Virginia Tech Basketball: Hokies season ends in all-too-familiar fashion at Ohio St.

All season long, the same troubles have haunted the Virginia Tech men's basketball team. Road woes away from Blacksburg, scoring droughts on the road, inability to get defensive stops on the road, and rebounding all factored into a season-ending loss at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio

After jumping out to a 7-0 lead, the Hokies went through two prolonged scoring droughts in the first half and found themselves down 36-26 at halftime. Ohio State went on a 10-0 run for a 16-12 lead, then later in the half, a 13-2 run led to a 34-21 Buckeyes lead. The Hokies shot just 11-for-30 from the field, which included 2-for-12 from behind the arc.

To compound the Hokies' second-half comeback attempt, foul trouble with Lynn Kidd, Robbie Beran, and Mylyjael Poteat were forced to bench with four fouls and Ohio State played the final 10 minutes of the game in the double bonus. It was clear Tech had trouble with OSU's length. Frustration was setting as the second half went along on both sides as the officials left nearly everything go in the first half, then called it very tight in the second half. No consistency.

Virginia Tech cut the deficit to four points on Sean Pedulla's basket with eight minutes left and got it to three with 3:35 left, but turnovers on back-to-back possessions with a chance to cut the deficit to one or tie hurt the Hokies.

The loss ends the career of Hunter Cattoor, who had a game-high 18 points and Pedulla had 16 for Virginia Tech. Kidd also finished in double figures with 13.

Now the question will be who, if any, Hokies enter the transfer portal now that the season is over. Head coach Mike Young without a doubt will be active adding to the roster for the 2024-25 season in the portal himself.