BLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech guard Ahmed Hill scored a game-high 24 points to lead No. 13 Virginia Tech to a 94-40 nonconference win over Central Connecticut State at Carilion Clinic Court on Saturday.
With the win, the Hokies moved to 6-1 on the season, while Central Connecticut State fell to 4-5.
Looking like a totally different player than the one who took the court Tuesday against the Nittany Lions – he missed all six of his field-goal attempts in 38 minutes – Hill connected on 9 of 13 from the floor Saturday and tied a career high with six 3-pointers. Behind him, the Hokies (6-1) rebounded from a 63-62 loss to the Nittany Lions in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Hill's game was part of a record-setting evening for the Hokies, who set a school record by making 18 3-pointers against the Blue Devils (4-5). Virginia Tech made 18 of 33 from beyond the arc (54.5 percent).
Kerry Blackshear Jr. added 18 points for Virginia Tech, hitting a couple of 3-pointers, while Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Ty Outlaw each hit three 3-pointers en route to double-figure evenings. Outlaw finished with 15 points, while Outlaw added 14 for the Hokies, who responded to their first defeat of the season by shooting 57.1 percent (36 of 63 from the floor).
Tech's torrid shooting buried Central Connecticut State right from the start. The Hokies made 11 of their first 13 shots, including five 3-pointers. Getting seven points from Blackshear, Tech used an 18-2 run to build a 15-point lead within the first eight minutes of the game and led 49-23 at halftime.
Playing its second game in three nights, CCSU never got untracked. The Blue Devils got a 3-pointer from Ian Krishnan to open the game, but made just eight of their final 26 shots in the first half and trailed for all but a minute in the game.
(12/1/2018) 2018 MEN'S BASKETBALL vs. CCSU
QUOTES TO NOTE
Virginia Tech head coach Buzz Williams
(On his team's response to losing to Penn State)
"I don't think that we were great at Penn State. I hope that we learn from it, similar to how we played against St. Louis last year [a 77-71 loss]. It was just blasé. It was not enough juice. It was not enough energy. It was not enough toughness. It was not field-goal percentage. It was not something that was on this [pointing at the box score], and I think the response of our program in what you saw today was maybe trying to get back to the core of what you have to be about. I thought we did that."
(On the football team becoming bowl eligible for the 26th straight season)
"I didn't get to watch the football game, but I've learned so much from Coach Fuente from watching, from studying. For them to have had the season that they have had and for it to come down to the last nine days … the response of those players and those coaches and for the people that you never write about that I don't even know their names, for those guys to have done what they've done, I think it's absolutely remarkable. I know it's the pace of the world and it's fun to be the 'gotcha' mentality, but for the response of that group to keep all of that going in the direction, I think that we should all be doing backflips."
Ahmed Hill, Virginia Tech guard
(On responding with a big game after going scoreless against Penn State)
"I was very motivated. I just knew people would think that it was like last year, how if I was down in confidence, I wouldn't play well, but I'm kind of over that this year. I just go game by game and moment by moment."
Justin Robinson, Virginia Tech point guard
(On coming off the bench for the first time since his freshman season)
"I played really selfish against Penn State. I wasn't myself. I was out of my lane. I just think overall, if I have a game of one assist and six turnovers, it's hard to overcome, being the leader and the floor general."
(On Buzz making that decision)
"The decision to come off the bench was coach's decision. I trust him with whatever he decides. I just went along with it and came off the bench and tried to give us energy whenever I went into the game."
GAME NOTES
• Tech set or tied season highs in points (94), field goals (36), field-goal attempts (63), 3-pointers (18), 3-point attempts (33), rebounds (37) and assists (28).
• The Hokies' 18 3-pointers broke the previous mark of 17 set in a 94-90 road loss to Louisville on Feb. 18, 2018.
• The Hokies have hit at least 10 3-pointers in six of seven games this season.
• Hill's 24 points were the second-most he had scored in a game in his career. He scored 26 in the Hokies' loss to St. Louis last season.
• Robinson set a single-game school record with 13 assists. He shared the previous school record of 12, which he set last season in the Hokies' victory over Boston College.
• Robinson had started 81 consecutive games dating back to his freshman season when he came off the bench in a Feb. 17 loss to then-No. 11 Miami.
• Alexander-Walker has scored in double figures in every game this season – the only Tech player to do so.
• Outlaw has hit 12 3-pointers in the past three games and has scored in double figures in all three games.
• Blackshear tied his season high with 18 points.
UP NEXT
The Hokies take on VMI on Wednesday in the second of three straight nonconference home games. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.