Wednesday night, the unthinkable happened to the Virginia Tech men's basketball team, they lost a "bye game.'' Hosting Jacksonville in the campus edition of the Fort Myers Tip-Off, the Hokies built a 39-29 halftime lead and looked to be in control of the Dolphins.
The final 20 minutes was a nightmare for Mike Young and his team as Jacksonville, which picked up its first win over a Power 4 conference team since 2010, outscored Virginia Tech, 45-25, and ran away with a 74-64 victory to drop the Hokies to 3-2. It was an embarrassing second-half performance for a team that has a ton of new players from last season's team after a huge transfer portal exit.
This loss was one that while it's surprising, it shouldn't be. Honestly, we knew that the Hokies were going to be in for a long 2024-25 season, but this type of loss this early is not a great sign for the future. After the loss, Young pointed the finger of blame and it's not surprising where he pointed it.
Mike Young points the blame for loss to Jacksonville
After the loss, a frustrated Young met with the media and pointed the blame for the loss.
"I’d like to tell you that it’s really good in practice; it hasn’t been. We don’t play with the best basketball IQ and that’s on me. I’ve got to teach it better, I’ve got to drill it better."Mike Young
Jacksonville came out in the second half, and pressured the Hokies and it led to turnovers, bad shots, bad offense, and a ton of frustration. The Dolphins got a stop to begin the second half, had a three-point play down the other end, then forced a turnover on the inbounds pass and stuck a 3-pointer. The momentum was all with the visitors and they ran with to a huge road win.
Things are not going to get easier for Virginia Tech with Michigan Monday night, followed by either South Carolina or Xavier, then Vanderbilt visits Blacksburg before ACC play opens against Pittsburgh. There is a lot to clean up in a very short amount of time.