Jacksonville Stuns Virginia Tech With Double-Digit Comeback Victory

Bradley Winterling

Staff Writer

November 20, 2024

BLACKSBURG — Virginia Tech wasn’t expected to dominate this season, but few could have anticipated this.

Jacksonville shocked the Hokies (3-2) on Wednesday night, claiming their first victory over a power conference team since 2010 with a 74-64 upset.

“Tough night for the home team,” Tech head coach Mike Young said after the game. “I applaud Coach [Jordan] Mincy and his team. Those guys came in here with a good plan, they fought, and [the] better team won the game, unfortunately for the Hokies.”

Tech appeared in control early, leading the Dolphins (3-2) 39-29 at halftime. The Hokies had the edge in rebounds, turnovers and field goal percentage during the first half.

Mylyjael Poteat contributed with 11 points and six rebounds at halftime, while forward Tobi Lawal added 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting.

The Dolphins simply came out firing on all cylinders in the second half, opening up with an 8-0 run just 1:54 into the period. 

Jacksonville shot a blistering 62% (18-of-29) in the second half, while Tech struggled, going just 36% (9-of-25).

“One of the things that we try to do is just have ball movement,” Mincy said. “You know, we felt like we got really stagnant in a couple of our games. That's been our biggest issue, as far as just holding onto the ball–one guy trying to make a play. 

“And what we were trying to tell the guys throughout the course of the last week or so is, ‘hey, use your teammates to score, use your strengths.’”

The Dolphins pulled away even more in the second half and wound up outscoring Tech by 20 points in the period, which marks the second consecutive game in which the Hokies have been overwhelmed after the break — Penn State outscored Tech by 14 in the second half last Friday in an 86-64 win.

“I just feel like we were a bit lethargic,” Lawal said. “We weren’t moving as much as before. We just [took] longer to get into our action, so that really messed us up. … The main thing is we weren’t on the same page for long enough. You have to be on the same page for 40 minutes.”

“I'd like to tell you that it's really good in practice; it hasn't been,” Young said. “We don't play with the best basketball IQ and that's on me. I've got to teach it better. I've got to drill it better.”

Forward Zimi Nwokeji led the Dolphins with 19 points and nine rebounds, while guard Robert McCray chipped in his own 17 points and eight assists. 

Jacksonville’s dominance in the paint with 44 points helped compensate for their struggles from beyond the arc, where they shot just 28%.

“Looking at those shooting woes, that's pretty bad,” Mincy said. “But our bigs did a great job, 

you know, playing off the short roll, understanding space.

“We know we're not gonna always be able to shoot the ball extremely well like we did last game. And so we try to say, ‘hey, how effective can we be from inside the paint?’ And so we practice that daily.”

Despite the disappointing loss, the only thing Tech can do is continue to move forward. The Hokies travel down to Fort Myers, Fla. to take on Michigan in the Fort Myers Tip-Off at Suncoast Credit Union Arena on Monday at 6 p.m. ET on FS1. 

“We take tomorrow off, which is mandatory,” Young said. “We got three days of practice and prepare for [the] Michigan Wolverines. [We] haven't played well at all here in these last two, and the road gets more difficult as we go along. Improvements to be made, certainly, and they understand that, as well as our coaching staff.”

“I'm not gonna worry about anything,” Lawal said. “Like one, we still have a long season. Two, we just gotta get them connected, but that's gonna happen as you continue to play. So I'm not worried about anything.”