3 observations after Virginia Tech men's basketball survives a scare from Charlotte

Going into Sunday afternoon's non-conference game at home against Charlotte, the Hokies were an 18.5 favorite. It ended up being anything but a bye game.

Early in the second half, Virginia Tech was up by 16 points before Charlotte made a huge comeback to cut the deficit to 60-59, but they were able to pick up stops defensively down the stretch and pull away for an eight-point win over the 49ers to improve to 4-0. Here are three observations from the victory at Cassell Coliseum.

Jailen Bedford had an afternoon

UNLV transfer Jalien Bedford had a big game for the Hokies, and it was needed. He came out on fire knocking down some early 3-pointers, and had another one early in the second half. He finished with 21 points on 7-for-12 shooting, 4-for-8 from behind the arc.

Mike Young has several shooters this season, but if Bedford can be a consistent shooter, that makes the offense tougher to defend. His defense was good, also, while he was also able to put the ball on the floor and finish at the basket.

Virginia Tech allowed too many offensive rebounds

One thing that the Hokies struggled with was grabbing defensive rebounds. Charlotte had 17 offensive rebounds. It kept the 49ers in the game, and along with their 3-point shooting in the second half, it made things very uncomfortable for Virginia Tech.

Seven-foot-2 center Anton Bonke was a problem inside for the Hokies with 15 points and 10 rebounds. He caused problems at both ends of the floor and altered a lot of shots in the second half. It didn't cost them on Sunday, but Tech needs to be better on the boards defensively against tougher competition coming up.

Neoklis Avdalas battled through a tough afternoon

Freshman Neoklis Avdalas was getting all the headlines and hype through the first three games, but Charlotte made things difficult for him. The 49ers trapped him and doubled him when he came over mid-court, and didn't make him feel comfortable.

He was just 2-for-7 from the field, but late in the game, he hit some free throws to seal the win by going a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. He had one rebound, two assists, and did not turn the ball over despite the pressure. He was bound to have one of those games as teams begin to figure out how to defend him.

Virginia Tech will host Bryant in another non-conference game on Wednesday night before a week off before heading to the Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis, opening with Colorado State the night before Thanksgiving.