Late Pitt Run Downs Virginia Tech in Third ACC Loss

Jackson Didlake

February 3, 2021

PITTSBURGH, Pa. — As an Au’Diese Toney three swished through the net, Pitt went up 13 with 5:13 remaining against No. 16 Virginia Tech. The Panthers’ guard’s triple came deep in a 13-0 run that knocked the Hokies down 15 points before suffering their third ACC loss of the year.

“They played better than we did,” Virginia Tech head coach Mike Young said. “I credit coach [Jeff] Capel and the Panthers. They got the best of us tonight. … Pittsburgh was the more physical team.”

The Panthers (9-5, 5-4 ACC) went on to secure an 83-72 victory at home after leading for a tad over 26 minutes. The Hokies (13-4, 7-3) struggled to contain Xavier Johnson all game long. He finished with a career-high 32 points and added seven assists and five rebounds while going 11 of 17 from the field.

“We had no answer for Johnson,” Young said. “We’ve been good defensively recently. We were not that tonight.”

Johnson was one of four Panthers that cracked double digits on the stat sheet. Much like Johnson, Ithiel Horton dominated off the bench, finishing with 15 points. Toney recorded 14 points and six rebounds. Additionally, the ACC’s leading scorer and rebounder Justin Champagnie added 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.

Coming into Wednesday’s matchup, the expectations rode high for Keve Aluma. The Hokies’ forward had put up a then-career high 29 points in a 65-51 win against Virginia over the weekend.

For the second straight game, Aluma topped his career high scoring total, adding a new career-high 30 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for the Hokies. Justyn Mutts recorded 17 points and six rebounds, while Hunter Cattoor had 12 points before fouling out late.

What looked to be good for the Hokies early, Jalen Cone had nine points. Cone has been on a cold spell as of late, scoring just 12 points in his last four games. His nine-point effort is the most he’s scored since Jan. 12 in a win against Duke.

Cone was hot early but didn’t make much of an impact in the second half, contributing to the loss.

Pitt had a good day shooting, going 50% from the field and 39.1% from three. Virginia Tech shot a below average 41% and went 30% from behind the arc.

Points off the bench were the tale of the game. The Panthers’ bench outdid the Hokies big time, 45-12.

“Defensively, we just didn’t get it done,” Mutts said. “We hang our hat on being the aggressor. That wasn’t us today.”

The first half was a back-and-forth affair that ultimately ended in a 31-point deadlock. The Hokies raced out to a 14-6 run to start the second half and looked to be in good position before the Panthers put a 16-4 run together which was then followed by a 13-0 run to put the Hokies squabbling chances away. Virginia Tech tried to make a late push, but it was too little too late.

No. 16 Virginia Tech will return to action on Saturday on the road against Miami. After, Virginia Tech will have a week off due to the postponement of its matchup at home versus Florida State that was previously scheduled for Tuesday.