For 25 minutes, Virginia Tech was arguably playing their best basketball of the season on their way to claiming a 22-point lead. However, things went haywire after that with California clawing all the way back to a tie with five minutes to go.
However, the Hokies retook control with a 9-0 run and never let go of the lead again on the way to victory, even as Cal made one last surge in the closing minutes.
Virginia Tech beat California 71-68 to improve to 7-9 on the season including 2-3 in ACC play while the Golden Bears fell to 8-8 overall including 1-4 in ACC play.
The Hokies dominated the first half outscoring California 42-23 while shooting 61.5% (16-26) from the field and going 3-4 from three-point range. Meanwhile, Tech's defense was stout early on holding the Golden Bears to 16.1% (5-31) from the field.
While the Hokies were very efficient as a whole in this game, the issue became the extra opportunities with Cal having only two turnovers compared to 13 for the Hokies along with having a 17-7 offensive rebounding edge. That led to Cal having 19 more shot attempts (68 to 49) plus four more free throw attempts (21 to 17).
If you're going to allow that large of a margin, you better be very efficient for 40 minutes. Fortunately for the Hokies, they were just that finishing the game 57.1% (28-49) from the field while holding Cal 32.4% (22-68) from the field including 25.9% from three-point range. The Hokies did a lot of their work inside the paint, taking a 34-30 points in the paint edge that proved crucial in the end.
It was a balanced day overall, but no Hokie stood out more than Tyler Johnson who had his first career double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds while shooting 5-7 from the field. The freshman guard continues to be one of the bright spots for this team and looks like he could develop into a star in the future.
Jaydon Young played well off the bench with a team-high 14 points on 6-11 shooting plus four rebounds and three assists while Brandon Rechsteiner made his second-straight start with Ben Hammond out due to injury, and had 12 points and three rebounds including seven in the opening few minutes. Mylyjael Poteat rounded out those in double figures with 12 points and three rebounds in this game.
Rodney Brown Jr had a strong return to Berkeley with six points, five assists, and three rebounds while Tobi Lawal added eight points, eight rebounds, and a block. Ben Burnham had five points and a rebound while Patrick Wessler added three points and four rebounds, and Jaden Schutt had a very quiet game with only two rebounds.
This Virginia Tech team will likely be underdogs the rest of the season, but they are continuing to punch above their roster talent weight and find ways to win, as Mike Young continues to get the most he can out of his team. And of course, it's nice to get a win before a long, cross-country flight rather than a brutal loss after you were up by 22 at one point.
