since returning from a leg injury, led Virginia Tech with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Before Lawal’s injury, he was averaging a double-double. He came off the bench again, playing 29 minutes. Tech only played seven players in Saturday’s win. Hansberry scored 21 for the Hokies, while Hammond scored 16 and Jailen Bedford chipped in 14.
Freshman guard Neoklis Avdalas got off to a hot start, but finished the game on the bench after banging his knee against a Notre Dame player. Avdalas was last seen riding the bike to loosen up his knee. The hope is that it’s nothing more than a bruise and that he’ll be ok for Wednesday’s game against Syracuse. Avdalas finished with eight points and seven assists.
The most encouraging aspect of this game: the Hokies made 28 of 32 from the free-throw line. Had they shot that well from the charity stripe in recent weeks, they could be undefeated in ACC play.
It was an encouraging bounce-back performance from Virginia Tech. Wednesday’s game at Syracuse looms big.
