Two truths and a Lie From Virginia Tech Men's Basketball Blowout Loss to Penn State

After opening the 2024-25 season with wins over Delaware State, USC Upstate and Winthrop, the Virginia Tech men's basketball team was taking a giant leap in competition Friday night. In the Hall of Fame Series in Baltimore, the Hokies were matched up in the second game of the night against Penn State and it was a humbling result for Mike Young and his team.

After Virginia began the evening with a 70-60 win over Villanova, the Hokies hung around, somewhat in the first half against the Nittany Lions, but as the game went along, they were worn down by Penn State in a blowout loss. Here are two truths and a lie from the loss that dropped Virginia Tech to 3-1.

Truth: This is a sign of things to come in 2024-25

A lot of people knew it was going to be a long season for Young and the Hokies this season, but Friday night is a sign that it's going to be a very long season for the Hokies. Virginia Tech had more turnovers (24) than made field goals (20). That's never a recipe for anything good. Anything. The turnovers were the most in a decade and done against West Virginia.

They struggled with the full-court pressure that Penn State gave them and some of the turnovers were, well, bad ones. The Nittany Lions made the Hokies take almost 10 seconds off the shot clock forcing the offense about 20 seconds to run their offense. Expect more teams to pressure Young's team as the season goes along.

Truth: Virginia Tech could finish near the bottom of the ACC

The Hokies were picked to finish 14th in the ACC out of 18 teams this season with SMU, California, and Stanford joining. That seems like a generous spot as it wouldn't be surprising to see them finish lower once ACC play kicks into full gear. It's going to be a long January, February, and March in Blacksburg.

Lie: Penn State will not finish 17th in the Big Ten

I know the competition hasn't been great to begin the season, but the Nittany Lions are athletic and they are going to cause a lot of problems in the Big Ten this season. They were picked to finish 17th out of 18 teams in the conference this year and they should finish higher than that.

The Big Ten is loaded, yes, but there is no way that Penn State finishes 17th this season. Their pressure is going to cause problems this season for the top teams in the conference. They will pull an upset or two.

Virginia Tech returns home to Cassell Coliseum to host Jacksonville on Wednesday night looking for their fourth win of the season.