Virginia Tech men's basketball picks up huge win at Louisville

Coming off a strong second half last Saturday night at Cassell Coliseum in an 87-76 win over Wake Forest, the Virginia Tech men's basketball team was hoping to take the momentum from that game on the road with them Tuesday night at Louisville.

There was a lot on the line for the Hokies. A win over the Cardinals and win over Notre Dame Saturday afternoon at home in the regular season final at home and Virginia Tech could receive an opening day bye in the ACC Tournament next week in Washington, D.C. Step 1 was completed at the KFC Yum! Center after Virginia Tech picked up an important road win to improve to 17-13 overall and 9-10 in the ACC.

• Talk about a strong start on the road. The Hokies put up 49 first-half points on Louisville and they hit eight 3-pointers. MJ Collins and Sean Pedulla each had 11 points, Robbie Beran had nine, and Hunter Cattoor added seven. Virginia Tech shot 53% from the field in the opening 20 minutes.
• The Hokies needed those 49 points as they struggled at a time in the second half with turnovers, but they did get some stops as the half went along after the Cardinals cut the deficit to 10 points a couple of times. Late in the game, they went inside to Lynn Kidd to seal the win.
• Beran was huge for Virginia Tech with 12 points and six rebounds but he hit four 3-pointers. He has had his moments at times this season, but he was big in helping the Hokies pick up their second road win this season.
• Tyler Nickel was big off the bench with 13 points and hit three 3-pointers himself. Virginia Tech placed five players in double figures and that did not include Cattoor who had just seven points.
• Pedulla led the Hokies with 15 points, while Collins joined Nickel with 13 points. Beran had 12 and Kidd finished with 11. Kidd finished with nine rebounds and Pedulla had a good assist-to-turnover ratio, of 7-2.

The Hokies will look for a third straight victory Saturday over Notre Dame at home before the ACC Tournament begins next Tuesday. They hold tiebreakers over North Carolina State and Florida State and if they beat the Irish, they will avoid playing on the first day. That would be huge for Mike Young and his team.