Virginia Tech Basketball: Sean Pedulla powers Hokies past Iowa State

For much of the second half against Iowa State in the semifinals of the ESPN Events Invitational at State Farm Arena in Orlando, the Virginia Tech men’s basketball team bent, but never broke. How were they able to do that? They rode the back of their junior point guard Sean Pedulla, that’s how.

For the second straight night, Pedulla made some clutch shots and played solid defense as the Hokies saw a 11-point second-half lead cut to four before they were able to hold off the Cyclones to advance to Sunday afternoon’s championship game.

With the nine-point win, Virginia Tech will play Florida Atlantic, a 96-89 winner over Texas A&M in the other semifinal Friday, at 1 p.m. Sunday on ESPN. The Hokies improved to 5-1 with wins over Boise State and Iowa State in less than 24 hours in Florida, they have two big wins early in the season that could become very big wins in March.

10 observations from Virginia Tech beating Iowa State

• What a clutch gene Pedulla has. He had 17 points (5 3-pointers), six assists, and four rebounds, but with Hunter Cattoor struggling in the second half to get off a shot and fouling out with 1:40 left, Pedulla picked up the slack and then some. He hit two late 3-pointers, one with the shot clock expiring to keep the Cyclones from rallying. It was the second straight night he took over in the second half.

• Cattoor tallied a team-high 18 points and hit all three of his 3-pointers in the opening half when he was feeling it. He was frustrated in the second half offensively and defensively, Iowa State attacked him which fouled him out.
• Lynn Kidd had 13 points and was once again tough around the basket. He only grabbed four rebounds and was a perfect 3-for-3 from the free-throw line.

• Stop me if you’ve heard this before, Tyler Nickel was huge off the bench. That’s been an early-season positive theme for the Hokies. He had 10 points and all three of his field goals were 3-pointers.
• Virginia Tech struggled with Iowa State’s defense in the second half. They were not reacting to the Cyclones doubling the ball, they got caught in the corner too many times and were forcing things which led to turnovers, and bad shot selections. In the end, it didn’t cost them, but it very well could have.
• On the other end, when they needed to get a stop in the second half, the Hokies did. They allowed nine offensive rebounds which kept the Cyclones in the game, but with the struggles Tech had last season defensively, Mike Young has to be happy to hold Iowa State to 62 points.
• Iowa State freshman Milan Momcilovic scored a game-high 21 points and put them on his back offensively, however, foul trouble forced him to the bench in the second half and limited his time on the court.
• What was the difference? The free throw line. Virginia Tech was 20-for-23 from the stripe, while Iowa State was just 15-for-26.
• The Hokies were 8-for-18 on 3-pointers in the first half, but just 3-for-10 in the second half. They finished 20-49 from the floor, while the Cyclones were 21-for-50 from the floor and 5-for-21 on 3-pointers.
• Virginia Tech turned the ball over 15 times and that had to do with Iowa State and their trapping and the Hokies not looking to pass smartly out of it. The Cyclones turned it over 12 times.

Two impressive wins so far for the Hokies in 24 hours and now they can really add an NCAA Tournament resume-building victory Sunday against Florida Atlantic. What an opportunity in front of them against No. 19 FAU.