MAUI, Hawai'i – Wrapping up the Maui Jim Maui Invitational on Wednesday night, the Virginia Tech men's basketball came up short against BYU in the third-place game at Lahaina Civic Center by a score of 90-77.
The Cougars (5-3) lit it up from downtown, cashing in 17 3-pointers en route to their fifth win over the Hokies (6-2) in the all-time series, leading it 5-0. A big reason why BYU shot it so well from deep was because it got a game-high four triples from TJ Haws, who finished with 20 points. In similar fashion just a few years ago, his older brother Tyler – BYU's all-time leading scorer – had 42 points against the Hokies.
Speaking of scoring, Tech's Landers Nolley II posted his fourth 20-point game of the season, owning a game-high 22 points and team-best seven rebounds. The redshirt freshman finished the tournament averaging 19.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game over the three contests to make the all-tournament team.
Tech shot it well from the field, shooting 53.4 percent and making 11 3-pointers, but a pivotal BYU run (15-3) in between the first and second media timeouts of the second half proved to be too costly, as the Hokies never cut it back to a single-point game after that point.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first half was about as close as it gets, with eight lead changes and seven ties taking place, as no team gained a larger lead than five points the first 20 minutes. Tech began the game with a four-point lead at 16-12 after a triple by Nolley, who scored nine of the Hokies' first 16 points.
But the Cougars went on a run, getting back-to-back 3-pointers to take a 27-22 lead with seven minutes left in the first. However, Tech scored three straight buckets to retake the lead and then would go on to own a 37-35 advantage at the break.
Tied at 48-all after the first media timeout of the second half at the 15-minute mark, the Cougars caught fire and would go on a 15-3 run to take a 13-point lead at 63-50 heading into the second media timeout at 11:42. That run, paced by Haws scoring eight of those points, flipped the momentum of the game, with the Hokies having to play catchup the rest of the way out.
The closest Tech cut the deficit to was 10 points at the 2:05 mark after a 3-pointer from the right wing by freshman Nahiem Alleyne. But the Hokies wouldn't score again until three seconds remaining off a triple by freshman Hunter Cattoor, while the Cougars tallied six more points the final two minutes to claim the 13-point victory and third-place finish in the tournament.
QUOTING COACH MIKE YOUNG
On shooting 53 percent for the game and only turning it over eight times, but ending up losing by 13 points:
"We got to guard a little bit better," Tech coach Mike Young said. "That's the short answer. Got to guard a little bit better. They make it hard. They got a number of guys that can shoot it and five guys that can pass, catch and shoot. And Mark does a good job. I really like some of their actions. I thought going in we were going to score plenty enough to win. Can we get enough stops to win? And the answer to that was no."
QUOTING REDSHIRT FRESHMAN LANDERS NOLLEY
On what the takeaways will be from this trip with defeating a ranked team but falling in the two other games:
"This trip, you take the good with the bad," Nolley said. "You learn from both. You add what you need to add going forward and you move on."
TEAM NOTES
- Tech had four players in scoring for the third time this year. It is 2-1 in such games.
- The Hokies turned in a season-low four fastbreak points and forced a season-low six turnovers, while allowing a season-high 90 points.
- With Tech owning a halftime two-point advantage, it marked their first time this season blowing a halftime lead, with previously being 5-0.
- After not allowing its first six opponents to shoot greater than 42 percent from the field, Tech has let its last two opponents – Dayton (64%), BYU (54%) – to shoot over 50 percent.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Nolley, who has scored in double figures in all eight games this season, committed a season-low one turnover, while his seven rebounds tied a career high (Coppin State, Nov. 8).
- Junior P.J. Horne posted double-digit scoring numbers for the third time this year, ending up with 13 points off an impressive 5-of-6 shooting mark, including a 3-of-4 clip from downtown. The forward also had a season-high three made free throws and pulled down four rebounds.
- Guard Wabissa Bede shot a career-high 13 times, making five field goals to finish with 11 points to tie his season high. The junior finished with seven assists and two turnovers, with now totaling a 4.46 assist/turnover ratio (58 assists, 13 turnovers).
- Freshman Nahiem Alleyne recorded 12 points and now has scored in double figures in three of his last four games. The guard tied his career high of four assists and pulled down three rebounds.
- Guard Tyrece Radford collected nine points, including scoring Tech's first six points of the second half. He also finished with two rebounds – both offensive – and an assist. He leads the team with 17 offensive rebounds this year.
UP NEXT
The Hokies will play next back in Blacksburg, taking on No. 1/1 Duke (6-1) on Dec. 6 at Carilion Clinic Court at Cassell Coliseum. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network and will mark the Blue Devils' first conference game and Tech's second.
MAUI JIM MAUI INVITATIONAL ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
DeVon Dotson, Kansas
Udoka Azubuike, Kansas
Obi Toppin, Dayton
Anthony Edwards, Georgia
Landers Nolley II, Virginia Tech
Gallery: (11/27/2019) 2019 MAUI INVITATIONAL vs. BYU
