PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Inside the Petersen Events Center, the No.16/16 Virginia Tech men's basketball team came up short 83-72 at Pitt on Wednesday night.
The Hokies fall to 13-4 overall and 7-3 in the ACC and the Panthers improve to 9-5 overall and 5-4 in conference play. Pitt snaps their five-game losing streak to the Hokies and defeats Tech for the first time at home since 2016.
The Panthers' Xavier Johnson notched a career-high 32 points which marks the most an opposing player has scored on Tech in the Mike Young era. Three other Pitt players reached double-figures in the win including guards Ithiel Horton (15 points), Au'Diese Toney (14) and forward Justin Champagnie (10).
Pitt as a team shot 50% from the field which is tied for the second-best field goal percentage an opponent has recorded against Tech this season. The Panthers also saw key contributions off the bench as Pitt outscored the Hokies in bench points by a margin of 47-12. On the glass, the Panthers outrebounded Tech 33-31 overall and 28-21 for defensive boards.
Despite the loss, redshirt-junior Keve Aluma notched a career-high 30 points topping his previous career-best 29 in the win over Virginia. Aluma also grabbed 10 boards which gave him his fifth double-double of the season. Forward Justyn Mutts added 17 points which marks his season high and pulled down six rebounds.
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THE GAME
Despite the slow start on the offensive end, the Hokies frontcourt kept Tech in the game as Aluma and Mutts combined for 16 points through the first 15 minutes. With Pitt leading 23-22, Cone found his shot and hit from behind the arc to give the Hokies a 25-23 advantage.
Later in the half, tied at 25-25, Aluma continued to score in every way possible as he finished the jumper to put Tech back up at 27-25. With just over a minute to go in the first, Aluma found Mutts and the forward slammed it home to even the contest at 29-29. Pitt hit a couple from the line to go back up but Mutts finished the putback tip as time expired to tie the outing at 31-31 to end the half.
Aluma and Mutts continued where they left off as they each finished layups to start the second. Pitt answered Tech's early run and tied the game at 37-37 at the first media timeout. Later in the second, Alleyne got on the board with an and-one to give Tech its largest lead at 43-37. Pitt would get back into the game with an 11-2 run to go up 48-45.
With just under eight minutes left in the game, Pitt rattled off a 15-2 run which put them up 70-55. Pitt did not look back as they held the lead for the rest of the way and went on to win 83-72.
GAME NOTES
- Aluma became the first Tech player since Erick Green (2013) to register back-to-back games of scoring 28 or more points.
- Aluma became the first Hokie player to have three consecutive double-doubles in ACC play since Kerry Blackshear in 2019.
- Aluma also dished out a career-high five assists and hit a career-high four 3-pointers.
- Sophomore Hunter Cattoor had 12 points which marks his third straight outing reaching double-figures.
- Cattoor also hit two triples which gives him 9 3-pointers over his last three games.
UP NEXT
The Hokies will stay on the road for a contest at Miami on Saturday at noon inside the Watsco Center.
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