Virginia Tech led by nine at halftime, but had to rally from a five-point second-half deficit to defeat Oklahoma State, 70-65, on Sunday at the Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational in Brooklyn.
Good win for Tech (10-1, KenPom: 28), which continues to impress in the early part of the 2022-2023 schedule.
This one was the third KenPom Top 50 win for the Hokies (Penn State, North Carolina).
Oklahoma State (6-4, KenPom: 35) falls to 0-2 in KenPom Top 50 games this season.
Tech led 34-25 at the break, but the Cowboys outscored the Hokies 22-7 over the first 8:35 of the second half to go up 47-42 with 11:25 to go on a Moussa Cisse free throw.
A Sean Pedulla three tied it at 47 with 9:53 to go, and Tech took the lead for good at 62-60 on a pair of free throws by Mylyjael Poteat with 1:59 to go.
The free throws ignited a 7-0 run that put the Hokies in control.
Pedulla had 16 points on 6-of-16 shooting to lead Virginia Tech, which also got 13 points from Justyn Mutts and 12 from Grant Basile.
Kalib Boone and Avery Anderson III each had 15 points to lead Oklahoma State.