It was not a pretty first half for Virginia Tech on Friday night vs. USC Upstate, but it gradually found its footing and responded well in its 93-74 win.
“Honestly, I feel like that’s a good definition of what the season will look like,” Tech guard Jaydon Young said. “I think it’ll start off pretty ugly, as it should, new team coming together. I feel like a lot of teams look like that right now, but January, February, later on in the season, it might look a little better.
“I feel like tonight we got off on the wrong foot, but we quickly picked it up. We’ve got a lot of guys that are willing to play hard, a lot of guys that are willing to listen, so I feel like that definitely helped us get back in this game.”
The Hokies (2-0) struggled on both ends early, missing nine of their first 10 shots and allowing the Spartans (1-2) to jump out to a 16-2 lead through the first six-plus minutes. USC Upstate was 6-of-10 in that span while Tech turned it over five times.
Tech slowly chipped away at the deficit, though, and went on an 11-0 run over the next three minutes to pull within a basket. USC Upstate pushed back and the margin expanded to 12 with 6:17 to play in the first half, but the Hokies buckled down and finished the period on a 23-6 binge, retaking the lead in the process. At the break, it was 37-32 in their favor.
“For a young group to hang in there, and there’s no panic, we’ve just got to pick our play up here on both ends, and they did that,” Tech head coach Mike Young said. “We got a number of deflections and got a couple of SUTS, which is three stops in a row. We turned them over a little bit.
“We’re going to see that again in an ACC game, you know that. How do you find your way back? You do it possession by possession. You’re not going to come back into it with one shot or a media timeout. It’s chip away at it, and I thought we ended the half well, … but better basketball in the second half, certainly offensively.”
Tech came out of intermission with better rhythm. It made four of its first six field goals while slowly pulling away. A 7-0 run over 66 seconds turned a six-point game into a double-digit contest and the Hokies ran away with it from there. They led by as many as 21 and the difference never fell below 10.
“I think it’s just about us playing freely,” Tech point guard Brandon Rechsteiner said, explaining that the team is learning on the fly. “We don’t have a lot of dudes who have played a lot of minutes, … so it’s just us playing free and getting real reps because when we get out there, coach is always like, ‘Act like you’ve been there before,’ but none of us really have.”
There’s clearly a learning curve, and the Hokies improved as the game went on Friday night. Rechsteiner was a big reason why. He and center Mylyjael Poteat led the way for the Hokies with 19 points apiece — both career-highs.
Rechsteiner was 7-of-12 from the floor, including 3-of-5 from behind the arc, to go with four assists. Poteat made six of his eight attempts in a career-high 27 minutes while making seven of his nine free throw attempts and adding five boards.
It was also a record night for other Tech players. Freshman Tyler Johnson dropped 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting, along with a 6-of-7 mark from the foul line, while Young made four of his seven 3-pointers en route to 14 points. He missed his six 2-point attempts and started 0-of-3 but found his stroke from deep as the game went on.
Mike Young turned to freshman point guard Ben Hammond on a few occasions — he played 14 minutes — who looked much more comfortable than he did in his debut. Described as a “little water bug” by Rechsteiner, the Paul VI product did not turn it over while tallying four points, two rebounds and two assists.
“Thought he had a much better look tonight and picked his spots, had a much stat line,” Young said. “… You know what you’re going to get out of him defensively. … Good line from him. I’d like to have that line from Ben Hammond night in and night out.”
Tobi Lawal, Tech’s leading scorer in Monday’s opener vs. Delaware State, also had 10 points. It was a quieter night for the VCU transfer, though he had eight rebounds and swatted two shots. Meanwhile, Duke transfer Jaden Schutt also posted 10 points, four assists and two steals — all career-bests.
Freshman forward Mister Dean paced USC Upstate with 20 points, five rebounds, two blocks and two steals while Camelo Adkins notched 18 points and four boards. Karmani Gregory knocked down six of his 13 field goal attempts for 15 points while grabbing eight rebounds.
Overall, it was a good learning experience and building block for a Hokies team that is starting to mesh. There were some highlights, like an alley-oop from Johnson to Lawal and a pretty reverse layup in transition from Schutt, but the first stretch of the game proved it still has a long way to go. Once Tech settled down and let the game flow, things were pretty smooth.
“Just trying to find their way,” Young said of his bunch. “Just so eager to play well and help our team. Sometimes just slow down. Just slow down and let it happen. Don’t try to make it happen, and you come by that with more experience and playing in games, and they’re coming at you now.”
The Hokies are back in action Monday night vs. Winthrop (7 p.m. ET, ACCNX), who finished 17-15 (8-8) last year in the Big South, before a pivotal Friday night clash vs. Penn State in the Hall of Fame Series in Baltimore, Md. The Nittany Lions are 2-0 after two 100-point outings.
Box Score: Virginia Tech 93, USC Upstate 74
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