Virginia Tech basketball: Hokies pick up win over VMI to remain undefeated

The No. 16 Virginia Tech Hokies defeated the VMI Keydets on Thursday night in Blacksburg 64-57, to move to 4-0 on the season.

Virginia Tech went into halftime with a 30-23 lead, despite struggling from the field. VMI came out hot in the second half, outscoring the Hokies 18-9 to take a 41-39 lead with around 10 minutes remaining in the game.

Once VMI extended its lead to 45-41, the Hokies went on a 12-2 run to take a 53-47 lead at the final media timeout.

That final run proved to be decisive as the Hokies would pull away and avoid a major upset at home.

Keve Aluma had another strong performance for Tech, scoring 17 points and pulling down 12 rebounds. Tyrece Radford scored 13 points and finished with six rebounds.

Justyn Mutts quietly had another solid performance for Mike Young’s bunch as he scored 10 points, had nine rebounds and six assists.

Jalen Cone made his first appearance of the season, playing 14 minutes and scoring three points. He was one of four from the field.

Young will have several coaching points after this performance. The Hokies were bad from the field, shooting just 35 percent as a team. They were even worse from beyond the arc, making only four of 27 attempts.

Fortunately, the Hokies hit their free throws late in the game and survived.

Virginia Tech next takes the court on Dec. 12 against Penn State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.