Not much went right for No. 15 Virginia Tech (4-1) on Tuesday night, losing their leg of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge to Penn State (3-1), 75-55
“They popped us right in the mouth and we didn’t respond very well. That’s a concern,” Head Coach Mike Young said. “We’ll get back after it tomorrow and try to figure some things out.”
Following an opening three-pointer from Hokies’ guard Wabissa Bede, Penn State went on a 17-0 run to start the game. Tech’s offense went cold for that six-minute stretch, turning the ball over five times and missing seven consecutive shots.
“That was my fault. After that shot, they came down and made some shots and you could tell, we started playing their game,” Bede said. “We’re not good at that style, and I just forced two quick shots right after that.”
Tech was able to make small runs through the remainder of the first half, but the closest the Hokies ever got was eight before the Nittany Lions pulled away.
The Hokies couldn’t get it figured out on the offensive end for the second consecutive game. After shooting 35% from the floor against VMI on Thursday, Tech shot just 37% against PSU and 27.3% from beyond the arc.
“I thought our shot selection was not very good at all, I’m shocked,” Young said. “It wasn’t just one person or two people. We just fell into the old trick of trying to get it all back in one shot, and that’s not the way it plays out.”
The terrible shooting was compounded by 10 first-half turnovers that put the Hokies in a hole early. Penn State didn’t turn the ball over until the 17-minute mark of the second half.
“I think that’s a microcosm of where we were defensively; we were on our heels,” Young said. “We chart deflections and contested passes, and we just simply weren’t good enough in that category and a number of categories.”
Last week, the Keydets shot poorly as well and Tech was able to escape with a seven-point win, but that wasn’t the case on Tuesday. The Nittany Lions shot 50% from the field and 12-23 from three-point range.
“We were letting them shoot right in our face for a lot of those threes and we weren’t contesting them,” Bede said. “We were kind of daring them, and they’re all great shooters.”
Surprisingly, it wasn’t Penn State’s leading scorer who dominated the Hokies. Seth Lundy entered the game averaging 22.3 points per game but was held scoreless on Tuesday night in Blacksburg.
It was junior guard Izaiah Brockington who led the way for the Nittany Lions with 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting. Brockington entered the day averaging just over 10 points in the Nittany Lions’ first three games.
“We couldn’t find a match-up for Brockington and we still can’t find one,” Young said. “I have a problem, I can only guard Tyrece Radford on one person, and that happened to be Lundy.”
The Hokies’ leading scorer, Keve Aluma, also had a down day for the first time this season. Aluma scored just eight points on 4-11 shooting and was a non-factor until midway through the second half. Despite his scoring woes, Aluma was able to pull down 12 rebounds.
Tech was led in scoring by sophomores Jalen Cone and Nahiem Alleyne. Cone drained three long-range jumpers in just his second game of the season, adding 11 points for the Hokies. Alleyne bounced back from a dreadful day against VMI and scored 10 against PSU.
It was a forgettable day all-around for the conference on the first day of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. After Miami came back against Purdue to win the first game of the event, the ACC dropped each of the next six games and is in a huge hole heading into day two.
The Hokies have a week to prepare for their next game when they’ll open conference-play against Clemson. Last year, Tech opened its ACC season with a win over the Tigers. Young hopes to repeat that feat and bounce back next Tuesday night.
“I don’t think it’s any deeper than Penn State came in here and flattened our nose and did so early,” Young said. “I’m surprised and disappointed in our response, but I’ve got good people back there, and we’ve got to work at it and knead it before we open league-play against Clemson. We’ll be better.”
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I thought the guards would respond better to the press and things would get better, but not so much. That was a complete game by PSU and will be a great teaching/coaching opportunity. Early days for a group that needs some tempering – they felt the fire last night.
I was pretty annoyed that the refs were calling touch fouls on us, but letting PSU get away with murder. Wouldn’t have mattered anyway since we couldn’t hit a free throw
I thought the same thing.
It’s hard to win with the opponent is making NBA style three-point baskets and shooting 50% from three
Not mentioned here was that the Hokies were 9-for-18 on free throws. What was that all about?
Well Duke got bet by 20 so it can happen to anyone.
Another brick in the wall of my 50-year loathing of Penn State. And, Lordy, we looked pitiful and helpless. B1G took it to the ACC last night.
Did our team get caught reading the AP Rankings in the Sports page?????
Seems like we got major complacent
PSU played like Villanova did in the 1984 Championship and Hokies played like they had cement boots on especially in the 1st half! 10 turnovers and 1-7 from the line in 1st half would likely close the door on any team! Throw in PSU shooting lights out from 3’s and FG’s just ensured that things snowballed for the rest of the game! Torture to watch, but for that type of game, just tip your hat to the winning team and move on!
PSU was in the zone, they were hitting over 50%. This was a bad game for Tech, but could be a great teaching game just the same. I do think Coach should’ve called a Time Out earlier when they got up by 8. If they had seen film on PSU they should’ve been prepared for their type of game and been patient to work toward Tech’s style.
I like Coach and think he is doing a good job, I think Tech just walked into a buzzsaw last night. So take a break, learn from the game and let’s take it too ’em the rest of the season.
GO HOKIES!!!
My take:
A “learning moment” for our future opponents: Be physical, you can beat Tech!
A “teaching moment” for CMY: Protect the ball, no turnovers and take good shots!
We will play a bunch of “Physical teams” in the ACC…
GO HOKIES!!!
Falls? More like gets whipped. This one was over after 5 min.
True, but I like Mike Young’s acknowledgement that they didn’t respond well and that’s a concern. Refreshing when compared to the explanation for other losses.
I’m a big Mike Young fan but I think he lost this game for us in the first 6-7 minutes. He waited until they scored 17 straight points in the opening minutes before calling a timeout. For a second I thought we had Buzz on the sidelines, I remember he would wait painfully too long to call a timeout when the other team was torching us. I just don’t understand watching your guys get overwhelmed (with their press), turn the ball over 5 times straights and let them run off 17 before calling timeout. You’d think after 10 straight a timeout would be automatic.
Couldn’t agree more. I was shocked that he let things get so out of control so early. I don’t think it would have made a difference based on PSU’s play, but it was still a mistake.
Back to Earth with a resounding THUD!
Once again, when MBB appears to be good, they take a dump.
Why wasn’t Redford switched to Brockington since he was hot
He was out on a movie set. Yeah, I’m that guy. ; )
Hold off on that contract extension with the large buyout Whit.
Shooting % was our Achilles heel last year, especially last 13 games. That was led by Nolley who I believe took about twice as many shots as anyone else. Hoping we get more down low baskets and push that % up. <40% isn't going to win many games.
Does Jake get paid or at least some college credit?
He makes the big bucks.