Virginia Tech Men’s Basketball Weekly Recap
Virginia Tech vs. Wofford | Sunday, November 19 | Cassell Coliseum, Blacksburg, VA
Final: VT 98, Wofford 76
This was one of the best shooting games of VT’s season. At 57% from the floor and 50% from 3PT, the Hokies looked phenomenal in the last home game until December.
Sean Pedulla, Hunter Cattoor, Tyler Nickel, and Lynn Kidd all played particularly well. Pedulla slashed into the paint aggressively to get the team going. Cattoor hit four bombs on great efficiency. Nickel found a groove for 14 points on perfect shooting, and Kidd put the heat on down low.
Virginia Tech vs. Boise State | Thursday, November 23 | ESPN Events Invitational, Orlando, FL
Final: VT 82, Boise St 75
It was only a matter of time until Cattoor broke the VT three-point record. Slowly cutting the difference all season, Cattoor finally passed A.D. Vassallo for the most as a Hokie all-time as he hit five against the Broncos.
Kidd, Pedulla, and Nickel accounted for most of the remaining points. Nickel played 32 minutes, his most in maroon and orange. Boise State held the game frighteningly close, but Pedulla converted on a three followed by a driving layup to get a comfortable lead under two minutes.
Virginia Tech vs. Iowa State | Friday, November 24 | ESPN Events Invitational, Orlando, FL
Final: VT 71, Iowa St 62
VT came in as underdogs but prevailed in the end against a tough Cyclones defense. The game went back and forth with seven ties and eight lead changes. Virginia Tech didn’t shoot awful overall, but the Iowa State defense certainly gave them trouble, especially in the second half, hitting 3-10 from deep.
Tech gave Iowa State an equally difficult night scoring, just 5-21 from 3PT. VT shot 11-28 from deep, on the other hand, a difference of 15%. The free-throw line was even more telling, a margin of nearly 30% in favor of VT.
Virginia Tech vs. No. 19 Florida Atlantic | Sunday, November 26 | ESPN Events Invitational, Orlando, FL
Final: VT 50, FAU 84
Brutal day behind the arc. Nothing fell, no matter how open or contested. Tech missed the first 15 tries from deep. One three finally fell at 3:24 in the second half, and another followed a few minutes later, but 2-17 3PT isn’t going to beat a Final Four team.
FAU hit nearly 41% of 3PT tries. The point differential from three closely followed the scoreboard, demonstrating that it was the main factor in the loss. The poor outing for VT compounded late in the game, as frustration began to set in. The team got discouraged amid a nine-minute scoring drought and turned down the effort as the clock ran down.
Takeaways from this Week
Pedulla and Cattoor were already firmly cemented as the team’s big scorers, but now Kidd and Nickel fall into the mix. Both have been consistently in double figures and provide a necessary boost on the scoreboard. When they do well, so does the team. When they don’t, it shows.
Bad shooting days will happen, it’s part of the game. I applaud the team for not letting it stop them from shooting. On the other hand, this is the time to pound the paint and get to the line. 32 points in the paint isn’t a bad number, but when only six points come outside the arc, it has to be higher.
Through a large portion of the FAU game, only four players had scored. Relying on stars is fine, but someone has to step up when they have a bad day. The five starters had 33 points, the bench had 17
Overall a great run at the tournament to the finals against a very talented team, but VT is way better than a 34-point loss. It’s easy to get discouraged when you’re down 30+. Not scoring for nine minutes? That’s not okay.
