FORT MYERS, Fla. — Michigan pulled away from Virginia Tech down the stretch in Monday’s game at Suncoast Credit Union Arena, a 75-63 win for the Wolverines.
The Hokies (3-3) dropped their third straight game despite leading for over 16 minutes. They hung tough with the Wolverines (5-1) in the first half and led by as many as 11 — in many ways, Tech’s best 20 minutes of basketball this season — but Michigan slowly wore them down as the game grew older, and they committed 19 turnovers throughout the contest (to just five assists, the lowest total in the Mike Young era).
It’s the first three-game losing streak in non-conference play for Tech since 2007-08, when the Hokies dropped two games in the Great Alaska Shootout and then lost at Penn State in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. It’s also the first time the program’s lost three consecutive games by double digits since 2019-20 and, what’s more, the first time three straight double-digit defeats have come in non-conference play since 1952-53.
“Hats off to Coach [Dusty] May and the Wolverines,” Tech head coach Mike Young said. “… I don’t care what level you’re at, what league you’re in, [you can’t] turn the ball over that many times. We’ve been ranked in the top 25 nationally in assist/turnover ratio many, many times in my career. I’ve got to do a better job coaching and I am jumping up and down and doing everything, I can, but I’ve got to find the right button.
“Shot selection and ball handling go hand-in-hand with transition defense. If you’re taking bad shots, you’re kicking the ball, you’re making poor fundamental plays, that other team in Michigan is really good in that part of the game, their transition offense is pretty unique.”
The Wolverines drew first blood and jumped in front 5-2, but the Hokies rallied quickly, ripping off a 10-0 run over three-plus minutes that swung the momentum and made it 12-5.
It was back-and-forth from there, with Tech leading by as many as 11, before Michigan had separate 7-0, 6-0 and 6-0 bursts to get back into it. At the break, the Wolverines led 34-33, and the Hokies had arguably played their best half of basketball to date.
“I think we were just going at them,” Tech forward Tobi Lawal said. “We were getting downhill, we were finding ways to get downhill. That was the main thing because they wanted to switch you out and keep you out on the perimeter because they can’t really guard individually, and we were doing a lot of things to give our guards an advantage so they can go downhill and make a play.
“… We moved the ball really well in the first half. Coach says that a lot, we shouldn’t have many one-pass or two-pass possessions. When we have more passes in a possession, the defense will break down, they will mess up. I think we just passed the ball more in the first half.”
Tech started the second half on a positive note, tying the game and then pushing the lead to three. A Jaydon Young 3-pointer at the 14:30 mark made it 49-46 in the Hokies’ favor. However, Michigan soon took over.
After Tech got downhill early, drew a bunch of fouls and shot 10 free throws to Michigan’s two in the first half, the Wolverines did a better job limiting the Hokies’ ball movement after intermission. At the same time, Tech’s defense slowly faded; after shooting 37 percent in the first half, the Wolverines were much better at 44 percent in the second.
Over the final 14:30 after Young’s bucket, Tech made just three of its final 19 shots while turning the ball over seven times. Things weren’t smooth enough to climb out of a hole against a good team, and the Wolverines outscored the Hokies 29-15 over that span.
Michigan finished 40 percent from the field (25-of-62) and knocked down 10 treys while Virginia Tech shot 35 percent (20-of-58) and only made four 3-pointers.
“It did get stagnant a bit, and we weren’t guarding as well, with the same pressure and the same intensity that we were in the first half,” Lawal said. “We made mistakes in the first half, but the pressure and intensity made up for it. We just have to find ways to keep a high level of effort and intensity throughout the whole game, even if you’re tired.”
Like previous games, the Hokies gave the ball away too many times. They finished with 19 miscues, a nearly even split with 10 in the first half and nine in the second. Four came from forward Mylyjael Poteat while guards Brandon Rechsteiner, Jaden Schutt and Jaydon Young and forward Tobi Lawal had three apiece.
Over the three-game losing streak, Tech has 59 turnovers — good for 19.7 per game. Moreover, according to Ken Pomeroy, the team ranks 339th in turnover percentage. For comparison, Young’s worst team in that category in his 23 years was his 2003-04 bunch in his second season, which ranked 291st.
“We’ve got to take care of the ball better,” Lawal said. “That’s it. We have to take care of the ball better and we have to take better shots on offense, because when we take quick shots… They want to play fast, we don’t want to play to their pace. … We’ve got to take shots that are great shots and good shots, not shots that didn’t make them play any defense.”
Against one of the biggest frontcourts in the country, the Hokies actually fared quite well. They got Vladislav Goldin (7-foot-1) into foul trouble early, limiting his impact, and he finished with just eight points, four rebounds, three blocks and three turnovers. Danny Wolf (7-foot) had just four points, and though he grabbed 11 boards, turned the ball over five times. Sam Walters (6-foot-10) recorded just one board and one assist. Will Tschetter (6-foot-8) arguably did the most damage with 10 points.
Instead, it was the backcourt that beat Tech. Roddy Gayle Jr. went off for a game-high 20 points while Tre Donaldson and Nimari Burnett added nine each. Rubin Jones chipped in eight and L.J. Cason had seven, and combined, that quintet knocked down nine triples.
“Roddy, who we played against last year in the NIT, is a load,” Young said. “We didn’t have a matchup for him, which was pretty evident, touching us up for 20. Thought we did a good job on Wolf and Goldin in there, two good players. Tschetter helps their team, Walters helps their team.”
On the other side, Lawal led the Hokies with 14 points, nine of which came from the free throw line (on 10 attempts). Jaydon Young got two 3-pointers down and finished with 12, but they were the lone double-figure scorers.
Poteat contributed eight points and seven boards, the majority of which came in the first half, while Rechsteiner and Ben Hammond each had eight. Ben Burnham threw in five points and four rebounds while Patrick Wessler added four points and four boards. Schutt finished with just two points on 1-of-7 shooting.
Tech looks to snap its three-game skid on Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. ET vs. South Carolina in the third-place game of the Fort Myers Tip-Off. The Gamecocks fell to No. 22 Xavier 75-66 in the second game on Monday. The Hokies lost to USC in Charlotte, N.C., last year 79-77.
Box Score: Michigan 75, Virginia Tech 63
Late-night thoughts on #Hokies' 75-63 loss to Michigan in Fort Myers: pic.twitter.com/QPKk9Ed5U3
— David Cunningham (@therealdcunna) November 26, 2024