After losing two straight games to close out the Battle 4 Atlantis to Saint Mary's and VCU, the Virginia Tech men's basketball team was hoping to pick up their first win in the ACC/SEC Challenge at South Carolina after losing to Auburn and Vanderbilt the last two seasons.
The Hokies were missing senior Tobi Lawal for a third straight game with a left foot injury. That left head coach Mike Young with a smaller bench and without a key player. After leading for most of the game, Virginia Tech was outscored 18-12 down the stretch by the Gamecocks, who rallied to force overtime, but the Hokies outscored them 16-13 in the extra session for the win to improve to 7-2. Here are some observations from the game.
Virginia Tech observations from overtime win at South Carolina
- This was a game that Virginia Tech needed to win if it had any visions of playing in the NCAA Tournament. South Carolina is better than last year, but not great. It's a road win over an SEC school, but the environment was not one that was difficult to play in. This was needed.
- Virginia Tech had Neoklis Avdalas and Tyler Johnson foul out, and they were still able to pull out the win. That's a gut-check victory.
- What a game from Ben Hammond. He finished with 16 points and four assists, which included the game-winning layup with 13 seconds left in overtime. He even knocked down a couple of key 3-pointers. He was huhe in Avdalas' absence.
- Amani Hansberry had 22 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Hokies in Lawal's absence. Antonio Dorn and Christian Gurdak had some key baskets in the game as well.
- If Virginia Tech is going to make life easier for itself, it is going to have to put teams away in the second half. They got the Gamecocks to hang around and almost paid for it.
- There were several NBA scouts at the game watching Avdalas, and he didn't disappoint. He finished with 13 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists before fouling out.
- Virginia Tech's defense was a little bit better than it was in the Bahamas, but maybe they still allow some easy baskets. South Carolina settled for a lot of 3-pointers, which helped the cause when they were cold.
The Hokies return to Cassell Coliseum on Saturday afternoon when they host George Mason in a big non-conference game. A win over the Patriots would be big for the NCAA Tournament résumé.