Going out West, the Virginia Tech men's basketball team took their first ACC trip to Stanford and California. The trip started with a loss at Stanford and the Hokies and Mike Young were looking to enjoy their flight back to Blacksburg by gaining a split at Cal.
Things started out well for Virginia Tech who played about as perfect of a first-half as they could and took a 44-23 lead into halftime. However, if you have followed the Hokies this year, you know nothing comes easy. Cal ripped off a 29-7 second-half run to come back and tie the game at 58-58, but the Hokies responded with a 9-0 win and got a 67-58 lead before holding off a late Golden Bears rally for a three-point victory.
With the win, Virginia Tech improves to 7-9 overall and 2-3 in the ACC, while Cal fell to 8-8 and 1-4 in the ACC. Here are two truths and a lie following a huge Hokies win.
Truth: Tobi Lawal did a lot of the little things to win
Let's be clear, VCU transfer Tobi Lawal is a matchup problem for most teams. Just on his athleticism alone. However, he does most of his damage around the basket, but when the Hokies needed him to make a shot, boy did he ever.
CLUTCH TOBI 😮💨
— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) January 12, 2025
📺 ACCN pic.twitter.com/sFuPg0SBF7
After Cal tied the game at 58-58, Lawal kicked-started a 9-0 Virginia Tech run with a 3-pointer and then a key rebound to finally get a stop on the Golden Bears. Of course, the Hokies can't make things easy as Cal responded to close the game to 67-64 before Mylyjael Poteat scored on the inside and the Hokies survived a 3-pointer that rimmed out at the buzzer. Lawal has been a nice addition this year.
Truth: Virginia Tech has played much better out of the holiday break
Since they came back from the holiday break at Duke, the Hokies have been playing some good basketball. One look at the score against the Blue Devils might say otherwise, but they hung in with the best team in the ACC on the road. They battled Miami until the end to squeak out a win. Yes, Stanford was very winnable, but they hung in there instead of folding against Cal to win. A month ago, they lose that game after the Golden Bears' comeback.
The problem is not Mike Young. The guy can flat-out coach and if gets them to the ACC Tournament this season, it might be one of his better coaching jobs. A roster gutted by the transfer portal last season and missing his talented freshman point guard Ben Hammond, the Hokies won this game with Brandon Rechsteiner scoring 12 points as the starting point guard and Cal transfer Rodney Brown finishing with six points and five assists while also running the point.
Lie: Virginia Tech can have an easy ACC win
The first-half numbers were eye-popping, to say the least. The Hokies led by 21 points with everyone who played scoring, except for Jaden Schutt. Cal shot 5-for-31 from the field, which was just 16% and they were 3-for-14 from behind the arc. If it wasn't for the free-throw line, it would have been a bigger lead. You knew things weren't going to be easy in the second half, but you never thought they would blow a 22-point lead. Guess again.
Whether it was allowing offensive rebounds, allowing Cal to get downhill with ease or an offense where the ball stopped moving and nobody looked to shoot, Virginia Tech had to make things much more difficult for themselves than they should have. It's another learning moment, I guess.
Jaydon Young finished with a team-high 14 points for the Hokies, with Poteat and Rechsteiner each scoring 12, while Tyler Johnson had 11. Virginia Tech returns to Cassell Coliseum Wednesday night to host North Carolina State.