Hokies struggle from the start in blowout loss to Penn State

Jackson Didlake

December 9, 2020

BLACKSBURG, Va. — No. 15 Virginia Tech came into its matchup against Penn State looking to go head ACC play undefeated. Instead, the Hokies scored first and never led again in a 75-55 blowout loss to the Nittany Lions.

“They got us back on our heels – I think – on both ends,” Hokies head coach Mike Young said. “They popped us right in the mouth and we didn’t respond well.”

The Hokies (4-1) struggled on every front, especially with turnovers, losing to turnover battle 14-5, including 10-0 in the first half. The Nittany Lions (3-1) outscored the Hokies 22-4 off of turnovers.

“Poor ball handling – that is not going to bode well for this team,” Young said.

To add to the first half dysfunction, the Hokies managed to go one of seven from the free throw line. Overall, the Hokies shot 37% from the field and only connected on six of their 22 shots behind the arc.

“They play a unique style. … very fast pace,” Wabissa Bede said. “We’re good at our style and our pace. When we try to play their pace it doesn’t go well, as you saw in the first six minutes. … We weren’t spreading them out.

The Hokies offensive struggles coupled with dominant offensive performance for the Nittany Lions perfectly set up for a blowout loss. Penn State shot lights out, going 50% from the field, but they did their damage from behind the arc, hitting 12 of 23.

“Everything they threw in the air felt like it was going into the hole,” Young said.

The Nittany Lions came into the contest with a chip on their shoulder after losing their first game of the season in overtime to Seton Hall. The loss came after Penn State blew a late lead in regulation.

Izaiah Brockington torched the Hokies with 24 points and eight rebounds. Myreon Jones added 14 points, three rebounds and three assists and both Myles Dread and Sam Sessoms had double-digit points for the Nittany Lions.

Jalen Cone led the way for the Hokies with 11 points and two rebounds. The only other Hokie in double digits was Nahiem Alleyne with 10 points. Keve Aluma had a team-high 12 boards and added eight points but didn’t play as much as he had this season after turnovers and missed shots.

Virginia Tech started the scoring with a Wabissa Bede three, but that was the peak of the Hokies’ success on Tuesday night. The Nittany Lions responded with a dominant 17-0 run, holding the Hokies without a point for almost six and a half minutes. If things couldn’t have gotten worse, Penn State went on a 18-6 run late in the half to take an enormous 42-23 lead into the break.

The second half was a much closer battle, but the first half did enough damage to doom the Hokies in the end.

Virginia Tech will likely drop out of the AP Poll on Monday when the new rankings are released. The Hokies were ranked for the first time during the Mike Young era after an impressive stretch in Bubbleville that included taking down No. 3 Villanova.

The Hokies will look to rebound on Tuesday when Clemson comes to visit to begin ACC play, but there is a lot of work to do ahead of the matchup.

“[We need a] better pop from the starting five,” Bede said. “All five games, we’ve been slow coming up to the media timeout.”

The Hokies struggled early in contests but have managed to go on to win in the previous four. The damage done by turnovers and a 17-0 early against Penn State cost them a perfect non conference record. If it’s not cleaned up soon, the ACC competition will surely expose the Hokies’ issues.