Bad Defense And Turnovers Doom Virginia Tech Yet Again

Virginia Tech played good basketball against Notre Dame, North Carolina and Louisville. However, the Hokies played one of their worst games of the season on Sunday night against Pitt, falling 90-71 to drop to 12-10 overall and 4-5 in ACC play. The Panthers improved to 17-4 overall and 6-3 in the ACC.

Turnovers and defense were the difference in this game. The Hokies committed 20 turnovers, and Pitt capitalized by scoring 33 points off those turnovers. Pitt shot 52.9% from the field - partially because of easy shots off those turnovers, and partially because of bad Virginia Tech defense in the halfcourt.

The Hokies shot 23-of-51 (45.1%) from the field and 11-of-21 (52.4%) from three point range. However, another bad defensive performance sent them to their fourth consecutive loss.

In nine ACC games, Virginia Tech has allowed the following amount of points...

NC State: 68
UVA: 68
Duke: 82
Wake Forest: 91
Georgia Tech: 77
Notre Dame: 83
UNC: 75
Louisville: 91
Pitt: 90

As well as the Hokies have played offensively for most of the year, they haven't played well on the defensive end of the court. They have been able to overcome that for most of ACC play because they've won the turnover battle, but on Sunday night their 20 turnovers greatly outpaced Pitt's 13 turnovers, and points off turnovers were a whopping 33-4 in Pitt's favor.

Virginia Tech had four players score in double figures...

Seth Allen: 28 points, 5-of-5 from 3-point range
Jalen Hudson: 13 points in 15 minutes (all in the second half because of foul trouble)
Justin Bibbs: 12 points, 6 rebounds
Zach Leday: 12 points, 9 rebounds

The Hokies are playing well this year on the offensive end of the court, and they've made a lot of progress since last season. However, their progress will come to a dead stop until they get better on the defensive end of the floor.

Tech returns to action on Tuesday night when they take on Syracuse in the Carrier Dome. Tipoff is scheduled for 8pm, and the game will be televised by The ACC Network. Check your local listings.