Virginia Tech led by as many as 12 points in the first half but struggled down the stretch in its 70-59 loss at Stanford on Wednesday.
"They were tougher than we were in the second half," Hokies head coach Mike Young said after the game on the Virginia Tech Sports Network. "Ball comes off the rim, you've got to have the ball. You've got to dial somebody up and make a play on the offensive end. [We were] 0-of-6 from three in the second half, I think it was 56-54 at the under-eight and we don't get it done, and that falls on my shoulders. Got to do a better job."
Tech (6-9, 1-3 ACC) limited the Cardinal (10-5, 2-2) to 39 percent shooting early, which included a scoring drought of 9:01, but couldn't run away with the game. Instead, Stanford rallied and Tech led just 30-25 at intermission.
Things started swinging the Cardinal's way after the break. It snatched back the lead out of the under-16 timeout and then stretched the margin to six before Tech fought back and tied the game at 48 via a Ben Burnham layup with 8:51 remaining.
It was neck-and-neck still after Mylyjael Poteat's basket with 5:35 left, but the Hokies went cold and were outscored 14-3 over the rest of the game. They were just 2-of-9 over that stretch, and though Stanford was only 3-of-9, it scored nine points from the foul line. Tech only attempted seven free throws in the game.
"There's got to be a greater level of toughness and a greater level of urgency," Young said. "The team that plays the hardest typically gets fouled more, the team that plays hardest typically rebounds more and that has got to get better. We've been on the road now at Duke and in here. Let's go to Cal on Saturday and put some things together and win."
The Hokies were without starting point guard Ben Hammond, who is dealing with a foot fracture and will be reevaluated before Saturday's contest at Cal, per Zach Mackey on the Virginia Tech Sports Network. The Paul VI product suffered the injury in his eight-assist game on Saturday vs. Miami, when he was the first Tech true freshman to reach that mark since Justin Robinson vs. Miami in 2016. In his absence, Brandon Rechsteiner, Rodney Brown Jr. and Jaden Schutt split time running the offense at Stanford.
However, Tech didn't appear to have enough in the tank down the stretch in its first trip to its ACC counterparts on the West Coast. It was outrebounded 21-11 in the second half — the Cardinal had a final edge of 36-25 — which included six offensive boards that Stanford converted into six second-chance points. Four of those offensive rebounds came in the final three minutes as the home side closed things out.
The Hokies had an odd offensive balance, though. They were led by the trio of Burnham (18 points), Tobi Lawal (15) and Poteat (12), who were a combined 19-of-32 (59%) with 12 of the team's 25 boards (48%). Meanwhile, the rest of the team shot 7-of-24 (29%). Jaydon Young and Rechsteiner each had four points while Patrick Wessler, Tyler Johnson and Brown each chipped in two. Jaden Schutt did not score.
Tech made 50 percent (13-of-26) of its looks in the first half and was sparked by Burnham, who nailed his first four treys and led all scorers with 12 points at the break. Yet, the group regressed in the latter 20 minutes and was just 43 percent (13-of-30) — all while the Cardinal heated up. The one thing Tech did better was take care of the ball. It had just two turnovers in the second half after eight in the first.
"They covered [Burnham] up better in the second half," Young said. "We had a couple of things on that we thought would go, they did, but they did a nice job of adjusting to that in the second half. I still thought we were getting good shots. We took a couple quick ones, but not good enough."
The Hokies' problem was their second-half defense. They did a good job of containing Stanford's Maxime Raynaud, the nation's double-double leader and the ACC's leading scorer and rebounder, in the first half — the Frenchman had just six points and five boards. However, Cardinal coach Kyle Smith started pulling Raynaud out of the paint and away from the Hokies' double teams, and he got into a rhythm and knocked down three 3-pointers. He finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds — about on par with his 21 and 11 average.
"He didn't want to be double teamed so they moved him on to the perimeter," Young said of Raynaud. "We did a really nice job of that in the first half, he missed one he usually gets down, but unfortunately it takes our team to get their rear end burned a couple of times before we recognize exactly what we do.
"You've got to be able to be able to make a play. There's a high ball screen, he's going to slide out of it, you've got to hard hedge it, which improves your plane into that recovery back to Raynaud, and didn't do it. Then we started taking that away, so Raynaud didn't want to go anywhere near the post in the second half, and he's good enough from the perimeter to burn you out there."
Stanford's backcourt thrived too, though. Oziyah Sellers was 7-of-12 from the field with 19 points while Jaylen Blakes added 17 points — 10 of which came from the foul line on 12 attempts — and six assists. Combined with Raynaud, that trio shot 18-of-37 (49%).
Donavin Young also flew under the radar for the Cardinal. He scored all seven of his points in the second half, which included the layup with 5:08 left that gave Stanford the lead for good.
Of Tech's nine losses this season, eight have come by double digits. Pitt (five points) is the outlier.
The Hokies are back in action on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET (3 p.m. PT) at Cal, who beat Virginia 75-61 late Wednesday night.
Box Score: Stanford 70, Virginia Tech 59