After starting the game down 11-0 to 19th-ranked Louisville on Tuesday night at Cassell Coliseum, it looked like the Virginia Tech men’s basketball team was going to get run out of their own building by the Cardinals.
Earlier in the year that likely would have happened, but as we have seen over the last two months, this Virginia Tech team shows a lot of fight and battled back to tie the game multiple times. However, in the end, the Hokies fell five points shy of pulling off a major upset and in the end, it was the same story that has haunted them in 2024-25, turnovers.
Virginia Tech coach Mike Young sums up the loss to Louisville
Virginia Tech had the ball several times in the second half with the game tied and an opportunity to take the lead. There is no telling if the result would have been different, but it changes things that both teams do late in the game. The Cardinals forced 22 Virginia Tech turnovers with the most costly one coming in the final seconds and Tech down three. Point Guard Brandon Rechsteiner made a cross-court pass that ended up in the stands and two Louisville free throws later, the game was decided at 71-66.
“Twenty-two turnovers. Miserable,” said Young.
The veteran coach speaks for Virginia Tech fans with those four short words. Some of the turnovers from the Hokies were self-inflected and some were because of the Cardinals. Regardless, a signature win this season was there for the taking for a young team to build off of, but they let it slip away in typical Virginia Tech fashion this season.
He went on later to say that they fought their way back and “fought like crazy’’ which is something that have done all season. They just haven’t been able to get away from the self-inflicted turnovers and mistakes at the wrong times.
Make no mistake about it, the Hokies have played better than expectations they had going into the season. They have played better than expectations in the ACC given how tough the first couple of months were. They are on pace to secure a berth in the ACC Tournament next month, but for one night, they let a massive opportunity slip through their hands at home. Mike Young summed it up perfectly and speaks for all Virginia Tech fans.