Virginia Tech finished their regular season strong with an 82-76 win against Notre Dame. This continued a trend of great home play for the Hokies this season, with a record of 14-2 at home, compared to just 2-9 in true road games.
Unfortunately, the Hokies won’t get the privilege of playing in Cassell Coliseum any more this year (unless it's in the NIT), and they’ll have to win on a neutral court, of which they are 2-2 on the season, at the ACC Tournament in Washington D.C. if they want to reach March Madness.
While this was a close game, with neither team ever taking a lead greater than 10 points, Virginia Tech stayed in control from start to finish, holding the lead for about 35 minutes. Interestingly, Notre Dame actually shot better at 52% from the field and 41% from long range, compared to 44% and 24% splits for the Hokies.
However, Virginia Tech more than made up for their slight shooting woes by grabbing 15 offensive rebounds and winning the overall rebounding battle 39-28.
One player who didn’t have trouble knocking down shots was Sean Pedulla, who capped off an up and down season with a monster 28-point, 6-rebound performance. While he went 0-5 from three point range, Pedulla dominated throughout the mid range and in the paint, including a couple amazing finishes around the basket.
Pedulla was joined in double figures by MJ Collins and Tyler Nickel, who each finished with 15 points. Both of these players are set to play massive roles next season, with sharpshooter Hunter Cattoor graduating, so it’s encouraging to see them playing their best basketball down the stretch of the season.
MJ Collins, specifically, overcame significant shooting struggles at the start of the season, as he went 0-11 from long range over the first seven games of the season. Since then, Collins has shot 31% from long range, which is still far from where he wants to be, but at least makes defenses have to respect his jump shot. Now, Collins has made a three-pointer in 13 of his last 16 games and has knocked down three triples in each of his last two outings.
Meanwhile, the three available players that were celebrating Senior Day: Hunter Cattoor, Mylyjael Poteat, and Robbie Beran; all had solid performances. Cattoor, the Hokies all time leader in three pointers, couldn’t get it going from long range (1-6), but finished with nine points and three assists, and shot a perfect 4-4 from the charity stripe.
Poteat, who has made a tremendous impact as the team’s back up center, got the start with Lynn Kidd out due to injury, and finished with eight points and eight rebounds. Finally, Robbie Beran overcame a rough shooting night to pack the stat sheet with two points, six rebounds, three assists, and three blocks.
Despite the loss, Notre Dame deserves a lot of credit for the way they finished out the season, starting just 2-10 in ACC play, before winning five of their last eight games of the season, including a win over Virginia Tech a month ago. Their rise over the last eight games has been partly because of continued improvement from freshman star Markus Burton, who finished this game with 24 points, 4 boards, and 4 assists. With those 24 points, Burton set the all time Notre Dame Freshman scoring record with 525 points over the course of the season. Burton was one of four for for the Irish to score in double figures along with Tae Davisk, Julian Roper ll, and Braeden Shrewsberry
With this win, Virginia Tech has secured the eight seed in the ACC Tournament, and therefore gets a much needed first-round bye. The Hokies road to an ACC Championship will begin at noon on Wednesday March 13th, in a battle against the Florida State Seminoles. Virginia Tech is 1-1 against Florida State this season, with each team having won on their own court, so the Hokies have a chance to prove their superiority on a neutral court.
The Hokies have a tall task ahead of them, as they almost certainly will have to win the ACC Tournament to reach March Madness.
