Hokies Finish Non-Conference Play With 76-59 Win Over North Carolina A&T

On the afternoon preceding Virginia Tech’s bowl game showdown against Oklahoma State, the men’s basketball team faced North Carolina A&T. Last week was not a great one for the Hokies in terms of their performance, faltering late on the road at Kentucky and only scoring 63 points against a lackluster Presbyterian squad. Today’s win showed some of the same problems, but also was a much more positive than negative sign.

The Hokies jumped out to a 19-10 lead which later became a 38-20 halftime advantage. Virginia Tech still struggled with taking care of the basketball, turning it over eight times in the first 20 minutes but shot 58.6% from the field whereas the Aggies only converted on 24.1% of their shot attempts. Devin Wilson capped off the half with a steal and a layup as the buzzer sounded.

The Aggies actually ended up outscoring Tech in the second half 39-38, but that was primarily due to the Hokies’ second unit unable to knock down their open shots and control the game on the defensive end. Virginia Tech struggled to find their shooting rhythm all afternoon, making just 6-of-23 from downtown, which you almost never see in a home non-conference game.

Scoring was evenly spread throughout the roster because nearly everyone played at least 10 minutes. Ahmed Hill led the team with 14 points, staying consistent as a three-point threat going 4-of-7 from deep. PJ Horne, a surprising second with 10 points, was a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe.

Femi Olujobi of the Aggies led both teams in scoring with 21 points and hit on 4-of-5 from three.

Overall, this was a very boring game without a lot of energy from the crowd. Virginia Tech will have much more excitement soon, however, as they travel to Syracuse to begin conference play in three days.

Let’s see if the football team can follow suit and beat Oklahoma State later tonight.