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.

Virginia Tech had trouble keeping Notre Dame out of the paint

Notre Dame is a very young team under first-year head coach Micah Shrewsbberry, who came over from Penn State. They have been playing good basketball since beating the Hokies in February and have wins over Clemson and Wake Forest recently. Their future is bright with the young talent they have Mike Young's team had a tough time keeping them out of the paint.

Markus Burton was able to beat his defender a lot of time off the dribble and finish at the basket and he he finished with 24 points. Micah's son, Braeden is another good guard and he finished with 10 points. Forward Rate Davis was a problem on the boards for the Hokies and he had 13 points and six rebounds, three on the offensive end. Julia Roper came off the bench and had 11 points for the Irish, but he too was able to get to the basket while also knokcing down two 3-pointers. Interior defense is going to be big for Virginia Tech in Washington if they hope to make a run.

Virginia Tech guards power offense again

Down Kidd, the Hokies knew that they were going to need more offense from their guards and once again, they delivered. Hunter Cattoor finished with nine points while struggling fron beyond the arc making just one of six attempts. Just like Notre Dame's guards, Pedulla was able to get to the basket and finish in different ways. He hit a floater, made traditional layups and drew contact to get to the free throw line. He made some very tough and contested shots.

MJ Collins again shot the ball for Virginia Tech, hitting three 3-pointers, making four of five free throws and finishing with 15 points. He has shot the 3-ball very well as of late and going into the ACC Tournament, they will need him to continue to do that. Off the bench, Tyler Nickel continues to produce with 15 points on 4-of-9 shooting and he was perfect in all five free throw attempts.

The Hokies are heading to the ACC Tournament with some momentum.