The Virginia Tech Hokies (12-16, 7-10 ACC) narrowly lost to the No. 19 Louisville Cardinals (22-6, 15-2) 71-66 in a hard-fought battle in Blacksburg that came down to the final minute.
Despite trailing by eight at halftime, Tech showed resilience against a top-25 opponent that had only lost two conference games all season.
“I am elated with our team's competitive spirit, and they did some really good things,” Virginia Tech head coach Mike Young said postgame. “They fought like crazy and Louisville’s got a good basketball team. Consequently, they are ranked 19th in the country, they've got good pieces, and make some things hard on you.”
Like their matchup against Miami, the Hokies' starters struggled early, but the bench stepped up. Brandon Rechsteiner (18 pts, 6-10 FG, 4-7 3FG), Ben Burnham (13 pts, 5-11 FG, 3-7 3FG), and Jaydon Young (11pts, 4-12 FG, 3-7 3FG) all reached double figures, with Tyler Johnson (12 pts, 4-7 FG, 1-2 3FG) being the only starter to reach that feat.
“Tip of the cap to Jaydon Young, Ben Burnham, Brandon Rechsteiner, (they) helped our team,” Young said. “Tyler Johnson had a couple good plays”
The Hokies found themselves in a familiar situation early on—struggling to score and quickly falling behind. Tech failed to register a point in the first four and a half minutes, allowing Louisville jump out to an 11-0 lead. It wasn’t until Burnham hit a three-pointer that the Hokies finally got on the board, but even then, their offensive struggles persisted. The Cardinals extended their lead to 16-3 with just over 14 minutes remaining in the first half, leaving Tech in an early hole.
“Good god we were down 11 to start the game, and thank goodness here comes Burnham here to steady the ship a little bit,” Young said. “We go in the half down eight. I am pleased with Ben Burnham and his competitive nature.”
Thanks to the Hokies reserves, Tech scrambled out of a 13-point deficit, clawing back to within eight at the break (34-26). After a rocky start, Tech played well for most of the game, but the final moments highlighted the gap between a top 25 team and a Hokies squad still searching for consistency.
After cutting the deficit to one (67-66) with under two minutes remaining, Tech’s execution faltered. Louisville drained 52 seconds off the clock with three consecutive offensive rebounds, preventing the Hokies from regaining possession. Down by three with under a minute left, Tech needed a quick basket, but Rechsteiner threw an errant pass out of bounds over the head of Burnham, which was the Hokies' 21st turnover of the game.
The life seemed to be sucked out of Cassell, but the game was not over yet.
Cardinals guard Chucky Hepburn, who led Louisville in scoring (15 pts, 5-12 FG, 1-3 3FG), turned the ball over on the ensuing possession, giving the Hokies the ball back down three with 26 seconds remaining.
Mike Young called a timeout and took the time to come up with a game plan for what seemed like the Hokies' final play in the hopes of a tie, and forcing overtime.
But regardless of the concept drawn up at the break, it was once again a lack of execution that sealed the Hokies' fate in another tough ACC loss.
The play was designed for Rechsteiner to have a look for three after coming off a pindown screen right in front of Tech’s bench, but he was unable to draw enough separation between himself and the Cardinal defenders.
Young held the ball at the top of the key and looked to force it to Rechsteiner with nine seconds left, but the passing lane was clogged. This led Rechsteiner to fumble the pass out of bounds, giving Louisville the ball back for game-sealing free throws.
This was the Hokies' 22nd turnover of the game.
“22 turnovers…Miserable,” Mike Young said with his head in his hands postgame.
This is even more disappointing considering the Hokies just came off a win at Miami where they tallied only five turnovers. Still, as Mike Young reiterated, the Cardinals are a different squad than the Hurricanes.
“Miami doesn't guard anything, and Louisville guards,” Young said.
The Hokies continue their three-game home stretch on Saturday, March 1st at noon when the Syracuse Orange (11-16, 5-11) visit Cassell Coliseum.
