Hokies Take Care of Business Against Saint Joseph’s, Move to 3-0 on the Season

In a rematch of the 2024 Holiday Hoopfest – when Saint Joseph’s handled Virginia Tech 82-62 – the Hokies came out on top 94-59 in 2025.

[A win against Providence] can go one of two ways: It can propel you, but you can get fat and happy and think that you’ve done something two games into the year,” said Virginia Tech head coach Mike Young. “It was a good win. We didn’t beat the Sacramento Kings; we won a game. We went 1-0 on a Saturday in Connecticut. Take nothing away from our team, but this thing comes at you fast. If you get too low after you might kick one, that can cost you the next one, but there's a nice level of maturity with our team."

Virginia Tech’s clutch overtime win against Providence on Saturday was a sort of breath of fresh air for the Blacksburg squad. After what seemed like game after game losses to upper-tier, non-conference teams, the Hokies picked up a 107-101 win fit for March Madness against the Friars.

Obviously, though, the season does not end after two games. The maroon & orange’s win was fueled by Amani Hansberry as he dropped 19 points on the night. 10 of those points were picked up after halftime.

The Hokies leapt out to a 25-12 lead just 10 minutes into the contest. Hansberry and Tyler Johnson accounted for 14 of those 25 points with seven each.

Tech then kept the ball moving as it led 47-27 at halftime. Hansberry and Johnson accounted for 18 of those points with nine each.

“It puts a lot of confidence in me and everybody else just being able to trust these dudes and not having to worry about everything else and being able to go out and hoop,” Johnson said.

Virginia Tech kept its foot on the gas coming out of halftime, as the squad expanded its lead to 34 points with 10 minutes remaining in the contest. By that point, Avdalas had joined in on the fun with 14 points – matching Hansberry at that point – and returning Hokies Tobi Lawal and Jaden Schutt each had nine points.

Schutt proved himself to be a formidable threat from beyond the arc, as all 12 of his points came off of three-pointers as he went four for seven from three on the night.

Virginia Tech’s win was an all-around effort from the Blacksburg group, as six players had double-digit point totals on the night. Though it is only three games deep into the season, this squad has shown flares of being a formidable force to be reckoned with.

“We still got a lot of work to do, but, watching us even the past two weeks, even from last game coming together more as a team, making sure we paying attention to little details like coach Young and coach Frazier is saying, I can see us meshing happening very quickly,” Johnson said.

The Hokies hoop again on Sunday, Nov. 16 at 2:00 p.m. as they take on the Charlotte 49ers in another early-season Cassell contest. Tech eyes a 4-0 start to its 2025-2026 campaign, which will already be better than the team’s record to start the season prior in 2024.

Incredibly, the Hokies will look to continue a streak of now six consecutive halves of scoring 40 or more points. The Hokies are currently 15th in the nation in points per game at 99.67 (as of Wednesday night). It's one of the best offensive starts in school history, and it's all due to a balanced scoring attack that's pushing tempo, knocking down open shots, and playing great team basketball. 

“We’ve got a nice level of spirit; we’ve got a team that’s together,” Young said. “It’s a daily grind. Social media and voices saying ‘you should be doing this,’ which doesn’t matter. We got good internal leadership; they are about the right stuff, and that is winning the next ball game. I'm quite proud of that development.”