BLACKSBURG, Va. – Virginia Tech played with a high level of intensity of both ends of the floor Tuesday night on its way to a 74-67 victory over Duke.
The Hokies jumped out to an 18 point lead in the first half behind a stellar performance from Tyrece Radford, who tallied 18 points and 12 rebounds — his first double-double of the season. Virginia Tech also stepped up on defense by forcing 12 turnovers and turning them into 13 points. Keve Aluma added 17 points and seven rebounds and Jalen Cone dropped 14 points off the bench.
Duke fought hard in the second half behind a strong performance from Jeremy Roach who led with a game-high 22 points. Big man Matthew Hurt contributed 20 points and brought the Blue Devils within 1 point. But the Hokies defense was strong down the stretch, holding Duke to just 35 percent shooting from the field.
“I was pleased with their, you know, their patience there,” said Virginia Tech head coach Mike Young.
“Basically just telling the team we got to go, you know, don’t worry about the run that they went on, don’t worry about the score right now because honestly that could come back at any moment. So it’s like 0-0 just tell them to keep just keep going don’t take your foot off the gas,” said Hokies guard Tyrece Radford.
