Hokies top Cardinals for first time since '91 in dominant win

By Sam Alves

Staff Writer

March 1, 2022

BLACKSBURG — The 9 p.m. tip did little to tame a spirited Cassell Coliseum crowd treated to Virginia Tech’s first victory over Louisville since 1991. The Hokies started 4-for-4 from downtown and sprinkled in a handful of rim-rattlers to keep the crowd fully juiced, enough to jump out to an early double-digit lead and coast to a 75-43 beatdown of the undermanned Cardinals (12-17, 6-13 Atlantic Coast).

After starting 0-4 — and then 2-7 — in the conference, Tech (19-11, 11-8 ACC) guaranteed a winning ACC season and kept itself within striking distance of the NCAA tournament with the balanced win.

Senior forward Justyn Mutts — who, along with fellow forward Keve Aluma, played potentially his last game in Blacksburg — led the Hokies in scoring with 14 points, none flashier than a monster dunk late in the first half off a lob from Storm Murphy.

“Honestly, I didn’t even think I was going to catch it,” Mutts said. “I just jumped and tried to throw towards the rim. I was surprised when it went in, so I was happy.”

Mutts, who grabbed 10 boards for his third double-double of the year, was quick to credit a teammate for one-upping him in the second half.

“But David N'Guessan’s putback right here [opposite the student section,] I went crazy for that,” Mutts said of the bucket that pushed Tech’s lead to 21 in the second half.

Joining Mutts in double figures with 11 points were Aluma and Darius Maddox, who scored them all in the second half. Four other Hokies scored at least seven in a team-centered win.

“I thought the ball moved quite well,” head coach Mike Young said. “ There’s a reason we get people to the basket — because that [defense] spreads out because of Maddox and Murphy and Pedulla and Alleyne. Keve got a [3-pointer] down.”

Tuesday was a get-right game for the Hokies from 3-point land. Tech made 12 of its 28 attempts (43%) from deep.

Virginia Tech played a balanced game offensively, turning the ball over just eight times while grabbing 12 of its 36 rebounds on the offensive end. And led by Mutts’ six helpers, the Hokies assisted on 14 of their 28 made field goals.

“The kid’s terrific on both ends of the floor,” Young said of Mutts. “He’s brilliant, super smart. What he does for this team in terms of his passing, in terms of his rebounding. He typically guards the other team’s best front court guy.”

Ordinarily, that would mean Mutts guarding 6-foot-10 center Malik Williams, who averages 9.9 points and 7.7 rebounds in nearly 24 minutes a game. But Williams didn’t play Tuesday night due to a coach’s decision, per Brett Dawson of the Louisville Courier Journal. That also opened space up for Mutts, who scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half.

Despite comfortably leading for most of the game, Tech’s offense stalled at points. After a 12-0 run gave VT a lead it held for good, the Hokies struggled between the first and second media timeouts, scoring just two points in that span.

The other came with the minutes dipping into single digits in the second half.

“I thought we got a little itchy,” Young said of his offense midway through the second half. “I got a little discouraged, and I ripped a rear end. We had three out of four one-pass possessions or zero-pass possessions….We don’t play that way. They understand that. But I thought from that point on, there’s nothing egregious, nothing that I felt bad about.”

Maddox’s shot-making also helped the Hokies build their second-half lead. Maddox, who hit the game-winner in Miami on Saturday, missed his only shot in his nine minutes of action in the first half. But in the second, he scored 11 off the bench.

In a game the Hokies needed to win, they did — handily enough that Camden Johnson, Lynn Kidd and Ben Varga got minutes in the second half. After scrappy wins at Georgia Tech and Miami last week, the Hokies will continue on their narrow path to the NCAA Tournament.

“We can just never give up,” Alleyne said. “Coach [Young] always talks about Georgia Tech last year. They weren’t really doing so well, and they won the [ACC Tournament.] Just things like that give us motivation to go out there and keep going.”