Virginia Tech returned to Cassell Coliseum after back-to-back road wins against Florida State and UVa but fell just short of capturing its third straight win, as the Hokies (10-13, 5-7 ACC) failed to knock off rookie ACC foe, the SMU Mustangs.
“I have great admiration for Virginia and Florida State,” Virginia Tech head coach Mike Young said. “SMU is better than those two teams… I thought our team played well again tonight, very well.”
The Mustangs (18-5, 9-3 ACC) marched into Cassell Coliseum for the first time in program history and took down the Hokies 81-75 in a back-and-fourth battle that came down to the wire.
Yet, even in a loss, Tech found ways to hang with SMU’s extremely productive offensive output, and initially, that was thanks to Hokies big man Mylyjael Poteat.
Entering the half, Poteat led the Hokies in points (9), rebounds (8), and assists (2); taking charge on the offensive end while being able to spread the floor. Poteat’s offensive efforts forced the Mustangs to double him in the post at times, and he took advantage of that, finding Ben Burnham in the corner for an open three-pointer to tie the ball game at 30 right before the half.
“The way they were guarding me, I felt pretty comfortable getting the ball,” Poteat said. “I had a chance to get some assists in there, and I felt like everything was flowing.”
Coming out of halftime, the Mustangs changed its defense from man to zone in hopes of containing Tech’s shooters on the perimeter and being able to crash on Poteat if he got the ball in the middle. Yet, this did not seem to bother Poteat or Tech.
“They went zone a little bit in the second half, and I ate that up with a couple assists back to back,” Poteat said. “I think I've always been a good passer. I think in this game, I was just in a good position for it.”
Poteat finished the contest with his first double-double since March 2022 with points (15) and rebounds (10), as well as picking up five assists and leading the team in all three categories. However, the big man was not the only Hokie producing on the offensive end.
Jaden Schutt, the redshirt sophomore transfer from Duke, has found his rhythm from beyond the arc this past week. Schutt knocked down three triples against Florida State last Wednesday, four against UVa in his first Commonwealth Clash on Saturday, and captured his third-straight game with 3+ three-pointers after connecting three times from long range against the Mustangs.
Schutt and Poteat both led the Hokies in scoring, finishing the contest with 15 points each , with Schutt shooting 50% from three. The only other Hokie in double-figure scoring was Ben Burnham.
Burnham racked up 12 points and buried two triples to help propel Tech into punching distance against the Mustangs. Yet, the effort from Tech's offense was not enough to hold SMU's highest-scoring offense in the ACC, outperforming Duke, Clemson, and Louisville, who each sit atop the Mustangs in conference standings.
“They are a good team, average what 83 points a game?” Poteat said, “They have a lot of talented players that hit shots.”
Tech is back in action on Saturday at 1:00 pm EST against Notre Dame, where it hopes to shake off the loss and knock down the Fighting Irish in South Bend.
“They are playing really hard, and they’re trying to do everything we give them to put ourselves in a position to win,” Coach Young said. “Every night we are doing that.”
