Hokie ClubTALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Tobi Lawal scored 17 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and Jaden Schutt scored 16 points and Virginia Tech never trailed in beating Florida State 76-66 on Wednesday night inside the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center.
With the win, Mike Young secures his 400th career victory, becoming the third active ACC head coach to eclipse the mark.
Taylor Bol Bowen scored 14 points shooting 6 for 8 and finished a rebound shy of a double-double and reserve Jerry Deng scored 13 points for Florida State.
The two teams started with an exchange of baskets, and after Lawal made his second to give the Hokies a 4-2 they led the rest of the way. Rodney Brown Jr.'s layup with 9:54 before halftime made it 20-9. A little more than five minutes later, Ben Burnham threw down a dunk to push the margin to 25-11. Virginia Tech kept the pressure on with a 10-4 spurt to close the first half for a 35-15 lead.
Not until Bol Bowen's 3-pointer two-and-a-half minutes into the second half did Florida State reach 20 points and trailed by 19.
Florida State staged a methodical rally in a little more seven minutes to get within 49-43 on a layup by Daquan Davis with 8:08 remaining. But Ben Hammond, Schutt and Lawal made 3s in succession to make it 58-45.
Alier Maluk's dunk brought the Seminoles back with single digits for the last time at 61-52 with 4:09 left to play.
Virginia Tech (9-12, 4-6 ACC) travels to face Virginia on Saturday for the first meeting of the Smithfield Commonwealth Clash. Tipoff is slated for 4 p.m. inside John Paul Jones Arena.