Blacksburg - Virginia Tech did what it has been unable to do across the start of ACC play: pull away for a comfortable win.
The Hokies rolled to an 89-76 win over Notre Dame (10-8, 1-4) behind a combined 43 points and 17 rebounds from Tobi Lawal and Amani Hansberry.
“Don’t feel sorry for yourself,” Lawal said of the team’s mentality heading into the game. “Three tough losses in conference play. That left a bad taste in our mouths.”
Despite the disappointing end to the SMU game, it seemed as if Virginia Tech (14-5, 3-3) found a groove on the offensive end through ball and player movement for much of the evening and that momentum carried into today's win.
The Hokies shot 51% from the floor, 35% from deep and 88% from the stripe on 32 attempts. After free throw struggles played a big part in Wednesday’s loss, Tech opened up with 24 consecutive made free throws.
With 8:19 left in the first half, Sir Mohammed (12 points, five rebounds) made a layup to cap off a 9-2 Notre Dame run and make the score 22-20 Virginia Tech.
The following play Neoklis Avdalas used an Amani Hansberry screen to draw in the defense before firing a leaping overhead pass to Ben Hammond who potted a triple from the right corner.
The Hokies got a stop and worked it around for 20 seconds before Avdalas drained a triple off the Jaden Schutt dish.
Hansberry and Christian Gurdak finished off a Virginia Tech 10-0 run with back to back layups that extended its lead to 32-20 with 5:34 remaining in the half. The Gurdak bucket was one of the highlights of the afternoon, as Avdalas backtracked to nearly half-court due to Notre Dame’s hedge before firing a rocket of an overhead pass between the defense to find Gurdak for an easy layup.
Avdalas finished with eight points and seven assists, but dominated the first half with his pick-and-roll decision making. Notre Dame head coach Micah Shrewsberry said all his team can do against the Hokies pick-and-roll is “pick your poison.”
There are three ways to defend the pick-and-roll:
(1) Play drop coverage and allow Avdalas to get downhill and either pull up in the mid range, take it all the way to the hoop or find the rolling big with either a pocket pass or a lob.
(2) Switch on the screen and allow Avdalas to go one-on-one against a slower center or dump it inside to the big who also has a mismatch.
(3) Aggressively hedge and force Avdalas to either thread the needle to the rolling big or swing it to three point shooters.
Avdalas has faced all three coverages this season and has struggled the most against hedges - specifically in the loss at Wake Forest. This was the scheme Notre Dame opted to run, but Avdalas picked it apart all half.
Virginia Tech picked up right where it left off at the beginning of the second half, rattling off a 10-0 run from the 17:22 to the 14:57 mark. With 12:06 remaining, a Jailen Bedford jumper extended the Hokies lead to 20 - by far its biggest advantage during ACC play.
Virginia Tech head coach Mike Young opted for a shorter rotation, with just seven players logging time. Antonio Dorn never saw the floor.
Despite coming off the bench, Lawal led the Hokies with 22 points and 11 rebounds in what was by-far his best performance since returning from injury. Lawal was very aggressive on the offensive end, taking smaller defenders into the post and drawing fouls. He shot 14-for-18 from the charity stripe, knocking down his first 10 attempts.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Lawal retakes his role in the starting lineup when the Hokies travel to Syracuse on Wednesday.
Hansberry was aggressive as always, scoring 21 points on 9-for-9 from the stripe. Gurdak didn’t have his best performance, scoring six points and grabbing just one rebound while dropping multiple passes from Avdalas in the first half.
Hammond (16 points) and Jailen Bedford (14 points) got in double figures out of the backcourt. Bedford is enjoying a return to form after struggling through some sort of funk throughout the month of December. As well as finding his range from behind-the-arc, Bedford is getting to the hoop where he is always under control, playing off of two feet. Perhaps his best offensive quality is his touch around the hoop, including his floater and hook shot.
Notre Dame held Jaden Schutt in check, scoring just two points. It was his first game of the season without a triple.
Virginia Tech also put together an impressive performance on the defensive end; particularly protecting the three point line. Notre Dame went just 6-for-24 from three point range.
This has become a theme for the Hokies as they’re opponents shoot just 29% from long range - good for the 22nd ranked three point defense in the country. Only two opponents have shot 40% or better from long range through 19 games.
Tech also shut down Notre Dame’s top scorer Jalen Haralson. Haralson took just six shots and scored eight points, while dealing with foul trouble and tight defensive pressure.
The only area Virginia Tech struggled in was defensive rebounding. It won the rebounding battle 32-30, but gave up 13 offensive rebounds despite having a size advantage on the interior. However, as Young explained after the game, many of the Irish’s offensive boards came on odd bounces.
“They have a lot of long rebounds and they’re guards do a good job of pursuing,” Young said.
Nonetheless, Virginia Tech finally got a comfortable win and did so in what was truly a must-win game for a team currently on the wrong side of the bubble.
The Hokies look to make it two in a row at Syracuse at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 21 in another game Tech really needs to boost its tournament resume.
