Hokies fly past Dayton, 77-49, riding Basile's 20-point first half

By Sam Alves

Staff Writer

December 7, 2022

BLACKSBURG — When Grant Basile’s two-handed flush prompted a Dayton timeout with 3:42 left in the first half, the big man had more points (20) than Dayton’s entire team (18).

Though the Flyers managed to finish the half with more points than Tech’s graduate transfer, they were nowhere near competitive collectively in a 77-49 romp by the home side.

“Obviously, Basile lost his mind there in the first half getting all those shots down,” Tech head coach Mike Young said to reporters after coaching his 100th game for the Hokies.

Basile, who finished with 23 points in nearly 31 minutes of action, scored 18 of Tech’s first 29 points after starting 6-for-6 from the floor. He also grabbed 10 rebounds on the night for his second double-double in Blacksburg and 17th in his career.

Basile’s standout performance came on the heels of forward Justyn Mutts’ 27-point, 11-rebound outing against North Carolina this past Sunday.

“I think them [Mutts and Basile] together are just a perfect pair,” point guard Sean Pedulla said. “You kind of have to pick your poison when you’re playing against them.”

Dayton (5-5) didn’t have to make that choice when Mutts exited the game after picking up his second foul less than six minutes into the game and Tech (9-1) down by 12-8.

Young said before the season that Mutts needed to do a better job avoiding foul trouble, and the sixth-year forward had done that over Tech's first nine games of the season. With Mutts missing significant first-half action for the first time this season, the Hokies did better than just survive.

Reserve forwards Lynn Kidd and Mylyjael Poteat filled in nicely and were on the floor as Tech turned its four-point deficit into a 40-18 advantage with less than a minute remaining in the first half.

“I don’t like my life without No. 25 [Mutts] on the floor, so the combination of Grant, Mylyjeal and Lynn taking on that role was significant and great for the Hokies,” Young said.

Basile battled strong inside on the defensive end, too, and while he was outmuscled for a few rebounds in the first half, he made an impact with four blocks.

“Man,” Young started before pausing to assess Basile’s defensive strides, “our film sessions haven’t been real pleasant with the young man from Pewaukee, Wi. There’s been some shrapnel tossed around in that film room. But he’s the son of a coach….He’s wants to get better, and he’s doing that.”

Pedulla (19 points) and Darius Maddox (12) also scored in double figures for the Hokies. After notching just six points combined in his last two games and failing to reach double-digit points in three of his last four games, Maddox’s scoring efforts were a welcome boost for Tech, even if it didn’t necessarily need them against the Flyers.

“He belabors it, wears it,” Young said of Maddox’s recent shooting woes. “But he continues to work. I don’t have a lot of heartburn with him. He’s really good. He’s defending well. He’s helping our team on the glass. He continues to help our team win. He had a better pop to himself offensively.”

The junior collected five boards — tied with Mutts for Tech’s second-highest mark — and assisted three times as well. It didn’t count as a fourth officially, but Maddox also saved a possession that resulted in a Kidd bucket by leaping into the cheerleading section for the ball in the first half.

“Really, it’s just a decision at the end of the day,” Maddox said. “If you see a loose ball, go get it. Offensive rebound and it’s just you and the other guy? Go get it. It’s really something that I can do, but anybody who’s on the floor can do. It’s just a switch of my mindset.

“Especially with my shots not falling, it kind of just feels like I’m just out there. Anything really to help our team.”

While the Hokies controlled most of the game, there was an opportunity for Dayton to make more of its initial surge. The shortest Dayton starter, guard RJ Blakney, stands 6-foot-6, yet the Flyers had just a 23-19 edge on the glass in the first half. It did have a 10-1 advantage on the offensive boards but only had a 8-2 margin in second-chance points to show for it.

“They are big,” Young said of Dayton. “[6-foot-10 starter Daron] Holmes [II], holy smokes that guy is a load. We fouled the guy eight times. I thought he was going to foul out my entire team there in the second half. Got blistered on the glass a little bit, especially in the first half….We didn’t do quite as good a job as we had hoped.”

Holmes II finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds, leading the Flyers in both categories.

But, importantly, Tech bounced back from Dayton’s early blitz and showed its resolve.

“You kind of get adjusted to how the defense is playing you and your matchup,” Pedulla said. “I think they punched us early on the boards. We kind of let that take advantage of us. After that, after we hit that midpoint, we took off from there.

“I think that’s the sign of a good team: We kind of took the punch early, took a step back and threw a punch ourselves.”

That punch was so powerful and lasted so long that Camden Johnson, Michael Ward and Owyn Dawyot all saw at least 90 seconds of action to close the game. They made their mark, too.

Johnson’s look-off pass to Kidd set up a two-handed flush — one of several in the second half. And Dawyot hit a fadeaway jumper on the baseline that had Young thinking of John Stockton.

It truly was a team effort for the Hokies.

“I like where this team’s headed,” Young said.

Both his team’s progress and the site of their next game against Oklahoma State: Brooklyn.