#13 Virginia Tech Beats North Carolina A&T 82-60

Editor

December 20, 2018, 03:00 AM

After picking up a big win against Washington, Virginia Tech seemed to have a slight hangover for the first few minutes. However, the Hokies eventually found some rhythm on their way to an easy victory over North Carolina A&T. The Hokies beat North Carolina A&T to improve to 10-1 on the season while North Carolina A&T fell to 4-7. With the in, the Hokies are poised to have only one loss in non-conference for the second time in the past three seasons with only Maryland Eastern Shore left. Virginia Tech started the game slow with lots of turnovers and sloppy play. However, the Aggies weren't able to take advantage and after 8 turnovers in the first 12 minutes, VT closed the first half with no turnovers in the final 8 minutes to take a 36-23 lead at the break. In the second half, VT continued to open up the margin with a solid second half performance that gave VT the chance to try out some different lineups. A big positive came on the offensive glass as the Hokies had 15 offensive rebounds while only allowing 3 to the Aggies. Regardless of opponent, that is a very big positive for a VT team that has once again had some struggles rebounding the basketball. VT was fairly efficient shooting 49.2% from the field, but their best work came from the free-throw line going 15-17 from the charity stripe. VT's 12 turnovers weren't great but having only 4 turnovers after the first 12 minutes of the game was a step in the right direction.

Player of the Game: Nickeil Alexander-Walker

Nickeil Alexander-Walker was once again the star of the game for the Hokies with 20 points on an impressive 8-14 shooting from the field. In addition to that, Alexander-Walker continued to force turnovers at a high rate with 4 steals while he also had 3 assists and 2 rebounds in a strong performance for the Hokies' sophomore. Kerry Blackshear came just short of a double-double tonight with 17 points and 9 rebounds along with 3 assists. Blackshear did well staying out of foul trouble in the first half with only one foul though he had a pair of fouls relatively early in the second half. Justin Robinson had a productive night with 14 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists in a solid game for the senior point guard. Ahmed Hill didn't have a great shooting night, but he found ways to score with 11 points along with 7 rebounds. PJ Horne was productive off the bench with 13 points and 6 rebounds. Ty Outlaw struggled with only 3 points, but he did have 5 rebounds in another solid rebounding night for the Hokies' wing. Meanwhile, Isaiah Wilkins and Wabissa Bede each had 2 points off the bench. Virginia Tech did what they were supposed to taking care of business against a bad NC A&T team to get to double-digit wins before Christmas.