3 takeaways after Virginia Tech beats Notre Dame to earn a bye in the ACC Tournament

Entering their regular season final at Cassell Coliseum Saturday afternoon, the assignment was simple for the Virginia Tech men's basketball team, beat Notre Dame and avoid playing on the opening day of the ACC Tournament Tuesday in Washington, D.C. A loss and the Hokies would have to scoreboard watch later that night. They made sure they wouldn't have to and they completed their assignment.

Virginia Tech's guards once again carried the way in a game where the Hokies did not have Lynn Kidd available, which forced them to go with smaller lineups at different times in the game. The Irish put up a tough effort, but the Hokies got the job done to get revenge for a loss last month in South Bend, Indiana. Here are three takeaways after Tech won their third straight, improved to 18-13 overall and 10-10 heading into the ACC Tournament.

Virginia Tech bends, but doesn't break

It was a back-and-forth game between the two teams while neither team ws able to seperate from the other. Virginia Tech led the entire second half, but Notre Dame made several runs and each time, the Hokies had enough answers to keep them at bay. The two biggest baskets in the second half was when Sean Pedulla missed a 3-pointer, but crashed the boards for an offensive rebound layup for a four-point Tech lead. Later in the half and the Hokies up two, they got four consecutive offensive rebounds that led to a Robbie Beran basket.