Virginia Tech’s men’s basketball team fell to the Cal Golden Bears 82-73 Tuesday afternoon in the first round of the ACC Tournament in Charlotte, NC. The game was a rematch from earlier this year when Tech won in Berkeley 71-68. With the loss, Tech's season ends with a 13-19 record.
The game started out interestingly enough, as the normally better outside shooting Hokies struggled while Cal hit three of their first six threes. The Hokies didn't hit their first triple until Brandon Rechsteiner nailed one at the 4:01 mark of the first half. They'd head to the break just 1-for-9, and it wouldn't get any better.
Despite those struggles, Tech rode balanced midrange and inside scoring, and a reasonable five first half turnovers, to a 34-31 halftime lead. Jaydon Young (10 points), Mylyjael Poteat (7) and Rechsteiner (7) paced the Hokies in the first stanza.
The second half was a case of no one really doing anything well. The Hokies started the half with nine empty possessions, quickly giving up the lead and trailing all half. Cal's poor shooting kept Tech in the game. With 26 seconds left, and Tech shooting 1-for-16 from behind the arc, Rechsteiner hit his (and Tech's) second three of the day to give his team a 60-59 lead. Neither team could finish at the end of regulation, and fans were subjected to five more minutes.
Neither team scored for the first 1:57 of the first overtime, though Rechsteiner eventually rewarded the Hokies with his third three of the game. Cal clawed back to tie though, and again, neither team could finish at the end and another overtime was required. Tech finally blinked in the second OT, with Cal scoring the first eight points and not looking back.
The Hokies turned the ball over 18 times, with only four assists on their 24 made baskets. And they finished the game 3-for-25 from three-point land. The only reason they weren't run out of the gym was poor overall shooting by the Golden Bears (34.8% overall, 19.2% from three). Inability to take care of the ball and a penchant for cold stretches dogged the Hokies all year, and did so one last time Tuesday afternoon.
Rechsteiner led the Hokies with 19 points, Tobi Lawal had 17, Poteat finished with 13 and Young 12. Andrej Stojakovic led all scorers with 29.
With the season over, Mike Young will quickly get to work addressing next year's roster needs, of which there are many. But as Scott Roche recently wrote, Young is eager to do just that.