Virginia Tech Pulls Away From Delaware State For 83-60 Season-Opening Victory

Raza Umerani

Editor-in-Chief

November 4, 2024

BLACKSBURG — Virginia Tech started hot and finished strong to open the 2024-25 campaign with an 83-60 win over Delaware State on Monday night inside Cassell Coliseum.

It wasn’t pretty at times — which was to be expected for a nearly entirely new team — but the Hokies (1-0) played well enough in certain stretches to assert themselves over the Hornets (0-1), who were overmatched by the time the final buzzer sounded.

“There comes a time where you’ve got to get out of the locker room,” Tech head coach Mike Young said after the game. “You’ve got to go play. And I knew it was going to be a little choppy. I knew it was going to be like, scratch your head on some stuff, and I did. But we got through it.”

The Hokies got out to a 24-8 lead to start the game and closed out the contest by outscoring DSU 34-17 in the final 14 minutes after their lead was cut to just six. Tech utilized hot shooting and good defense to bookend the game, particularly down the stretch; the Hornets shot just 5-for-19 and committed 10 turnovers in the second half while being outrebounded 27-to-19.

“I think that we just came out with a ton of energy,” Tech forward Mylyjael Poteat said. “We were locked in. Obviously, we do a lot of scouting, so we were just super duper hyped up. And we were just completely laser-focused.”

Hokies forward Tobi Lawal stuffed the statsheet in his first game with the program, recording 23 points, eight rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals — leading the team in each figure but the dimes. The VCU transfer shot the ball efficiently, too, going 6-for-9 from the field including a pair of threes while going 9-for-11 from the free throw line.

But, Lawal also committed a game-high five turnovers — an area where the Hokies struggled as a whole. They committed 16 turnovers, nine of which came in the second half, with four players committing multiple errors. Some of them were head-scratchers, either a product of poor offensive sets and ball movement or a sheer evident lack of experience on the floor. 

“I hold myself to a very high standard,” Lawal said. “I don't think it was good enough, especially in certain areas, like the turnovers. A lot of silly mistakes on defense, and the fouls, I can't really do that. No offense to Delaware State, they played a great game. But that's not the ACC. We have to try and get better and build on that.”

Despite the moments of futility, the London, England native was the brightest spot for a brand new Hokies rotation, flexing his incredible athleticism throughout the game, including a high-flying rejection off the glass and an emphatic tomahawk slam late in the game.

“I made a lot of stupid mistakes,” Lawal said. “So when you see the energy coming out in those dunks, that's kind of where it [comes from]. And at the same time, I like bringing energy. I like giving my teammates energy, you know. I want to get the crowd involved, get everyone involved, because that kind of settles everyone down.”

Tech shot it at a decent clip, going 26-for-55 from the floor, but went cold at times. It hit just two of its 11 three point attempts in the second half, where it started 2-for-11 from the field. But, it found its aforementioned hot hand down the stretch, finishing the game at an 11-for-17 clip. It also recorded 20 assists on those 26 made baskets.

A handful of newcomers and familiar faces alike poured in key contributions along the way. Poteat finished with 14 points and a career-high five assists to go along with five boards and two blocks. Fellow returner Jaydon Young started hot with a pair of threes and racked up 13 points, four assists and three rebounds. Freshman guard Tyler Johnson notched eight points and six rebounds, while Duke transfer Jaden Schutt hit a game-high three triples en route to a nine-point night.

“The more plays they see, the better they're going to get, the more progress they're going to make in a short period of time,” Young said.

Outside of guard Martaz Robinson — who exploded for 30 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including 16-of-17 free throw shooting — the Hokies put together a solid defensive performance. Delaware State shot just 17-for-49 on the night, hitting just a trio of three balls while commiting 16 turnovers. To contrast the Hokies’ seemingly solid ball movement, the Hornets recorded just eight assists on their 17 made field goals.

The Hokies certainly didn’t have all of their questions answered on Monday night. The Rubiks cube of a rotation still needs to be solved, the turnovers need to be ironed out and a true offensive identity still needs to be discovered. Despite a dominant final score margin, they had their moments of shakiness that will need to be stabilized by the time ACC play rolls around.

But that time is over a month away. Young and company have plenty of time to fix those kinks and figure out all of the rapidly moving parts. The next opportunity comes on Friday as Tech returns to the home hardwood on Nov. 8 against USC Upstate for a 7 p.m. ET tip on the ACC Network Extra. 

“I don't know where I've got a trip to to get this team to where we've got to be, but we're going to get there,” Young said. “They're great people. They are wide-eyed, and they've got big ears. They listen. They want to get better and we'll do that.”