The Virginia Tech men’s basketball team put together their best half and arguably their worst half of the season on Saturday, beating Pitt 76-71 in a game where they led by 28 points, then had to hold on late.
The hard-fought win is Tech’s third straight, matching a mark they set in November. Mike Young’s team moved to 13-10 overall and 5-7 in the ACC with the victory.
Incredible shooting in the first half gifted the Hokies a massive lead, but they almost let it go in the second half, seeing what was a 28-point advantage reduced to just three in the final seconds.
The Hokies took a 49-22 lead into the break after shooting a scorching 75 percent from the field, including 76.9 percent from three. Tech only turned it over six times in the first half and went into the intermission with full control, but in the second half the Panthers came to play.
Pitt outscored Tech 49-27 in the second half. While Tech went from shooting 75 percent in the first half to just 38 percent in the second, Pitt went from 40 percent in the first half to 70 percent in the second, nearly pulling off what would have been an absolutely stunning comeback.
But Tech managed to hit its free throws late and escape with a win that Young hopes will serve them well ahead of Monday, when these two meet again in Blacksburg.
Storm Murphy scored a team-high 20 points while adding four assists, while Justyn Mutts had 16. Nahiem Alleyne had 11 of his 14 points in the first half, while Keve Aluma and Hunter Cattoor combined for just nine. Darius Maddox was big off the bench with nine points.
For Pitt, Femi Odukale scored a game-high 25 points.
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