Hokies Vanquish Road Woes With Balanced Scoring Effort at Louisville
Raza Umerani
Staff Writer
March 5, 2024
MJ Collins hit three triples in Virginia Tech's 80-64 win over Louisville. (Virginia Tech Athletics)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Behind five double-digit scorers and a 49-point first half, Virginia Tech doubled its season road win total with an 80-64 win over Louisville on Tuesday evening in the KFC Yum! Center.
The win gave Tech (17-13, 9-10 Atlantic Coast) its second road victory and just its fourth win outside of Blacksburg on the season. Its only previous road triumph was a 84-78 win on Jan. 20 at NC State.
The Hokies shot a blistering 53.1% (17-for-32) from the field in the first half, including an even 8-for-16 effort from distance, to get out to an 18-point lead at the half and never looked back.
Sean Pedulla led the way with 15 for Tech, adding seven assists and five rebounds on 4-for-6 shooting while going 6-for-7 from the free throw line. MJ Collins and Tyler Nickel each poured in 13 points, while Lynn Kidd nearly notched a double-double with 11 points and nine boards.
“We've got a good shooting team,” Hokies head coach Mike Young said to reporters after the game. “We haven't shot it great during stretches. But Nickel can make a shot, MJ Collins made [a few]. Robbie Beran shot the ball better tonight than he shot it all year, and he [has] shot it pretty good here over the last two-thirds of the season.”
That he did.
The grad transfer from Northwestern set a new season-high with four triples on seven attempts from distance, notching 12 points with six rebounds, a trio of assists, a steal and the game’s lone block.
“I feel like my guys did a good job finding me,” Beran said. “It’s just making the easy play. And I was able to knock them down.”
Tech also played aggressively on the defensive end, which paid dividends in the first half. The Cardinals (8-22, 3-16) turned the ball over 10 times in the opening 20 minutes, leading to some facile points to help the Hokies pad their lead.
“We had an emphasis on always trying to be the aggressor,” Beran said. “[I] definitely think it helps us on both ends of the ball when we're able to get stops and we're able to push in transition before they're able to get set up. We were able to get easy ones.”
Meanwhile, Tech only turned the ball over eight times while recording 15 assists on 27 made field goals.
Collins continued to display increased confidence with his shooting, splashing home three triples on six attempts in addition to four assists, five rebounds and two steals.
“I think he's getting good looks,” Beran said of the sophomore guard. “And when he gets [in] a good rhythm, whether it be a pull up or just a catch and shoot three it looks good.
“When he's playing well and he's active on the defensive end, I feel like it kind of gets him going offensively. ... Shoot, when he's getting in a rhythm and he dances and he puts his defender to sleep, that's his money.”
With Tech’s defensive effort and consistent offense, the Cardinals seemingly never got it going. Their shooting clip of 45.5% (25-for-55) certainly wasn’t bad, but they trailed by double digits for nearly the whole contest, despite having several opportunities to cut it back to nine or less in the second half.
The tandem of star guards Tre White and Skyy Clark, who each averaged 13 points per game entering the contest, combined for just two points on 1-for-8 shooting, with White accounting for the only made basket while Clark was scoreless.
Big man Brandon Huntley-Hatfield registered a game-high 19 points on 8-for-13 shooting despite having to miss a few minutes due to injury, and guard Mike James had 16 for himself, but it was to no avail as the Hokies kept the Cardinals at arm’s length for seemingly the whole night.
The Hokies conclude their regular season in Blacksburg against Notre Dame (12-18, 7-12) on Saturday (2:30 p.m. ET, ESPNU) — a matchup with pivotal ACC Tournament implications. If Tech wins, it will clinch a first-round bye next week in Washington, D.C., avoiding having to potentially play five games in five days to win a championship. But, it won’t be easy; the Fighting Irish got the better of the Hokies, 74-66, on Feb. 10 in South Bend.
“[We don't want] to get too far ahead,” Beran said. “We still have Notre Dame coming in. We owe them for what happened at their place. So, we're very hungry to get that one. “
Beran’s head coach had a more direct answer as it pertains to his team’s seeding in next week’s conference tournament.
“That’d be good,” Young jokingly remarked to end his press conference.