The Tech Lunch Pail is excited to announce the launch of the new TLP Insider subscription. Sign up for an account and get the best news, inside scoops, and analysis on the Hokies! Learn more

Virginia Tech Falls to No. 10 Duke 77-63

Image2
Photo Credit: Dave Knachel/Virginia Tech Athletics

Virginia Tech put together another strong first half claiming a halftime lead but eventually, the Hokies' offense fell apart with No. 10 Duke finding their rhythm on the Blue Devils' way to a comfortable victory.

Virginia Tech came up short against No. 10 Duke 77-63 to fall to 6-3 on the season and 1-1 in ACC play while Duke improved to 9-1 overall and 1-0 in ACC play.

After only 4 first half turnovers, the Hokies' offense became turnover prone with 10 second half turnovers, 6 of which came from Landers Nolley. The Hokies did well early attacking the paint at one point holding a 22-8 advantage, but finished with only a 40-36 advantage. Tech's three-point shooting was also off as the Hokies were 5-20 from deep, but were efficient inside the arc as they shot 48.2% from the field overall.

P.J. Horne led the Hokies with 15 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks on 6-13 shooting from the field including 3-8 from three-point range. Tyrece Radford was extremely efficient with 12 points and 7 rebounds on 6-7 shooting while Wabissa Bede had a strong game with 12 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, and only 2 turnovers on 6-10 shooting. Landers Nolley struggled being held scoreless in the second half on his way to finishing with 7 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, and 9 turnovers.

Game Recap

After a slow opening minute for both teams, Virginia Tech surged to a 11-3 lead thanks to a 9-0 run launched by a three from P.J. Horne with the Hokies leading 15-8 at the first media timeout with 13:45 left in the first half. Tech came out of the MTO fast with a quick 5-0 run followed by a 5-0 run for Duke making it a 20-13 Tech lead.

From there, the Hokies and Blue Devils went back and forth with Tech leading 26-17 before Duke went on a 6-0 run to cut it to a 26-23 Tech lead. Tech and Duke traded buckets for a few minutes with Tech leading 30-25 when Duke called a timeout with 4:52 to go in the first half. Tech and Duke kept trading buckets with the Blue Devils cutting the lead to 35-34 at one point before Tech took a 41-38 lead into halftime after a Tre Jones bucket just before time expired.

The Hokies were able to get lots of shots inside 10 feet and took advantage with a 26-18 points in the paint advantage and a 4-2 offensive rebounding advantage. Tech was efficient from the field shooting 52.9% from the field, but only 4-13 (30.8%) from three-point range while Duke was 45.5% from the field including 6-17 (35.3%) from three-point range.

P.J. Horne led the way for the Hokies in the first half with 10 points an 3 rebounds while Tyrece Radford had 8 points and 6 rebounds on an efficient 4-5 shooting from the field. Landers Nolley was also efficient with 7 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists, but 3 of Tech's 4 turnovers while Wabissa Bede had 6 points, 3 assists, and 2 rebounds.

Vernon Carey Jr. led the way for Duke with 10 points and 5 rebounds after a slow to start. Matthew Hurt had 8 points, while Tre Jones had only 5 points and 2 assists, and Duke's third-leading scorer Cassius Stanley was held scoreless.

Tech started the second half fast with a pair of buckets to extend the lead to 45-38, drawing a Duke timeout with 18:56 to go. Duke came out of the timeout well with a 6-0 run to cut the Tech lead to 45-44 before trading buckets to give Tech a 47-46 lead at the media timeout with 13:57 to go. Duke claimed their first lead since the early minutes of the game out of the media timeout with a quick bucket before extending their lead to 50-47.

Tech turned it around quickly with a 5-0 run to reclaim the lead with Duke taking the lead back via a 6-1 swing to make it a 56-53 Duke lead. Tech was able to cut it to 1, but Duke went on a 6-0 run to extend their lead to 62-55 with Tech calling timeout with 7:10 to go. After a Tech bucket soon after the timeout, Duke opened their lead back up with a 11-0 run to take a 73-57 lead. Tech and Duke went back and forth the rest of the way on the Blue Devils' way to a 77-63 victory over the Hokies.

Advertisement
You must login in order to comment on this post.
Loading Indicator