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Virginia Tech Hokies Beat Morgan State Bears 83-63

By Tim Thomas

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Nov 30, 2014; Blacksburg, VA, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies head coach Buzz Williams applauds his team during the game against the Morgan State Bears at Cassell Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Michael Shroyer-USA TODAY Sports

The Virginia Tech Hokies entered today’s game with the Morgan State Bears expecting to win especially due to the fact that Morgan State was 1-5 entering this game. One small concern was that the Hokies might overlook this game with their ACC-Big 10 Challenge game on Wednesday at Penn State.

However, that wasn’t the case.

Virginia Tech cruised to a blowout victory over Morgan State by a final score of 83-63. This is arguably the best game that Virginia Tech has played all year on both ends and was defintiely their best offensive performance.

Devin Wilson had a double-double in this game with 10 points and 11 assists along with having 7 rebounds, 3 away from a triple-double. Wilson was able to make some strong cuts and made quality passes to open shooters on the outside and inside in the first half in which he had 10 of his 11 assists and would have likely broken the Hokies’ single-game assist record if he would’ve played more in the second half. On top of that, Wilson did end the first half in a very exciting way.

Adam Smith had another very strong game with 22 points including 6 three-pointers, three of which came in back-to-back-to-back possessions. Smith was one three-pointer away from being tied for the single-game three-point shot record. Smith is emerging as the focal point on the outside of the Virginia Tech offense with the junior playing quite well to start the season.

Joey Van Zegeren also had a very strong game with 13 points, 8 rebounds, and a career high 6 blocks in 22 minutes. Van Zegeren was a dominant force in the post throughout this game and it seems like Buzz Williams is likely limiting his minutes early in the season to save him for big ACC games while also giving playing time to less experienced players like Shane Henry and Satchel Pierce.

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Will Johnston did some damage in this game on the offensive end with 8 points while Ahmed Hill had a career high 12 points in this game. Justin Bibbs tied his lowest scoring output of the season with 8 points while Shane Henry did a lot of damage around the rim with 2 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 blocks in only 11 minutes.

Overall, the Hokies were making plenty of three-pointers with Virginia Tech making 12 of 18 from beyond the arc while shooting 56% from the field. One issue for the Hokies was once again on the boards as Morgan State had 19 offensive rebounds compared to 8 for Virginia Tech. This is something that the Hokies need to improve before the competition gets a lot tougher.

Overall, the Hokies had a great game today and have a lot of momentum heading into their matchup with Penn State.