Gut Reactions: Virginia Tech Men's Basketball Drops Second Straight to South Carolina

Wednesday night in Fort Myers, the Virginia Tech men's basketball team wrapped up the Fort Myers Tip-Off in the consolation game against South Carolina. After dropping the campus edition of the tournament last Wednesday night at home with a 74-64 loss to Jacksonville, the Hokies went down to Florida and lost to Michigan on Monday night, before being beaten by the Gamecocks. It's the second straight loss to South Carolina after they lost by two in Charlotte last November.

Virginia Tech was in foul trouble most of the night and was led by Jaydon Young who scored a team-high 12 points. Jaden Schutt had 11, Tobi Lawal had 10 points and six rebounds, and Brandon Rechsteiner had 10 points and four assists.

The loss drops the Hokies to 3-4 and now they get a week off before returning to Cassell Coliseum on Dec. 4 to host Vanderbilt in the ACC/SEC Challenge. That night, former Hokies' Tyler Nickel, who is off a a strong start with the Commodores, and MJ Collins make their return to Blacksburg. Before we get there, let's break down the loss to South Carolina.

Gut reactions: Hokies lose to South Carolina in Fort Myers

• Another game, another rough night from the field for Mike Young's team. That's going to be a common theme I'm afraid in 2024-25.
• South Carolina only made four 3-pointers against Xavier Monday night, so of course, they hit six in the first against Virginia Tech.
• Virginia Tech struggled with South Carolina's defense, which had the shot clock run down all night long.
• Every time the Hokies made a run, it felt like the Gamecocks hit a 3-pointer.
• Virginia Tech turned up the defense late in the game down six, but couldn't buy a basket down the other end. Who knows what would have happened if a few of the shots had gone down?
• Jaydon Young continues to play well off the bench, getting to the basket and finishing while knocking down some 3-pointers.
• Down seven with 1:06 left and off a missed Gamecocks free throw, the Hokies can't allow an offensive rebound. Would it have made a difference? Probably not, but bad habits can begin with something like that.
• With Vanderbilt and Pittsburgh in the next two games, the Hokies could be looking at a six-game losing streak. Not good.