Virginia Tech defeated Cal State Northridge 72-56 in the opening round of the 76 Classic in Anaheim on Thursday afternoon. The Hokies dominated the first half, were sloppy for the final 20 minutes, but coasted to the easy win. They are now 3-1 on the season, and they’ll play the winner of the Oklahoma State-DePaul game on Friday.
Dorenzo Hudson played his best game of the season against the Matadors. Hudson attacked the rim aggressively and hit pull-up jumpers, leading the way with 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting. Malcolm Delaney had 17 points, and he was 6-of-11 from the field and 3-of-6 from three-point range. Delaney only attempted three free throws, hitting two of them. His field goal percentage has been much higher over the last two games.
Jeff Allen fouled out, but not before he finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds. His frontcourt partner, Victor Davila, had his best game of the season with 10 points and six rebounds.
Manny Atkins came off the bench to score five points for the Hokies, including a big three-pointer in the second half.
Tech shot 52.7% from the field, while limiting the Matadors to just 33.3%. Cal State Northridge also had 25 turnovers, nearly 20 of which came in the first half. Those turnovers helped the Hokies pull out to a 38-18 halftime lead, and though the Matadors played much better in the second half, they could never cut the lead to single digits.
Unfortunately, the Hokies suffered another injury. Sophomore guard Erick Green stole a pass and broke away for a layup in the first half, but he landed funny on his leg and suffered a pulled calf muscle. He didn’t return to the game, and his status for the remainder of the tournament is unknown.
Virginia Tech will play Oklahoma State tomorrow at 2:30pm on ESPN.
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