Virginia Tech
It wasn't a good night for Virginia Tech in Maui. (Glen Pascual)

A day after upsetting No. 3 Michigan State, Virginia Tech was blown out by Dayton 89-62 in the Maui Invitational.  The Flyers also smoked Georgia 80-61 on Monday.  The Hokies dropped to 6-1 on the season, while Dayton improved to a perfect 5-0.

The Hokies took the first lead of the game 2-0 on a Wabissa Bede layup, but that turned out to be their only lead of the game.  They played with the Flyers for most of the first half before a late 17-3 run buried them, giving Dayton a 49-31 halftime lead.  A late second half run by Dayton turned a low double-digits game into a rout as Tech lost focus on defense and watched a dunk fest.

“We tip our cap to a really good Dayton team, exceptionally well-coached Dayton team,” Mike Young said after the game. “They took us behind the shed and whipped our hind end. And Coach Grant is -- they're going to have a really good year -- so are we -- they got the better of us today, we'll live to see another day, and [we're] excited about coming back over tomorrow and representing Virginia Tech.”

Landers Nolley led the Hokies with 15 points on 5-of-13 shooting, though he got into foul trouble early, sometimes forced shots and only played 24 minutes.  Hunter Cattoor was the only other Tech player in double figures with 12. Cattoor was 4-of-6 from three-point range, while the rest of the Hokies were 4-of-15.

The Hokies were outrebounded by a much bigger and more aggressive Dayton team 38-21.  They were outscored 11-0 in second chance points and 48-24 in the paint.  Not that the Flyers were limited to scoring from the inside; they were also 11-of-24 (45.8%) from three-point range.

“We just came out with bad energy, I kind of felt it from like the layup line our energy was kind of low, we weren't as upbeat as yesterday,” Wabissa Bede said. “We knew how good they were, and we knew they were a great team and they came out with fight from the first media timeout. You could tell the energy was high, the fans were in it, it was like a home game for them and all, congrats to them.”

Virginia Tech returns to action on Wednesday night against BYU, 71-56 losers to Kansas.  Tipoff is scheduled for 11:30pm Eastern time.  According to the Maui Invitational website, the game will be broadcast by ESPN2.

Box Score


Game Notes From Virginia Tech


Record and Notables

  • Virginia Tech falls to 6-1 after the loss to Dayton, and remain 1-0 in ACC play.
  • 6-1 matches the record of the 2018-19 team, which started 6-1 as well. The 2018-2019 team went 14-1 through the start of the season.
  • Tech is now 4-1 in preseason tournament games over the last two seasons. The Hokies went 3-0 and won the Charleston Classic in 2018-19.
  • Virginia Tech leads the all-time series versus Dayton with eight wins to the Flyers’ six. The two programs' first-ever meeting was in 1959, and the Flyers won 77-59. The two teams last met in 2000 in Blacksburg, where Tech won 64-52.
  • UP NEXT: The Hokies will face the loser of Kansas/BYU in the third-place game at 11:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

Team Notes
  • Virginia Tech used the starting lineup of Wabissa Bede, Tyrece Radford, P.J. Horne, Landers Nolley II, and Nahiem Alleyne. This is the fifth straight game the Hokies have started these five out of the gate.
  • KEY FIRST HALF RUN: It was back and forth action through the start of the first half. Tech trailed 29-23 with just under eight minutes to go in the first half when forward Landers Nolley hit a triple, and redshirt freshman Tyrece Radford made a layup under the basket to cut the lead to 32-28. Dayton closed out half one on a 17 -3 run to enter the break leading 49-31. Tech only led at 5-2 early on in the first.
  • KEY SECOND HALF RUN: Seeking a comeback early in the second, freshman Hunter Cattoor nailed a much-needed 3-pointer followed by back-to-back layups from guard Nahiem Alleyne. Tech would continue to cut into the deficit making the score 55-41 early in the second. The Flyers offense was too much, though, never letting the Hokies within single digits on its way to a 89-62 victory.
  • Landers Nolley had a team-high 15 points and led Tech in scoring for the fifth game this season out of seven outings.
  • The Hokies had 19 points off the bench, including 12 points from Cattoor. 

Individual Notes
  • Landers Nolley hit three triples against Dayton. The forward has now hit 16 3s over his last four games and seven in the Maui.
  • PJ Horne posted a season-high two blocks and tied a season-high in steals with one against.
  • Wabissa Bede tallied six assists against Dayton. Bede now has 51 assists this season and 20 over his last three games. Defensively, Bede had three steals, tying his season high.
  • Hunter Cattoor had four 3s against Dayton, which is his season high. Cattoor scored 12 points, which is his third double-digit scoring performance in the last four games.