PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Kerry Blackshear Jr. scored a season-high 29 points, and No. 22 Virginia Tech shot 57.1 percent in the second half to hold off Pittsburgh 70-64 in an ACC game played Saturday evening at the Petersen Events Center.
With the win, the Hokies moved to 20-5 overall, 9-4 in the ACC. Tech now has won at least 20 games in each of the past four seasons, and it has won at least nine ACC games in each of those seasons as well. Pittsburgh fell to 12-14 overall, 2-11 in league play.
Tech grabbed a 31-26 lead at halftime and led for the entire second half, but wasn't quite able to put away the Panthers until the very end. Pittsburgh cut the Hokies' lead to two points on three occasions, with the final time coming after Xavier Johnson's 3-pointer with 7:28 remaining.
The pivotal sequence in the game came after Johnson's 3, as Blackshear answered with a 3-pointer to push the Hokies' lead to 51-46 with 7:08 to go. Johnson then turned the ball over on Pittsburgh's next possession, and the Hokies made the Panthers pay when Ty Outlaw buried a 3-pointer with 6:34 left to give Tech an eight-point edge. Pittsburgh again turned the ball over on its next possession, and Tech again answered, with Jonathan Kabongo hitting a 3-pointer to give Tech a 57-46 advantage.
The Panthers never recovered. The Hokies made 7 of 10 from the free-throw line in the final two minutes to keep Pittsburgh at bay.
Blackshear made 8 of 9 from the floor, including all three of his 3-point attempts, and he connected on 10 of 11 from the free-throw line. Ahmed Hill added 14 points, hitting two 3-pointers on an evening in which the Hokies hit 10.
QUOTES TO NOTE
Virginia Tech coach Buzz Williams
(On Blackshear's game)
"We have to play through him. He's our best defender. He's our best 4. He's our best passer. He's our best playmaker, and he has the highest basketball IQ on our team. The issue is he can't pass it to himself. He had eight assists and zero turnovers on Wednesday [against Georgia Tech]. I thought that was categorically one of the biggest stats. And then today, it's hard to pass. Every dribble is contested against Pitt. Every pass is contested, and the touches he was able to get … I understand that he was very efficient offensively, but even when he doesn't score, it relieved some pressure on Ahmed and Ty and Nickeil where they don't feel like they have to do it on their own. He makes the game a little easier when he has possession of the ball."
(On Kabongo's performance)
"That was a career high in everything. Five games ago, he played two minutes total in ACC play. I thought the two baskets … I was thankful that he made them, but that he even took them speaks to who he is, and I thought the two traffic rebounds that he got, same, and that he ran to that, as opposed to maybe backing into it. It says a lot about him and a lot about the encouragement of his teammates. I think it's hard as a player, I was never a player, but sit over there and never get to play and all of the sudden, you're forced into this sort of role on the road, and to be able to respond … again, like I've said, I've never seen anything like it in my career."
GAME NOTES
• Blackshear's 29 points were two shy of his career – of which came against Pittsburgh on Jan. 6, 2018.
• Blackshear now has scored in double figures in five straight games and 20 of the Hokies' 25 games this season.
• Kabongo's six points tied a career high and marked his top scoring game in ACC play. He had scored just five points in ACC play coming into the Pittsburgh game.
• Wabissa Bede's seven assists were a career high.
• Tech moved to 17-1 this season when leading at halftime.
• For the fifth time in ACC play, the Hokies shot better than 50 percent from the floor – and they are 5-0 in those games. The Hokies are 11-0 this season when shooting better than 50 percent.
• Tech out-rebounded Pittsburgh 27-24, which marked the 15th time this season that the Hokies have out-rebounded an opponent. Tech is 14-1 when doing so.
• Tech played its fifth consecutive game without injured point guard Justin Robinson (foot) and is 3-2 in those games.
UP NEXT
Tech now gears up for the Commonwealth Clash, as the Hokies take on rival Virginia on Monday night. The game tips off at 7 p.m.
