Virginia Tech held off Cal 71-68 for its second ACC win on Saturday.
The Hokies (7-9, 2-3 ACC) got up by as many as 22 points in the first half and led 42-23 at the break before the Golden Bears (8-8, 1-4) responded in the second half. Though Tech was outscored 45-29 after intermission, it held off Cal with a late 9-0 run and some clutch free throws.
“Holy smokes,” Hokies head coach Mike Young said after the game on the Virginia Tech Sports Network. “We do some really, really good things and we do some things that I just scratch my head, and I don’t fault them. They have the right stuff about them and I admire them, but it’s a lot. I’ve got to do a better job.”
Incredibly, the Bears missed their first 13 shots and were just 5-of-31 in the first 20 minutes. It was the fewest field goals in a first half by an ACC opponent against the Hokies since Miami made just five on Feb. 15, 2014. (For those who remember that Tech game at NC State, the Wolfpack was 6-of-31 in the first half.)
At the same time, Tech was 16-of-26. Point guard Brandon Rechsteiner, who started for the second straight game with freshman Ben Hammond out due to an injury, had a game-high 10 points at the half.
The Hokies were actually in a 4-0 hole to start after Cal knocked down free throws, but they answered quickly with 11 straight points before the under-16 timeout. It was a balanced effort, from the glass (plus-six) to taking care of the basketball (just three turnovers), and eight of the nine players scored.
The Bears turned up the wick in the second half, though. They found their groove offensively, specifically through star guard Andrej Stojakovic, and shot 46 percent (17-of-37). On top of that, they were finally able to get some stops. Though Tech was still 52 percent from the floor, it was outscored 36-20 over the final 14 minutes of the game.
Cal found success getting downhill through Stojakovic, the conference’s second-best scorer, along with Joshua Ola-Joseph and Jeremiah Wilkinson, and a 10-0 stretch heading into the under-12 media timeout cut the margin to 53-42.
A few minutes later, the Golden Bears pulled back even via a 12-0 run. The Hokies gave the ball away a few times and struggled to slow down Cal’s drivers. Back-to-back layups from Wilkinson, a layup and a trey from Stojakovic, a free throw from center Mady Sissoko and another bucket at the rim from Wilkinson knotted things at 58 with 6:03 remaining.
However, Tech found a way to respond despite things looking grim. Tobi Lawal knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key, arguably the biggest shot of the evening. Jaydon Young followed that up with two makes before a Mylyjael Poteat dunk pushed Tech’s lead back to nine.
The Hokies had a quiet final few minutes, and Cal made it a three-point game with 2:12 to play behind a Stojakovic dunk, but Poteat had a crucial basket with 58 seconds remaining. After trading some points — a Stojakovic layup before two free throws from Cal transfer Rodney Brown Jr. — the Bears had one last chance in the final seconds.
Stojakovic, who finished with 24 points, got a layup to go with 11 ticks left. The Bears fouled Brown, who missed the front end of a one-and-one, and Lawal grabbed the rebound, though he was called for a travel — a call Mike Young disagreed with and said as much after the game.
Cal’s final play was a look to Stojakovic for a 3-pointer from the wing, but his shot rimmed out as time expired and the Hokies survived.
Jaydon Young led Tech with 14 points and a career-high four rebounds while Poteat posted 12 points. Rechsteiner also had 12 points and three assists while not turning the ball over.
One of the most impressive players of the game was Tyler Johnson. Tech’s true freshman forward had 11 points and a career-high 12 rebounds for his first career double-double. He was 5-of-7 from the field while also guarding Stojakovic on the other end.
“He did an exceptional job,” Young said of Johnson’s defensive task with Stojakovic. “He let [Stojakovic] get back to his left hand a couple times in the second half, but take not one thing away from Tyler and his work. He was on point, he did a great job on the glass and we needed it.
“We thought that’s how we’d get beat — they clobber us on the glass. Now, they had eight first-half offensive rebounds. We did outrebound them in the first half, but sometimes … their best offense is throw the thing up on the iron and let those big people go at it. … We rebounded enough to win.”
Lawal also chipped in eight points and eight boards. Brown had six points, a career-high five assists and three rebounds against his former team while Ben Burnham and Patrick Wessler combined for eight points and five boards.
On the other side, Rytis Petraitis made some important plays for Cal in the second half and racked up four points, three assists and a team-high 10 rebounds. After Stojakovic, Wilkinson was the only other Bears player in double figures with 14 points.
Tech’s win was the first for an ACC team when traveling from one coast of the United States to the other. Cal and Stanford were a combined 0-4 on the East Coast in early January while the Hokies and UVa were 1-3 on the West Coast this week.
Tech flies back to Virginia on Sunday and is back in Cassell Coliseum on Wednesday vs. NC State. Wake Forest comes to town the following Saturday too. The Wolfpack is 2-3 in league play while the Demon Deacons are 4-1.
Box Score: Virginia Tech 71, Cal 68