Virginia Tech basketball: No. 20 Hokies take down No. 12 Virginia in Blacksburg

The No. 20 Virginia Tech Hokies picked up a big win over the No. Virginia Cavaliers, 65-51, in Blacksburg on Saturday night.

The win marks another win for Virginia Tech head coach against a top-10 team and his first against Virginia coach Tony Bennett.

It was certainly a tale of two halves for the Hokies. Virginia went into halftime, holding an eight-point lead. The Hokies went scoreless in the final six minutes of the half after a brief run.

The Hoos came out hot in the second half as both Jay Huff and Trey Murphy III knocked down 3s to keep UVa’s lead at eight points. However, Virginia Tech guard Jalen Cone knocked down a pair of 3s to keep the Hokies close.

At around the 15:28 mark, Huff scored again to make it 39-29, Wahoos. Hunter Cattoor then connected from deep, followed by a Keve Aluma bucket. Going with the theme of the game up to this point, Virginia answered as Sam Hauser was good from beyond the arc.

Cattoor made another 3-pointer with under eight minutes remaining in the game, which set off a 19-0 Virginia Tech run and sealed an impressive win for the Hokies. The Cavaliers would score just four points in the final eight minutes.

Considering the Hokies were without sophomore guard Tyrece Radford, this win is even more impressive.

With the win, Tech improves to 13-3 on the season and 7-2 in ACC play. Virginia drops to 11-3 and 7-1 in league play. The Hokies sit just a half-game behind the Cavaliers atop the ACC.

Virginia Tech travels to Pittsburgh on Wednesday to face a much-improved Panthers’ squad.

Aluma led the Hokies with 29 points and 10 rebounds. Aluma scored 16 points in the first half. Cattoor chipped in with 15 points and, as a team, the Hokies shot 50% from 3-point range.

They should just hand Mike Young the ACC coach of the year award right now.