Observations from Virginia Tech men's basketball rock fight win over Winthrop

Two teams that put up big offensive numbers in their first two games of the 2024-25 men's college basketball met at Cassell Coliseum in a non-conference game. Winthrop and Virginia Tech certainly didn't look like they did in their first two games.

To say it was a rock fight on both offensive ends of the floor would be an understatement. Both coaches I'm sure would say it was good defense, however, both teams threw up enough bricks to build multiple houses. In the end,

Top observations from Virginia Tech men's basketball win vs. Winthrop

• It took a couple of games, but Duke transfer Jaden Schutt finally shot the ball the way that Hokies fans were hoping he would. He finished with a team-high 17 points and the Hokies needed every one of them.
• The first half was a brick fest. Virginia Tech shot 8-for-32 from the floor and 2-for-16 from behind the arc. Winthrop wasn't much better, going 10-for-27 from the field and 4-for-17 from behind the arc. The score at the break? Winthrop 25, Virginia Tech 23.
• Freshman Ben Hammond continues to impress each time he takes the floor. He was active on the defensive end and drilled a wide-open 3-pointer in the second half. With five minutes left, he drove the lane and found Jaydon Young in the corner and he drilled a 3-pointer for an eight-point lead to cap a quick 8-0 Hokies' run. Hammond sees the floor very well and is going to be a good one in Blacksburg.
• It was a tough first half for Mylyjael Poteat who was 0-for-5 from the floor and things didn't get better in the second half as he was in foul trouble. He finished with five points and three rebounds.
• VCU transfer Toibu Lawal continues to impress with his athleticism. In the second half, he gave a nice up-fake and drove the baseline for a monster dunk. He finished the game with a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. He also had a big block defensively at the rim in the second half.
• Jaydon Young knocked down some big 3-pointers in the second half to help Virginia Tech get some separation, but he had a great entry pass off an out-of-bounds set to Poteat a dunk.
• For those of you keeping score at home, Virginia Tech now has a 15-game winning streak against Big South opponents.

Virginia Tech returns to the court Friday night in Baltimore against Penn State at 7:30 p.m. in the Hall of Fame Series.