Virginia Tech relied on a big first-half cushion to close out a 76-66 road win at Florida State in Tallahassee on Wednesday night and snap its three-game losing streak.
“That took everything in the tank,” Hokies assistant coach Kevin Giltner said on the Virginia Tech Sports Network after the victory. “The response from our guys, the road mentality we had, the togetherness and following the scouting report, I’m just so proud. That’s a really good team we just beat on the road.”
It wasn’t a very pretty game, but the Hokies (9-12, 4-6 ACC) got off to a hot start and held their ground late in their second victory away from home this year. It was also Mike Young’s 400th win as a college basketball head coach.
Tech was great defensively in the first half, and despite the Seminoles (13-8, 4-6) heating up in the second, it kept the two key players in check.
FSU guard Jamir Watkins and center Malique Ewin entered the day as the team’s two leading scorers and were averaging a combined 33 points per game. The Hokies held them to 11 points on 5-of-17 shooting, especially impressive considering Watkins burned them for 70 points over three meetings last season. And though Ewin averages 8.2 rebounds per game, they kept him off the glass and limited him to just three.
“We made a big deal about those two cats, Watkins and Ewin,” Giltner said. “We think both of those guys are all-league type of guys, they’re phenomenal. And not to take away from the other guys, but those [two] guys are the playmakers. Those are the guys that are obviously averaging 17, 18 a game in ACC play, so we tried to put two on the ball with them a lot. We trapped the post some, anytime Watkins drove, we were in the gaps.
“We were kind of conceding some open threes to other guys because we said, ‘These guys want to shoot, they have high usage rates.’ I think Jamir’s No. 1 or No. 2 in the ACC in usage rate, and Ewin’s No. 10. Just stopping those two guys was kind of the plan, and we wanted to see if that worked, and it sure did.”
Tech wasn’t superb offensively, but it shot 41 percent for the game and knocked down 10 3-pointers — including three apiece from Jaydon Young and Jaden Schutt. It attempted 30 free throws, many of which came in the final two minutes, though it only converted 18.
Rebounding was crucial against a lengthy Noles squad, and Tech won the battle on the boards 42-39. It was a 24-17 cushion at halftime. Second-chance points were balanced — 13 for VT, 12 for FSU — and the Hokies were only outscored by two in the paint, 28-26.
Virginia Tech caught fire early and led 10-2 through the first media timeout. Threes fell from Schutt, Young and Brandon Rechsteiner that stretched the lead, all while Florida State couldn’t buy a bucket. The home team was a surprising 6-of-28 from the field in the first half.
The gap really widened in the eight minutes before intermission. A 20-11 game at the 8:09 mark, a trey from Schutt and a breakaway dunk from Ben Burnham made it a 15-point margin in Tech’s favor. The Noles responded with a layup through Christian Nitu, but Tech overwhelmed them with a 10-2 run heading into the locker room, capped off by a banked-in 3-pointer from Young right before the half expired.
bank's open ??
? ACCN pic.twitter.com/k8XA2Y58gW— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) January 30, 2025
The Hokies were only 5-of-13 in that final eight-minute stretch of the first half, but FSU was even worse at 2-of-12. As a result, they led 35-15 at halftime.
Leonard Hamilton’s squad righted the ship after the break and was 19-of-34 (56%) from the field, but Tech made the important plays in the clutch. Tobi Lawal spearheaded the charge with his 17 points and career-high 13 rebounds. It was his third double-double in the last five outings.
“I don’t know what an all-conference player looks like if it ain’t him,” Giltner said of Lawal. “Every night he’s having big numbers, making big plays, blocking shots, getting steals, just the stuff that you can’t teach as coaches. It’s all ability and motor, and he’s got that. … I can’t say enough good things about him.”
Naturally, FSU made a second-half run. Watkins and Taylor Bol Bowen, who had a team-high 14 points and nine rebounds, each found a little bit of a rhythm. Then Bostyn Holt scored five points in the span of 40 seconds while Chandler Jackson chipped in four and Jerry Deng added a layup. In a flash, what was a 17-point VT lead with 14:38 remaining turned into a nine-point game after an 11-3 Noles run.
Florida State got the margin down to as low as six points with 8:08 to play after back-to-back baskets — a three from Bol Bowen and a layup from Daquan Davis — but the Hokies stood tall.
Closing out games has been a struggle this season, but not on Wednesday in the panhandle of the Sunshine State. They proceeded to make seven of their final nine field goals, were 10-of-17 from the foul line and outscored the Noles 27-23. FSU was 9-of-17 over the same stretch but never truly made a run.
Schutt was Tech’s second-leading scorer with 16 points, which included a 7-of-8 mark from the foul line. Young chipped in nine, as did Poteat, while Rechsteiner had eight, Ben Hammond posted seven and Tyler Johnson added six.
As a team, the Hokies committed just 10 turnovers — a good mark against a lengthy team that clogs passing lanes. For context, they entered the day averaging 13.7 per game, and in their three games against FSU last season, they combined for 40 giveaways, 11 of which came from starting point guard Sean Pedulla. Hammond and Rechsteiner, the two primary ball-handlers for Tech on Wednesday, had just one total miscue.
Overall, it was a good night for Tech, who is two games below .500 (at 4-6) halfway through ACC play. Up next is a trip to Charlottesville to face Virginia, who is coming off a road victory at Miami. Saturday will be the first Commonwealth Clash without Tony Bennett on the UVa sideline since the 2008-09 season.
Box Score: Virginia Tech 76, Florida State 66