Heard of a team that runs a pack-line defense, aggressively hedges on-ball screens and slows down the pace-of-play? That sounds awfully familiar.
Charlotte (2-2) head coach Aaron Fearne comes from the Tony Bennett coaching tree, serving as Ron Sanchez’ assistant coach from 2018 through 2023. Sanchez was both Virginia’s interim head coach a year ago and Bennett’s longtime assistant coach.
Fearne’s Virginia-inspired stout defense and deliberate pace-of-play gave the Hokies trouble, but Virginia Tech weathered the storm to pull away late and pick up an 84-76 win in Cassell Coliseum on Sunday. Bedford led the way with a season-high 21 points while Lawal tallied an 18-point, 15-rebound double double.
“They looked sad in the locker room and I told them, ‘hey man, winning is hard,’ and we’ll celebrate them all,” said Virginia Tech head coach Mike Young. “We weren’t our best and Charlotte had something to do with that.”
A 49ers 19-3 run cut the Hokies lead - once as great as 17 - to just one point with 9:31 remaining. That was when Virginia Tech finally made its run.
Two Tyler Johnson and Amani Hansberry free throws extended its lead to 64-59 with 6:56 remaining. The following play, Tobi Lawal grabbed the offensive board off of a Hansberry misfire, missed the putback attempt then fought it back one more time and drained a 5-foot floater.
Hansberry knocked in two free throws the following play before Jaden Schutt nailed a corner three to give the Hokies a 71-66 lead with 3:38 to go.
Neoklis Avdalas, who only had two points at the time, found his offensive aggression, drawing three fouls over the following three plays to get himself to the charity stripe. Avdalas swished all six free throws to extend Virginia Tech’s lead to 77-67 with 2:01 on the clock.
A Lawal jumper and Avdalas break away slam put the game on ice as the Hokies claimed their second clutch victory of the last two weeks to move to 4-0 on the young season.
“It helps us and keeps us humble,” Bedford said of winning another tight game. “We’re going to use this game as a reminder that we can still get beaten, but we’re going to keep our heads up and go on to next week.”
Virginia Tech shot well in the first half and Bedford had a big hand in that, scoring 16 of his 21 points in the first 20 minutes including three of four shooting from long range. His contribution was massive in a game in which Avdalas and Hansberry - the Hokies two leading scorers - shot just three-for-14 from the field.
“We were just getting the ball in the paint and allowing those guys to kick it out for a three,” Bedford explained as to why he got great looks from deep. “Those are the easiest plays we can make.”
The 49ers came in with a clear game plan of containing Avdalas. They blitzed every on-ball screen to get the ball out of his hands, and force him to pass out of double teams. Avdalas finished with just 10 points and two assists (zero turnovers), but had a number of hockey assists as he consistently found Hansberry, Lawal or Antonio Dorn near the free throw line, leading to kick-out corner threes for Bedford and Schutt.
Following the game, Young slightly tempered the expectations surrounding Avdalas.
“He’s not going to be superman,” Young said. “He’s really, really good, but if you think the kid’s going to kick in 22 points and hand out 12 assists every night, you’re wrong…He played another really good ball game and I’m proud of Avdalas.”
Even in an off-night on the offensive end, the Hokies proved that it’s pick-your-poison for opposing defenses. Blitz Avdalas and he’ll make the right read, allowing his teammates to play four-on-three. Leave his man on an island and watch Avdalas pour it on. Neither option sounds overly appealing for opponents.
Schutt continued his hot-start, matching his season-high with 12 points on four of eight shooting from beyond-the-arc. Schutt - an early-season ACC sixth man of the year candidate - has buried at least two triples in each of his four outings.
Lawal didn’t have his most efficient game - just five-for-12 from the field and one-for-five from three point range - but he made his presence known with timely buckets and incredible, high-flying rebounds.
At times, Virginia Tech struggled on the glass as it faced 7-foot-2 center Anton Bonke, who had 15 points and 10 rebounds and provided a size mismatch against any Hokie to match up with him (except for Antonio Dorn, who logged 13 minutes). Charlotte won the rebounding battle 42 to 39 and grabbed 17 offensive rebounds.
Still, Lawal used his near 50-inch vertical to sky for 15 rebounds, and was the only Hokie who could make a play on the ball with Donke in the area.
Along with winning the rebounding battle, the 49ers also outshot the Hokies by six percent. In a cold-shooting afternoon, Virginia Tech relied on its ball security (six turnovers) and free throw shooting (30 of 36) to pull out the win in a tightly-officiated game.
“Their tempo bothered us,” Young concluded. “They slowed the game down. We’ve got to be able to withstand different styles…That game will serve us well as we look ahead.”
Virginia Tech (4-0) returns to Cassell Coliseum at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 19 to take on the Bryant Bulldogs (1-3).
