For the second time in a week, Virginia Tech men's basketball coach Mike Young was looking to collect career win No. 400. For the second time in a week, his Hokies held a second-half lead and once again fell victim to turnovers, poor shooting and poor rebounding in a second straight ACC loss.
For as bad as the Hokies have been at times this season, this loss could be considered frustrating. The Yellow Jackets are a team devastated by injuries and missing their leading scorer, but they were able to outwork Virginia Tech on the boards and play tough defense in the second half. After the Hokies took a 45-43 lead in th second half, Georgia Tech responded with a 10-2 run to seize control of the game.
Tyler Johnson led Virginia Tech, which fell to 8-11 overall and 3-5 in the ACC, with 14 points and five rebounds. Tobi Lawal had 13 points, a trio of 3-pointers, and six rebounds. Rodney Brown had 10 points off the bench and Mylyjael Poteat had eight points and five rebounds.
Gut reactions from Virginia Tech's loss to Georgia Tech
- Even though we are in January, this result could be a tiebreaker at the end of the regular season when it comes to the ACC Tournament. This season the bottom three teams will be left out of it and both of these teams could very well end up being down at the bottom when all is said and done in March.
- Second-half scoring droughts have been a problem this season for the Hokies and that once again reared its ugly head against Georgia Tech.
- Virginia Tech missed a ton of layups and shots around the basket. How bad was it? Rodney Brown missed three straight in four seconds in the first half.
- Yes, Georgia Tech turned up the defensive pressure, but the Hokies didn't do themselves any favors with some unforced turnovers. Lazy passes, not handling the ball, and illegal screens all contributed to an ugly second half. Twelve second-half turnovers are not going to win a game at any level of basketball.
- It's bad enough that the Hokies' offense struggled and they allowed the Yellow Jackets some easy baskets on runouts, but letting Georiga Tech get into the bonus before the midway point of the second and half the double bonus with just under minutes left is not going to allow you to make a comeback and it makes that much harder to get stops defensively.
- Talk about a "you can't have a turnover there'', but Brandon Rechsteiner had a turnover with the Hokies down two points with 1:30 left that led to a game-clinching dunk.
Things don't easier for the Hokies who return to Cassell Coliseum on Saturday night to host Clemson who is a clear top-three team in the ACC. After that, they close out the month at Florida State and win No. 400 might have to wait a while for Young.