Hokies Keep March Madness Hopes Alive, Avoid Late-Game Debacle with 71-65 Win Against Georgia Tech

Following a rough road showing in Louisville, Virginia Tech, guided by Ben Hammond, picked up another crucial victory Tuesday Night against the Yellow Jackets.

“You never want to fall below .500, so we definitely needed this one to get a little momentum going for Duke on Saturday,” said Hokie Christian Gurdak. “Georgia Tech is a good team. They beat NC State; they almost beat Duke. They fought hard in the last few minutes, so this was a good win for us.”

After Saturday’s 85-71 loss to the Cardinals, the Hokies watched their NCAA Tournament hopes fall ever so slightly. While the loss was not all too shocking, it definitely made a dent in Virginia Tech’s morale as well as its odds of staying on the right side of the bubble.

With 11-9 Georgia Tech coming into Blacksburg Tuesday night, the Hokies would have the opportunity to stay in the March Madness fight with a win. The Hokies would need every bit of their final 10 games of the 2025-2026 regular season to make the best bid possible for March’s big dance.

Despite an unlucky start to the game, with Georgia Tech making three unanswered three-pointers, the Hokies fought back to take the lead midway through the first half. The Hokies thrived on the deep ball in the first half of Tuesday night's contest, as five made deep balls accounted for almost half of the team’s first half points.

The Hokies would take a 36-30 lead into halftime, and they would look to hold down the fort in order to get the much-needed win.

Three Hokies led the team’s scoring in the first half against the Yellow Jackets, as Hammond, Neoklis Avdalas, and Christian Gurdak picked up eight points each. Moreover, Avdalas and Hammond showed off their versatility, as the former knocked down two three pointers and tacked on two points from within the arc, and the latter hit one deep ball and picked up a free throw off an and-one score.

The Hokies expanded their lead during the second half, as Hammond continued to impress with his playmaking ability, and Jailen Bedford got hot off multiple layups, a three-pointer, and an electrifying dunk to keep the Cassell Coliseum crowd roaring.

Despite having a 65-50 lead with 4:26 left in the game, Virginia Tech had yet another late-game falter in the final minutes against the Yellow Jackets. Georgia Tech was able to go on a 15-2 run to cut its deficit to two points with 19 seconds remaining. 

In a month where late-game skids have not necessarily been on their side, the Hokies were faced with yet another possible disaster at hand.

While missed free throws may have been Virginia Tech’s enemy in the weeks prior to the matchup against Georgia Tech, the faults from the line did not play spoiler Tuesday night. Hammond and Bedford would each make their pair of end-of-game free throws, and the Hokies would hold out for the 71-65 win.

“We went to a 1-3-1 zone coverage that we work on quite a bit, and I think that spooked Georgia Tech a little bit,” said Virginia Tech head coach Mike Young. “We got it stopped, and they took a bad shot.”

Hammond’s game-leading 20 points on the night marked his fifth-straight double-digit-scoring outing as well as his third-straight game with more than 15 points. Since adapting to more of a starter role with Tyler Johnson’s injury absence, Hammond has shown off in helping keep the Hokies in close ACC games with his scoring and playmaking abilities.

Bedford, despite not being one of the Hokies’ leading scorers in the first half against Georgia Tech, finished as Virginia Tech’s second leading scorer on the night with 14 points. Bedford’s performance Tuesday night continues his strong January showing, as he has gone for double-digit point totals in six of Virginia Tech’s last eight games.

Gurdak – who came off the bench against the Yellow Jackets – along with Tobi Lawal, finished off the double-digit performances for the Hokies Tuesday night, as the duo posted 11 points and 10 points, respectively.

The Hokies will have their toughest trial of the season Saturday when they take on No. 4 ranked Duke. Led by phenom freshman Cam Boozer – whose 23.5 points per game ranks third in the nation – the Blue Devils sit at 19-1 heading into Blacksburg for each squad’s final January contest. 

With Duke’s sole loss being by only one point to current No. 11 ranked Texas Tech, the Hokies will, to say the least, have their hands full when the Blue Devils come into Cassell Coliseum. However, if the Hokies were to pull out the win, they would add a massive statement to their NCAA Tournament bid and likely move into the bracket pool.

“It would be nice to just be in and not be faced with ‘you lose one, you’re out; you win one, you’re first four in,’” Gurdak said. “So it would be nice to have a little cushioning, but the ACC is really hard this year. Every team is good, and there will probably be a lot of teams that make the tournament in the ACC. “So we just have to keep fighting every game and, even in practice, you can’t take a day off, because every team is capable of coming in here and getting a win.”