The Hokies dropped their final non-conference game of 2024-25 in an 82-62 defeat at Saint Joseph’s in Philadelphia on Saturday.
“It’s hard to win at any level, certainly at this level, when you don’t play smart basketball, when you don’t play fundamentally sound basketball,” Virginia Tech head coach Mike Young said on the Virginia Tech Sports Network after the loss.
The Hawks (8-4) outscored Virginia Tech (5-7) 50-32 in the second half after the two sides were separated by just two points at halftime. Tech didn’t do enough to limit the home team from behind the arc at the historic Palestra. St. Joe’s shot an impressive 15-of-32 (47%) from 3-point range, which included a 9-of-14 mark after the break.
It was the first time an opponent made at least 15 treys against the Hokies since Duke on Feb. 14, 2018, in Durham, N.C.
A 15-2 run from the Hawks midway through the first half put pressure on Tech, but it responded with a 15-0 stretch of its own. A Brandon Rechsteiner 3-pointer with 2:41 left capped off the run and gave the Hokies a 28-25 lead. At intermission, the Hawks were up 32-30.
The Hokies were sluggish out of the locker room, though, and Saint Joseph’s took advantage. Despite Mylyjael Poteat knocking down free throws on the first possession to tie things at 32, Tech went cold, missing five shots, while the Hawks heated up and scored 10 straight points. They used a 1-2-2 press to get Tech out of rhythm, which worked, and a 5-0 run before the under-16 media timeout essentially put the game to bed.
“We talk about the first-four minutes of both halves; I didn’t think we opened the second half as well as we needed to,” Young said. “We had some good shots from people we want taking them and didn’t get them down, and St. Joe’s has a good outfit and they outplayed us today.”
The Hokies never really strung anything together after that. They cut the deficit to 10 points twice but shot just 39 percent (10-of-26), which wasn’t enough against a St. Joe’s squad that was 52 percent (14-of-27) in the second half and barely gave the ball away (just nine turnovers for the game).
The Saint Joseph’s quartet of Erik Reynolds II (game-high 25 points), Derek Simpson (18), Rasheer Fleming (18) and Anthony Finkley (13) combined for 74 points — 12 more than Tech’s entire team. Those four were 24-of-51 (47%).
For comparison, Tech’s leading scorers were Ben Burnham and Ben Hammond, who had 11 points apiece and were a combined 7-of-13. It was Burnham’s second straight double-digit outing and third of December while Hammond earned his first collegiate start against the Hawks and knocked down all four of his free throws.
Tobi Lawal chipped in nine points (4-of-7) while Patrick Wessler had a solid eight (3-of-4). Rechsteiner came off the bench for the first time this year and posted eight points and five assists. The Hokies weren’t efficient enough offensively, though, particularly from 3-point range (7-of-22, 32%). Moreover, their first triple didn’t come until Jaden Schutt knocked one down at the 5:29 mark of the first half (after an 0-of-6 start).
It was a disappointing end to the non-conference slate for Tech, who entered the day at No. 190 in the NET rankings. They’re 0-6 against teams with a better ranking and 5-0 against those below them.
On Tech Talk Live on Thursday night, Young confirmed that Saint Joseph’s will make a return trip to Blacksburg next season as part of the home-and-home series.
The Hokies have a break for Christmas before traveling to No. 5 Duke on New Year’s Eve as league play starts back up. After that, Miami comes to town (Jan. 4) before Tech goes to the West Coast to play Stanford (Jan. 8) and Cal (Jan. 11).
Box Score: Saint Joseph’s 82, Virginia Tech 62