Neoklis Avdalas dropped 30 as Virginia Tech beat Western Carolina by 22 on Thursday. (Ivan Morozov)

Virginia Tech notched its third consecutive win on Thursday night by beating Western Carolina 96-74.

The Hokies (9-2) used a 15-4 run to pull away from the Catamounts (4-6) in the first eight minutes and led by double digits the rest of the way.

“I think we’re playing with a lot of swagger, a lot of confidence,” Tech forward Amani Hansberry said, crediting it to head coach Mike Young and the staff. “We’ve got to keep that up. I think we’re buying into our roles and being a complete unit.”

It was a bumpy game that featured 42 fouls and 25 turnovers as both teams pressed at different times. Tech, which has the second-best turnover rate in the country, gave the ball away 11 times, tying its second-worst mark of the season.

“Eleven turnovers for us, which is a bit high,” Young said. “We’re second in the nation coming in in turnovers per game. We usually have more assists than [15]. We had some beautiful passing that we didn’t make the shot, but I thought we handled that part of it OK.”

“It felt like every other possession there was a whistle being blown,” Hansberry said, “but it’s more mental than anything. Got to always be ready to play, be ready to guard, be ready to step up and hit a shot. … We tried as much as we could not to foul. We knew we were fouling a lot excessively. …

“Just staying mentally engaged. That’s a big challenge, especially when we’re already up 20, we just want to get out of here, but it’s more than that. It’s about NET rankings, making the tournament and our overall goal.”

Neoklis Avdalas paced the Hokies with 30 points, his second-best output of the season behind his 33-point performance vs. Providence at the Mohegan Sun. He scored 24 of those in the second half as he knocked down nine of his 13 attempts, finishing 10-for-17 from the field and 4-for-8 from long range.

“He had a good feel for it,” Young said of Avdalas. “His shot selection was good. Tried to put him in the post a little bit, ran something for him to start the game. He was very, very good on the offensive end tonight. Hansberry helps there, but he had some plays that [were] just a big-league player making a good basketball play.”

Avdalas has been active through Tech’s first month of the season, averaging 14.5 points and 4.8 assists over 11 games, but only twice has he completely taken over.

Part of that was how Western Carolina defended him. Instead of trying to take away his scoring, it tried to limit his teammates, like Hansberry and 3-point specialist Jaden Schutt. That meant Avdalas had more opportunities to score in one-on-one situations.

“The shots were falling, obviously,” Avdalas said. “Today, I think the difference was trying to get me to score more. I think the other games, the defense wanted me to get rid of the ball, so my teammates found better looks, but that’s the game. They’ll all play me different. Next game is going to be different, so I’ll just take it game-to-game. …

“I just found my rhythm, and when I find my rhythm, I’m difficult to guard.”

Four other players joined Avdalas in double figures, led by Hansberry. He did it all against the Catamounts, highlighted by his 18 points. He converted eight of his 12 field goals, including two of his three 3-pointers, and also added six rebounds, six assists, four steals and a block.

It’s the second straight game the Silver Spring, Md., native paced the Hokies in assists after dropping six dimes in Saturday’s win over George Mason. He’s also turned it up a notch over the last four games and is averaging 17.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3.5 steals over that stretch while shooting 64.5 percent.

“He’s the best connector I’ve had in 24 years as a head coach,” Young said of Hansberry. “If you can just get him the ball in the low post or the high post, he’ll connect it. He’ll find an action over there, dribble handoff off something, zoom, that is going to put our better players in the action, our best two, three players. He’s got an innate sense of how it’s supposed to work and go, and it’s interesting to watch [it] develop as we move along.”

Amani Hansberry has been terrific as of late for Virginia Tech. (Ivan Morozov)

Tyler Johnson and Ben Hammond each added 13 points for the Hokies — and Hammond grabbed a season-high five boards — while Schutt chipped in 10 points. The Catamounts allowed some open 3-point looks by opting to go under some screens, and all three of those players each converted two treys.

In the frontcourt, Antonio Dorn and Christian Gurdak combined for nine points and 11 rebounds.

As good as the offense was, though — Tech shot 53 percent overall (34-for-64) and 48 percent from deep (13-for-27) — the defense left something to be desired, in Young’s opinion.

Behind Marcus Kell’s 21 points (7-for-12) and Justin Johnson’s 16 (4-for-7), Western Carolina made a 42 percent clip (24-for-57) and never went away. The Hokies also only won the rebounding battle 36-34.

“We’ve got to get better on that end,” Young said. “We’re still not rebounding to the level that we need to, and it’s going to cost us. Lacking physicality, lacking toughness on the glass. It’s just got to come on across the board.”

“Just play harder,” Hansberry said of Young’s message after the win. “Don’t play down to your competition. Make it about us, not about them. Build good habits, especially when we play teams that aren’t necessarily high major, so then when we do play teams that are high major, the habits just carry over.”

Two opponents stand between Tech and Christmas: Maryland Eastern Shore (Sunday, noon ET) and Elon (Dec. 20). Those are also the final tune-up opportunities before ACC play begins on New Year’s Eve vs. Virginia.

“We’re playing very good basketball,” Avdalas said. “I believe we’ve got work to do, for sure. We start the ACC in two games, so we’ve got to play these two games with all of our effort … to go into the ACC with good confidence.”

Box Score: Virginia Tech 96, Western Carolina 74