Finally! Virginia Tech finally had a road game where we shot well and had a convincing win. Now Miami isn’t a great team, but they are still a well-coached ACC team. The game was tight at the half before Virginia Tech took it to Miami right out of the gates in the second. Nickeil Alexander-Walker had a big performance and stuffed the stat sheet. Take a look at what worked and what to take from this game moving forward...

Overcoming the Shooting Slump

Despite being 1-3 on the road this season and shooting/scoring much worse than at home, the Hokies seemingly have overcome those issues...or at least did against Miami. Tech shot about 59% from the field and about 47% from three. This game was if nothing else, a big confidence booster heading into a ranked match-up at NC State on Saturday.

Big Performances:

As mentioned before, Nickeil Alexander-Walker had a big game against the Canes. He put up 25 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, and 6 steals in a solid outing. To compliment him, Justin Robinson and Ahmed Hill combined to add another 38 points for the Hokies on an efficient shooting night. If Tech can continue to defend like they have been as a team, and then get solid offensive performances (basically not shooting horrible), they can be a dangerous team.

Quick Side Notes:

Just to mention a couple of things to reference moving forward: Justin Robinson left early with an ankle injury. He went to the locker under his own power and seemed to be ready to go if the game became close again, but watch for updates as the week progresses.

Another stat to look at was that Blackshear Jr. fouled out. He struggled with foul trouble early this season but had seemed to overcome that issue recently. However, he picked up two early fouls and was restricted because of that. It didn’t hurt us tonight, but it could be crucial in a closer game.

So to recap, we only won this game by 12, but Miami hit some garbage time threes and we slowed down when Robinson went out. We had a 21 point lead at one point and were running away with the game. On paper, it’s a solid road win, but if you watched the game it was much more convincing than the box score shows. This is a building block going into the rest of conference play. With a healthy team that shoots to our averages, we’ll be very tough to beat.

Be sure to watch for out Virginia Tech vs NC State preview (game is Saturday at noon) later this week. Big games coming up, hopefully the Hokies can continue this momentum going forward. And always...

GO HOKIES!!!