Virginia Tech Unstoppable In 86-49 Victory Over St. Bonaventure

By Carter Hill

Staff Writer

December 17, 2021

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Virginia Tech and head coach Mike Young were in desperate need of a NCAA Tournament resume-building victory.

After dropping four of its previous six, and grossly underperforming to the team’s preseason expectations coming into the 2021-22 campaign, fans didn’t know what to expect from the Hokies (8-4, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) when they took the floor against a high quality St. Bonaventure squad.

Tech lacked solid point guard play, possessed sloppy ball handling, couldn’t get off to a fast start, and failed to create its own shots for nearly two weeks leading up to yesterday’s contest.

The losses had continued to pile up. Memphis, then Xavier, then Wake Forest in ACC play, and then finally, Dayton. When was a big non-conference victory going to come to fruition? Especially with a trip to Duke and North Carolina looming on the horizon.

It seemed as if Tech was far-fetched from replicating a performance Young’s squad had formulated in similar situations in year’s past. But on an unseasonably warm Friday afternoon in Uptown Charlotte, the Hokies put together one of the most convincing victories the maroon and orange have had in years, routing the Bonnies (8-3), 86-49, in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Shootout inside the Spectrum Center.

Another interesting stat coming into this one, Tech had trailed by double-digits in all four of its previous losses at some point in the first 20 minutes of play. A de facto killer with the quality of the opponent the Hokies were matching up with.

That certainly wasn’t the case on Friday though.

Almost immediately, on the team’s second possession, Hunter Cattoor opened the scoring, splashing a three. Two possessions later, the Orlando, FL native again, money from downtown. Two misses from the Bonnies followed suit, and on Tech’s next possession, Keve Aluma spun around a defender to lay a ball in from under the basket.

A few seconds later, Cattoor drew a charge on St. Bon’s Jalen Adaway, leading to a Storm Murphy make from mid-range. And one possession later, Nahiem Alleyne drilled a wide open three pointer.

St. Bonaventure head coach Mark Schmidt looked at the videoboard hovering over midcourt, saw his team was trailing 13-0 less than five minutes in, and had seen enough. He called a timeout to put the Tech’s run to rest, but not even the short pause in action could stop the run-away Hokies that were oozing with confidence after the first media timeout.

The first five minutes certainly set the tone all afternoon for Virginia Tech. The leads were at one point, 25-7, 28-9, 32-12, and 42-20 before the halftime horn mercifully sounded for the Bonnies.

It was by far the sharpest first half the Hokies had advertised all season long, with it especially impressive coming against the preseason favorite to win the Atlantic 10.

And did you think that it slowed down in the second half?

It certainly didn’t.

Tech had once again outscored St. Bonaventure by double-digits in the second period of play, showing no mercy, and continuing to wear down, frustrate, and embarrass the preseason No. 23 team in the country.

Dominating in every possible facet, that’s the perfect way to describe Virginia Tech’s Friday afternoon in the Queen City.

The lead got all the way up to 43 at one point, and it didn’t get much closer with the final margin of victory coming in at a whopping 37.

Hunter Cattoor and Storm Murphy were phenomenal all 40 minutes, adding a career-high 21 points, and 18 points, respectively.

Even though Cattoor took home the game’s most valuable player award, Murphy may have been even more impressive.

Much more facilitating, and much more relaxed, the Wofford graduate transfer finally proved he can make the jump in competition from the Southern Conference. He didn’t force shots, he didn’t sloppily turn the ball over, and he knocked down open looks all over the floor.

A welcome sight for Hokie fans.

Keve Aluma added 12 points of his own, while Nahiem Alleyne, Darius Maddox, Sean Pedulla, and John Ojiako all contributed nine, eight, and both five points, respectively.

Both Pedulla and Ojiako particularly played a nice ballgame for Virginia Tech, continuing to show signs of growth and development as the season goes along.

Both down low, and at the top of the key.

Overall, Tech shot 55% from the field, and 46% from three. But a defensive lockdown just equally, if not more, steered the course to the thumping of a potential NCAA Tournament team.

This certainly has to feel good for the maroon and orange, but it most definitely won’t get any easier for the rest of the calendar year.

In fact, its most difficult challenge possibly awaits.

The “Cameron Crazies” will be waiting for the Hokies inside Cameron Indoor Stadium, as Virginia Tech pays a visit to Duke, and head coach Mike Krzyzewski for one final time before the legendary head coach officially calls it a career.

Tip-off is set for Wednesday, December 22 at 9 p.m., and will be televised on ESPN2.