Hokies Earn First Road Victory In 84-78 Win Over NC State
Carter Hill
Editor-in-Chief
January 20, 2024
Virginia Tech's win over NC State was a big one, and it shows. (Virginia Tech Athletics)
RALEIGH, N.C. – Well, that’s a massive win.
Led by a team-high 19 points from standout guard Hunter Cattoor and a late-game 19-4 run, Virginia Tech (11-7, 3-4 ACC) ran past NC State (13-5, 5-2) for its first road victory of the year in an 84-78 triumph on Saturday afternoon inside PNC Arena.
“We needed it,” Tech fifth-year head coach Mike Young said. “We had our struggles in Charlottesville, we had a shot to win. They flat out played better than we did. We had our shot against Miami, we squandered some things in that one. A season’s full of peaks and valleys. ... There’s nothing like winning.
“There’s nothing like clearing the air and see a team come together and compete together and win together.”
Despite turning the ball over a near-season-high 20 times (21 at Auburn), Tech shot the ball 53.1% (26-of-49) from the floor and 47.4% (9-of-19) from three.
The team shot 62.5% (15-of-24) in the second half, scoring 51 points.
When able to maintain control, the Hokies were smooth offensively, igniting them in the six-point win.
“I thought we cut better,” Young said. “We find ourselves chasing the ball a little bit, we didn’t do that today. Mylyjael [Poteat] and Lynn [Kidd] did a very good job in loosening it up. [State’s] not going to switch with their five, so you’ve got to get that five in the screening actions up top early and then on the edges from there. Having said that, we got them downhill a little bit with a little pocket pass in the pocket, got them fouled.
“So great, great team effort. Great energy and much, much-needed.”
Defensively, the Hokies were fierce, too.
Though Tech allowed 78 points, it held the Wolfpack to 11-of-29 (37.9%) second-half shooting and 6-of-19 (31.6%) from long-range.
More impressively, it forced NC State into a season-high 18 turnovers and held star big man D.J. Burns to just eight points, too.
“We were really connected,” Young said. “They are very good offensively. I like the things that Coach [Kevin] Keatts does. Burns is a truck in the post, and I thought keeping him under wraps with the double-team was significant from the opening tap.
"I thought we got him back on his heels, he started settling for a couple of jump shots.”
Trailing 54-51 with 7:53 to play, the Hokies would then proceed to go on their late-game surge. At that point, both Cattoor (6) and Sean Pedulla (4) had only combined for 10 points, and Tech was badly in need of a spark.
Flash forward 4:04 later, the pair had put up 25 points total, with Pedulla and Cattoor scoring 15 of the next 19.
Suddenly, the Hokies led 70-58 with 3:49 to go, and the lead wouldn’t be relinquished from there.
“Big-time players make big-time plays down the stretch,” Cattoor said. “We knew the game was going to be close, and we couldn’t just sit back and just let the game happen, we had to go out and take it. Sean did a great job of being aggressive towards the end and also setting me up to get my shots.”
“[State’s] so cognizant of your shooters,” Young said. “Pedulla [got] downhill and [got] to the rim, where he’s an excellent finisher with his athleticism and his strength. [He] had a couple of easy ones and you need those.”
All in all, Tech was able to finish, too.
Not only did the Hokies capitalize on each of their last nine field goal attempts, but they were able to salt the game away at the line.
Tech finished 23-of-28 (82.1%) from the charity stripe on the afternoon, while going 12-for-14 after the catapulting four-minute stretch.
That’s winning basketball, and it’s a big reason for Saturday’s success.
The Hokies also got contributions across the board. Five members of the maroon and orange entered double figures in the feel-good win, with Cattoor (19 points), Kidd (14), Pedulla (13), Tyler Nickel (12) and Robbie Beran (11) each tallying double-digits.
It’s a season-high for Beran, who provided quite the jolt. He’s been solid for Tech as of late, hitting open shots and giving the Hokies a boost on the defensive side of the ball.
Overall, this, quite frankly, is quite the win for Virginia Tech, and it keeps it relevant in the NCAA Tournament conversation.
Sure, 3-4 in league play may not be the prettiest of marks, but the Hokies are set up nicely now with three straight home games set to commence.
Both Boston College and Georgia Tech are very winnable games, and though a consistent top-10 team so far this season, Tech’s won five of its last six at home against Duke, so quite a few opportunities abound.
The win’s significant, particularly with it being the team’s first one on the road. But the Hokies have to build on it, and if they do, who knows what the future holds?
“I think anytime you win on the road, it’s extremely hard in this conference,” Cattoor said. “So to come here against a good NC State team and get a win, it’s huge for us. We just got to keep building on this. You can’t kind of think, ‘Oh, we finally won on the road,’ and stop there. I think you kind of have to keep building building blocks.
“You’ve got to keep going down the stretch, keep climbing.”