Blistering Second Half Propels Virginia Tech Over Wake Forest 87-76

Will Locklin

Staff Writer

March 3, 2024

BLACKSBURG — It was a tale of two halves at Cassell Coliseum, as Virginia Tech used a 50-point second half to take down Wake Forest 87-76 on Saturday evening. Down by as many as 15 in the first half, the Hokies come from behind victory was the largest comeback in Mike Young’s tenure in Blacksburg. 

“Not sure I’ve ever seen a box score like that,” Tech head coach Mike Young said postgame. “We led by as much as 16 in the second. They led by as many as 15 in the first.”

Wake Forest came out of the gate guns blazing, hardly missing a shot it took for the first 12 minutes of the game. The Deacons made nine of their first 10 three-point shots and were shooting the rock at an over 75% clip from the field for over a quarter of the game. 

“Six different players for Wake Forest made threes,” Young said. “We couldn’t slow them down, we were just behind everything. They were making shots left and right. I thought cutting it to nine going into the half was significant.”

After Kevin Miller cashed the Deacons ninth three-pointer with 6:22 left in the first half, the momentum started to swing in the Hokies favor. Virginia Tech went on a 12-6 run over the last six minutes of the first half and had the deficit down to nine, 46-37 at the break. 

“We couldn’t get a miss at the beginning of the game,” guard Hunter Cattoor said. “Their shots kept going in but realistically we knew they weren’t going to be able to keep that up the whole game. We knew if we just stuck to our game plan and chipped away we would be back in the game.”

The Hokies chipped the Wake Forest advantage down to four at the first media timeout of the second half, and used a key Cattoor three-pointer and Lynn Kidd layup to surge into a 54-52 lead that they wouldn't relinquish for the rest of the contest. 

Tech was able to not just take the lead but build it up to double-digits due to the brilliant play of Cattoor and Kidd. Cattoor finished with a season-high 26 points on 9-of-15 shooting overall and made five three-pointers, four more than he finished with in the Hokies’ 23-point loss to this same Deacons squad back in December. 

“We made a few adjustments from the first time they played us,” Cattoor said. “We knew they would be on top of me coming off screens. Our key was to set more off ball screens since they don’t like to hedge off those and then I found some separation to take my shots.”

Down low, Tech was led by the dominance of Kidd, who finished with 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting and nine rebounds. It was Kidd’s fourth 20-plus point outing of the season and first since his 31-point career-high on Dec. 21 vs. American. 

“A lot of times when Lynn is that open streaking to the basket it’s because of a really good screen he set, whether that’s on the ball or off the ball,” Young said. “I thought he was going to take down the backboard a couple of times.”

The Hokies finished with four scorers in double figures, as Sean Pedulla and MJ Collins starred in complementary roles for Tech. Pedulla’s 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting to go along with six assists and one turnover. Collins chipped in 11 points and five assists and Robbie Beran added eight points and five rebounds to the cause as well. 

“We have a lot of good players on this team so when everyone gets to touch the ball we play more as a team versus when only a few of us touch it and the ball sticks and we get stagnant,” Collins said. “Being able to move the ball was big for us and allowed the offense to flow.”

Virginia Tech hits the road to visit Derby City for a clash against the Louisville Cardinals in the KFC Yum! Center this Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET. The Hokies are 1-9 on the road in the ACC and will look to get on a win streak against the ACC’s cellar dweller before the ACC tournament kicks off in the nation’s capital of Washington D.C. in a little over two weeks.     

“We need to do it as a unit, do it for 40 minutes,” Young said. “Have a better start defensively and be more engaged. We have to go on the road and play better basketball and that’s our intention.”