Instant Reaction From Virginia Tech Men's Basketball Loss to Michigan

Five days after suffering an embarrassing loss at home to Jacksonville in the campus edition of the 2024 Fort Myers Tip-Off, the Virginian Tech men's basketball team was in Florida for the semifinals against Michigan. As has been the case through the first five games of the season for Mike Young's team, turnovers, missed free throws, and multiple scoring droughts all added up to a loss to the Wolverines. It's their second loss to a Big Ten after losing to Penn State 10 days ago.

Virginia Tech hung around in the first half and built an 11-point lead after Michigan went through a scoring drought of their own. The Hokies ripped off a 10-0 run for a 12-5 lead, then a 9-5 run saw them lead 21-10. After that, missed free throws, turnovers and the Wolverines getting hot from the field added up to a 34-33 Michigan halftime lead.

In the second half, the Wolverines turned up the defensive pressure and slowly built a lead that ballooned at 63-53 while the Hokies continued to miss 3-pointers and have unforced turnovers. Michigan outscored Virginia Tech, 41-30, in the second half to pull away for the victory.

You could tell that Virginia Tech came out with a sense of urgency against Michigan after the loss to Jacksonville, but they were unable to sustain it throughout the game and they will look to rebound Wednesday night in the consolation against the loser of the second game between South Carolina and Butler at 6 o'clock.

Tobi Lawal led the Hokies with 14 points, including 9-for-10 from the free throw line and Jaydon Young had 12 points. Mylyjael Poteat had eight points and seven rebounds, but one of the big deciding factors in the game was the Wolverines hit 10 3-pointers and Virignia Tech only connected on four of 17 attempts. A lot of the shots were flat and there were times where open looks were passed up. You don't usually see that with a Mike Young-coached team.