Virginia Tech (9-11, 1-6) avenged a double overtime loss to Pitt last season by beating the Panthers at home Tuesday night, 70-67. Adam Smith led the Hokies with 26 points, 6 of which came by him hitting two of the biggest shots of his career. Malik Muller also helped the Hokies off the bench with 24 points and 4 rebounds.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Here are the two long bombs by <a href="https://twitter.com/AdamIIILM">@AdamIIILM</a> (Adam Smith) in tonight's OT win. Assassin. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Hokies?src=hash">#Hokies</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/VT_MBBall">@VT_MBBall</a> <a href="http://t.co/iQq32f4hla">pic.twitter.com/iQq32f4hla</a></p>— Chad Willis (@ChadWillis) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChadWillis/status/560262325903822852">January 28, 2015</a></blockquote>
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The win marks the first ACC victory for VT and first-year coach Buzz Williams and ends a 7 game losing skid for the Hokies.
Virginia Tech was able to put a tough loss to UVA behind them by maintaining their defensive intensity, hitting open shots and knocking down free throws. The little things make all of the difference for VT, especially with such a slim margin for error.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>A final from Cassell, as the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Hokies?src=hash">#Hokies</a> take down Pitt in OT, 70-67. Smith finishes with 26 pts.</p>— VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) <a href="https://twitter.com/VT_MBBall/status/560261382667792384">January 28, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Pittsburgh (13-8, 3-5) was led by Jamel Artis and Cameron Wright who combined for 31 points on the evening. Overall, the Panthers played a typical tough-minded, high efficiency Pitt basketball game, but this team has struggled on the road this season and Tuesday night was no different.
Next up for the Hokies will be a road trip to Wake Forest this Saturday afternoon with tip-off scheduled for 2:00pm.
Go Hokies!