Last year, the Virginia Tech men's basketball team struggled in its non-conference schedule. They went 5-6 before ACC play began and finished the season 13-19 after being bounced from the ACC Tournament on the first day.
On Sunday afternoon at Cassell Coliseum, the Hokies improved to 10-2 for the second time under Young with a rout of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore behind five players in double figures. It was a well-balanced effort against a UMES team that came in six games under .500. Here are a couple of observations from the win over the Hawks.
Disaster averted with Neoklis Avdalas
Late in the first half, Advalas dove for a loose ball and stayed down, grabbing his leg. It came with less than a minute left in the half. He limped off, and everyone held their breath to see if he came out after halftime. He did and looked fine. It was a huge sigh of relief in Blacksburg. What a disaster that would have been.
Avdalas finished with a game-high 16 points, seven assists and three steals.
Amani Hansberry falls short of another double-double
What an addition Amani Hansberry has been from West Virginia. He has been huge at both ends for Young, especially in the absence of Tobi Lawal. He came up one rebound short of a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds. He hit a pair of 3-pointers. He also had three assists.
Jailen Bedford missed game with illness
Not only did the Hokies not have Lawal again, but they were missing Jailen Bedford, who missed the game with an illness. Schutt started in his spot, and it also gave Delaware transfer Izaiah Pasha a chance to get a good run. Schutt finished with a pair of 3-pointers and is the only Hokie to hit a 3-pointer in each game this year. Pasha scored seven points in 27 minutes.
What's next?
The Hokies will have six days off before hosting Elon on Saturday afternoon at 2 o'clock in their final non-conference game before ACC play begins on New Year's Eve afternoon at home at 2 p.m. against Virginia in the first of two Commonwealth Clashes.