Freshman center Christian Gurdak made some huge plays for the Hokies on Wednesday vs. Bryant. (Jon Fleming)

Without two key frontcourt pieces for much of Wednesday evening vs. Bryant, Christian Gurdak stepped up for the Hokies in their 78-61 win.

“That was a heck of an effort,” Virginia Tech head coach Mike Young said of Gurdak. “… He was great. Player of the game, in my humble opinion.”

The true freshman from Gonzaga College in Washington, D.C., arrived in Blacksburg over the summer as a four-star prospect, though he’s been the third option at the five for Tech (5-0).

However, Mike Young needed the rookie’s production against the Bulldogs (1-4) since the Hokies were without starting forward Amani Hansberry, day-to-day with a minor injury (strained ankle), and German center Antonio Dorn, who picked up two flagrant fouls and was ejected. Young said Hansberry could have played if needed vs. Bryant and expects him back in the starting lineup next week.

As for Gurdak, he played 16 minutes for Tech in the season-opening win vs. Charleston Southern when Dorn was ineligible but saw just a combined six minutes vs. Providence, Saint Joseph’s and Charlotte. Yet, on the day James Franklin was announced as Tech’s new football coach and led the halftime crowd in Cassell Coliseum in a “Let’s go, Hokies” chant, Gurdak was arguably the second-biggest story in Blacksburg.

The former first-team All-WCAC pick stepped up when called upon against Bryant, finishing with 15 points on 7-for-9 shooting and eight rebounds — all career-high marks.

“He was as good tonight as Dorn was bad,” Young said. “… He’s a big dude, but man, young post players, it’s a lot to absorb, but man, he’s really smart, academically and athletically, and he’s a quick learner, he wants to absorb everything you give him. He’s got big eyes when you talk to him. He certainly elevated himself today. He’ll be the first big off the bench in the Bahamas.”

Gurdak was complemented by Tobi Lawal, who posted his third double-double in five games with 18 points and 13 rebounds. He accomplished that on 7-for-10 shooting, which included a few high-flying dunks.

Despite the lack of frontcourt depth and the interesting matchup — on paper, Bryant is the tallest team in Division I with an average height of 79.6 inches — Tech posted 46 points in the paint. It also was plus-14 on the glass, a 38-24 margin spearheaded by Lawal, Gurdak and Tyler Johnson’s nine rebounds. The sophomore had 10 points and nearly finished with a double-double.

It was a neck-and-neck game through the first 15 minutes, though. Tech was cold to open things, hitting on just six of its first 18 shots (33%) and trailing 20-17 at the 5:14 mark of the first half. Then the tide turned.

The Hokies used a 13-0 run, which featured a dunk from Lawal, a layup from Neoklis Avdalas, a transition dunk and a 3-pointer from Jaden Schutt, a layup by Dorn and a fastbreak dunk by Johnson. It occurred over a three-minute span, and they quickly went from trailing by three to leading by 10. At halftime, it was 32-24.

“Just getting the ball moving,” Tech point guard Ben Hammond said. “I thought we were really stagnant in our offense, so just getting the ball moving, using those ghost screens, just finding the switches, finding the mismatches.”

Tobi Lawal and Virginia Tech made some high-flying plays against the Bulldogs. (Jon Fleming)

Bryant pulled within three points off back-to-back triples from Keegan Harvey less than three minutes into the second half, but Gurdak answered for Tech with two layups, a dunk and a tip-in. He scored the team’s next four baskets and seemed to be everywhere.

When the lead got down to five again, Gurdak answered with an and-one play under the basket where he caught two defenders in the air with a pump fake. And he showed up again when he grabbed an offensive rebound off a Jailen Bedford miss and found an open Avdalas, who drained a three.

“A level of toughness,” Young said on where Gurdak’s grown. “He’s tough and he’s rugged and he’s got long arms. Big offensive rebound down there. … He kept one alive and stuck it back up top. … Again, really happy with his play.”

It felt like Tech wasn’t smooth, but statistically, it was better offensively after that first stretch — it was just difficult to tell with the choppiness of the game, highlighted by 37 fouls. Over the last 25 minutes, though, it was 24-for-40 (60%) — a stark difference from its early start.

Avdalas and Hammond were a big reason why due to how they shared the ball. They combined for 22 points — 11 apiece — and 13 assists to just two turnovers, plus Hammond’s three steals. And the ball moved, often finding the hands of Lawal or Gurdak.

There are still questions to be answered offensively, from the 4-for-16 mark from behind the arc and the 14-for-24 margin from the foul line, but Young isn’t worried.

“I didn’t think we were very good at all offensively,” Young said, “but I just told Mike [Burnop] and Zach [Mackey], ‘If the offensive end is my biggest concern, I’m going to have a cold drink tonight and I’m going to sleep real well.”

Defensively, the Hokies yielded just five treys on 27 attempts (18.5%) and Bryant was 22-for-52 (42.3%) from the floor. Quincy Allen (13 points), Harvey (12) and Timofei Rudovskii (11) were the leading scorers.

The Hokies have a week off before traveling down to the Bahamas for three games in as many days at Battle 4 Atlantis. They’ll face Colorado State — and former point guard Brandon Rechsteiner — on Wednesday at 3 p.m. ET (ESPNU) and will play Wichita State or St. Mary’s in the second round.

Young said there needs to be improvement everywhere between now and then.

“I’m incredibly excited,” Young said. “We’ve all got work to do. All of us. … Keep in mind, it is November [19], but I am bullish on our team. I am encouraged. I’ve seen it, and we need a little more time, but Battle 4 Atlantis and those three head-knockers that we’re going to encounter down there, we got progress to make here over the next week before we see the Rams.”

Box Score: Virginia Tech 78, Bryant 61