Virginia Tech Basketball: Hokies suffer another ugly loss at Auburn

Looking to add an NCAA Tournament resume win Wednesday night against Auburn in the first ACC/SEC Challenge, the Virginia Tech men’s basketball team came up short.

The Hokies fell into an 18-4 hole in the first half and were never able to fully recover in a 74-57 loss to the Tigers on the road for their second straight loss after losing by 34 points to Florida Atlantic in the championship game of the ESPN Events Invitational Sunday afternoon.

Here are some observations after the Hokies dropped to 5-3 and closed November out with a disappointing loss.

Observations from Auburn’s win over Virginia Tech

• You could tell from the beginning that this was the Hokies’ first true road game of the season. Some of the players were not ready for the environment they walked into and it showed, especially early in the game.
• Hunter Cattoor was the only Hokie in double-figures and led Virginia Tech with 16 points, but did it on 4-for-11 shooting. He was 1-for-6 on 3-pointers and as has been the case this season, he missed a lot of shots early on which didn’t allow him to get into a rhythm.
• Sean Pedulla had as bad of a game as he’s ever had. He missed all nine of his field goals, finished with four points on free throws, and turned the ball over seven times. How bad was it? He had just one assist in the game.
• John Camden was big off the bench for the Hokies, scoring nine points and grabbing six rebounds in 15 minutes.
• Freshman Jaydon Young had nine points off the bench and was 3-for-4 on 3-pointers. It was a good game for him in his first true road game.
• Auburn took Lynn Kidd out of the game, limiting him to six field goal attempts, six points, and seven rebounds.
• M.J. Collins missed the game with an injury and his absence was felt on the defensive end.
• Virginia Tech didn’t help themselves with 21 turnovers and it seemed like every time they turned it over, the Tigers took full advantage.
• Auburn’s length caused problems for the Hokies on the offensive end, getting in the passing lanes and disrupting things.
• Virginia Tech returns home to Cassell Coliseum Sunday afternoon to open ACC play against Lousiville at 4 o’clock.

Hopefully, Collins can return to the lineup against the Cardinals and the Hokies take advantage of the friendly confines of Cassell Coliseum to get back into the win column after going 2-2 in their four games away from Blacksburg.