BLACKSBURG – Ahmed Hill scored 19 points to lead No. 13 Virginia Tech to a 75-37 nonconference victory over Saint Francis on Saturday afternoon at Carilion Clinic Court.
Hill, a redshirt senior, scored 13 of his points in the second half to pace the Hokies, who moved to 5-0 on the season. He made 7 of 11 from the floor, including five 3-pointers. After a bit of a slow start in the first half, Hill connected on 5 of 6 from the floor in the second half.
Tech trailed a little more than seven minutes into the game, but got untracked by using a 12-0 run to take the lead for good. Hill started the run with a 3-pointer, P.J. Horne added two baskets, and Kerry Blackshear Jr. finished it with a bucket, as the Hokies built a 10-point lead.
Tech then closed the half with a 10-2 run – a run that started and ended with 3-pointers from Ty Outlaw. The Hokies led 33-22 at halftime and then scored on five of their first six possessions to start the second half, hitting 3-pointers on three of those possessions to pull away.
Outlaw scored 15 – all on 3-pointers – to lead a balanced Tech attack that saw four players reach double figures. The Hokies shot 47.4 percent from the floor and hit 14 3-pointers.
Myles Thompson led the Red Flash with 14 points. St. Francis scored just 15 points in the second half and made just six field goals. For the game, St. Francis made 25.9 percent from the floor.
(11/24/2018) 2018 MEN'S BASKETBALL vs. SAINT FRANCIS
QUOTES TO NOTE
Virginia Tech coach Buzz Williams
(On his team's 3-point field-goal shooting)
"When we get teams in rotation, those are the types of shots that we want. Any time the ball gets to the paint off the pass or the bounce, the opponent is probably in rotation defensively, and now it leads to a long close-out. Those are the 3's that we want to shoot. We need Ty [Outlaw] to exclusively shoot those balls. I think of the nine balls he shot, three of them were not exactly that. When he shoots those – the right shots – I think he'll shoot at a higher clip."
(On P.J.'s performance coming off the bench)
"What I've talked to P.J. about is playing mean. He's such a beautiful kid, and he's quiet by nature. He needs to have a little bit more meanness to how he plays, and I thought today some of that showed. Entering today, KJ [Kerry Blackshear Jr.] is averaging 20 minutes, 14 points and four rebounds and playing half the game. Today, he played half the game. We need P.J. to play mean, and we need KJ to not be hampered with foul trouble. Our play catalog shrinks significantly when K is not playing. Our ball-screen coverage changes negatively when KJ is not in. So many of his fouls are 32 feet from the basket, and somehow we've got to get to the point where P.J. is mean and we can play KJ when we want to play him."
(On whether he's looking forward to the first true road game coming up)
"Sure, see how we can close the month of November. We probably had 300 fans there, if you count my family, in Charleston on Sunday. I think Purdue probably had 4,700. It felt like a road game, but this will be the first straight up road game. It's almost circa 2014. I think that's who we played in our first ACC/Big Ten Challenge [a 61-58 loss]."
GAME NOTES
• Tech's field-goal percentage defense was its best of the season.
• Horne scored a season-high eight points, hitting 4 of 6 from the floor. He went into the game having scored just seven points in the Hokies' first four games.
• Outlaw also registered a season high in points, hitting 5 of 9 from the floor – all 3-pointers. The redshirt senior had scored just 11 points in the Hokies' three wins in the Charleston Classic before heating up against Saint Francis.
• Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 11 points and now has scored in double figures in all five games this season.
• Hill's five 3-pointers were a season high.
• Tech's 14 3-pointers tied a season high. The Hokies also drilled 14 in their win over Northeastern in the Charleston Classic.
TWEET OF THE GAME
#HOKIES WIN!
— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) November 24, 2018
Tech remains undefeated on the season with the win over Saint Francis! 🦃🏀 pic.twitter.com/JePYjyNoRJ
UP NEXT
The Hokies will play their first true road game of the season when they travel to State College, Pennsylvania for a Tuesday night game against Penn State as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The game tips at 7 p.m.