Virginia Tech loses an offensive shootout at #23 Miami
Offense stole the show on both ends of the court on Tuesday night but it was the #23 Miami Hurricanes that came out victorious, defeating the Virginia Tech Hokies by a final score of 92-83. It was a close game throughout the entire contest until a late scoring burst from the perimeter saw Miami take the lead for good.
That scoring burst came from Nijel Pack who scored all 17 of his points on the night within a 5-minute span. Pack was held in check most of the game but during that stretch he kept losing his defender and Virginia Tech couldn’t sort it out enough to really make a comeback. It wasn’t just Pack, however, with Norchad Omier finishing with 21 points and 8 rebounds in the game while going 9 of 12 from the field. These two really told the story on the night as Omier was consistent throughout the game and Pack came through when it mattered most.
Isaiah Wong and Jordan Miller weren’t far behind though and showed off the talent that Miami has along the backcourt. Wong scored 16 points in the first half and finished with 18 points in the game along with 5 steals. Hunter Cattoor was the defensive specialist against this Miami team and did really well on Pack in the first half before switching to Wong in the second half but the Hokies struggled to guard whichever one Cattoor was not guarding. Then Miller added in 14 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists in the game to complete the show of offensive firepower.
Virginia Tech had some moments of brilliance on offense but the lack of stopping power, along with a string of missed shots at the end, spelled out the Hokies demise. Hunter Cattoor was the best player for Virginia Tech on the night, finishing with 20 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists, along with being the defensive stopper, but Sean Pedulla matched him and scored 20 points, 3 assists, and 2 steals. It was a tough night of turnovers for the Hokies and Pedulla was part of that with 6 turnovers on his own and 14 for the team as a whole.
Grant Basile had another solid outing with 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists but had some struggles from the field, going 7-15 on field goal attempts. Justyn Mutts finished with 10 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks and had some highlight reel plays but could not find the right spots to attack as time was winding down. The Hokies bench did go a perfect 5-5 from the field with Mylyjael Poteat getting 8 points and Lynn Kidd getting 6 points, but there was not enough of a scoring spark to make up the difference.
This loss isn’t a tournament killer for the Hokies but they don’t have much longer before the wins need to start to pile up in a hurry. The game against Virginia in Blacksburg on Saturday is looking more and more like a must-win game and the team will have to pick up their defensive effort and turn the ball over closer to the rate they did at the beginning of the season when Virginia Tech was Top 10 in turnovers. The team shot well but in order to make the NCAA Tournament so things have to change and momentum needs to swing in the Hokies direction.
