2024-02-14 10:18:45
Virginia Tech had found themselves in a rut following dropping a stunning upset defeat at Notre Dame over the weekend for their third-straight loss. Tonight, Virginia Tech started to get things back on track with a victory over Florida State in what was a choppy game full of foul calls and free throws.
Virginia Tech beat Florida State 83-75 to improve to 14-10 on the season including 6-7 in ACC play while FSU fell to 13-11 overall including 7-6 in ACC play.
This was a game that lacked rhythm for much of it due to prevalent fouls, a decent amount of turnovers, and plenty of full-court press from FSU to try to throw the Hokies off, which had varying amounts of success.
This wasn’t a perfect night from Tech offensively, but the Hokies took advantage of their free throws going 28-32 from the line while having a solid three-point shooting night going 11-23 (47.8%) from three-point range. Tech had their struggles inside the arc getting outscored in the paint 30-16 while shooting 11-31 on two-point attempts.
It felt like there were more turnovers than there actually were with Tech having only 11 while FSU had 13. Despite a similar turnover volume and FSU getting more live ball turnovers with 10 steals compared to six for VT, the Hokies seized their opportunities with 23 points off turnovers compared to only seven for Florida State.
Tech didn’t dominate the scoring in the paint, but they did dominate the glass outrebounding Florida State 35-23 including 13-6 in offensive rebounds. They were long stretches where Lynn Kidd had outrebounded Florida State himself, with that extending into the first few minutes of the second half.
It was a collaborative effort for the Hokies tonight headlined by Kidd who had a bounce-back game following struggling mightily at Notre Dame. Kidd finished the game with 12 points on 4-9 shooting from the field and 4-6 from the free-throw line plus 15 rebounds, asserting his will in this game especially on the glass. He also didn’t finish with a single foul which seems like a miracle in this game, especially given the fact that he played almost 29 minutes.
Hunter Cattoor led the Hokies in scoring on what was a strong shooting night for him with 20 points on 6-12 from the field including 4-6 from three-point range, plus four rebounds and three assists. Meanwhile, Sean Pedulla basically signed a lease for residence at the free-throw line going 14-16 from the charity stripe on his way to having 19 points, four rebounds, four assists, and one steal.
Tyler Nickel had a very good night playing over 29 minutes due to foul trouble for some of his teammates while making shots left and right with 15 points on 6-9 shooting including 3-4 from three-point range plus, three rebounds and two steals. MJ Collins added seven points, two rebounds, two assists, and two steals, dealing with foul trouble late. Meanwhile, Robbie Beran dealt with foul trouble on his way to having two points and four rebounds in under 14 minutes of action.
Brandon Rechsteiner, Jaydon Young, and John Camden have either not played at all or barely played in ACC play, but all three were called on tonight due to foul trouble for other Hokies and FSU’s immense depth forcing Tech to play more guys. Young led the charger playing almost 12 minutes while having three points and one rebound while Rechsteiner had three points and two assists in just under nine minutes, and Camden had two points in almost four minutes. Mylyjael Poteat rounded out the Hokies with one steal and no fouls in just over 10 minutes of work.
Jamir Watkins led FSU with 26 points on an extremely efficient 7-9 from the field including 3-3 from three-point range plus 9-11 from the free-throw line, while stuffing the stat sheet with six rebounds, four assists, three blocks, and two steals. Darin Green Jr added 14 points and two rebounds while Baba Miller had nine points and three rebounds, and Cameron Corhen had eight points and two rebounds.
This was definitely not close to the best game of basketball that Virginia Tech has played this season but following a stunning loss at Notre Dame had them on a three-game skid, this was a game Tech needed whatever way they might get. What may be most encouraging was the bounce-back performance that Lynn Kidd had tonight, especially on the glass with 15 rebounds including six offensive rebounds.
Tech’s hopes of a NCAA Tournament at-large bid are just regarding dead, but a chance to revive them and then some looms Saturday with an extremely difficult road trip to No. 7 North Carolina. The Tar Heels should certainly be focused given their upset loss at Syracuse this evening and will be a steep test for the Hokies. Tech will rightly be significant underdogs, but at least they now carry some momentum into Chapel Hill looking to pull off a massive upset to revive their basically dead NCAA Tournament at-large bid hopes.
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