Three days after coming off their best win of the 2025-26 season, and most important victory in terms of their NCAA Tournament résumé, the Virginia Tech men's basketball team suffered its worst defeat in some time. For all the good they did with a 10-point road win at No. 20 Clemson on Wednesday night, they ruined it with a blowout loss at home to Florida State on Saturday afternoon.
Playing their best basketball of the season and winners of four out of their last six games, FSU came into Blacksburg and punched Virginia Tech in the face over the last 20 minutes with no response from the Hokies. Literally no response whatsoever.
Trailing 42-39 at halftime, Florida State outscored the Hokies 53-27 in the second half enroute to a 92-69 victory. It was a performance that really needed to be seen to be believed. Everything the Seminoles did at both ends of the floor worked. Heck, they shot 78% from the field in the second half. Even some of their first-half shots were wide open. After the game, Hokies' head coach Mike Young had a rather interesting take.
Mike Young has bizarre quote after Virginia Tech's blowout loss to FSU
Listen, I like Mike Young, I really do. He's doing the best he can with limited resources compared to other ACC programs. He would defend his kids until he was blue in the face. His kids love playing for him. However, there was one quote he had that missed the boat after the game.
“We knew that they were talented,'' said Young. "We didn’t see anything tonight that we hadn’t seen in games prior. But it wasn’t a mental lapse on our part at all. This group has been great in that regard. It started rolling downhill, and we couldn’t put a stop to it.”
Look, Florida State is a better team than its record says it is. What they did in the second half was impressive. But to say that there wasn't a mental lapse on Virginia Tech's part is just not a good look for Young. It clearly was a mental lapse, and you know what, it is OK to say that and call them out. He didn't. Instead, he defended his kids rather than calling it like it was.
Maybe they needed to hear that it was a mental lapse. Guess what, it wasn't the first time it's happened this year. Remember Stanford? Remember SMU? Remember almost blowing a late-game lead to Georgia Tech? You get the point. There have been plenty of mental lapses this year. This loss likely popped the Hokies' bubble and will put them in the NIT, but Young missed the boat with a chance to call it like it was, a huge mental lapse in the second half.