Lynn Kidd made his first nine shots en route to scoring a career-high 31 points as Virginia Tech defeated American 77-55 Thursday night in Blacksburg, Va.
With point guard Sean Pedulla out as a precautionary measure to protect his sore ankle, MJ Collins came off the bench to score 12 points as Virginia Tech (9-3) won its fourth straight game, all at home.
Virginia Tech shot 64 percent from the floor and had 23 assists on 32 made baskets, with Pedulla’s replacement, Brandon Rechsteiner, accounting for 11 of the helpers.
Jermaine Ballisager-Webb had 15 points and six rebounds for American (5-7), which missed injured Matt Rogers, who leads the Eagles in points (15.8) and rebounds (6.4) per game.
Without the versatile 6-foot-9 Rogers, American had no answer inside for Kidd, who finished 14 of 15 from the floor, and collected 11 rebounds. Kidd’s work inside paved the way for Virginia Tech’s 48-24 advantage on points in the paint.
The Hokies’ opening basket came on a 3-point shot by Hunter Cattoor and gave Virginia Tech the lead for good.
A steal and fastbreak layup by Cattoor 6:06 into the game gave the Hokies an 18-7 edge, which matched their largest of the half.
With five different Eagles draining 3-pointers in the first half, American stayed within striking distance on their way to trailing at the break 37-29.
In the second half, Collins stretched the Hokies’ lead to 45-32 when he muscled for a three-point play with 15:43 left.
Midway through the period, Virginia Tech went on a nine-point run to take command. Kidd had five of the points in the spree, which Collins capped with a putback slam that gave the Hokies a 56-40 lead.
Robbie Beran started an eight-point surge with a 3-pointer and finished it with a layup as Virginia Tech took its biggest lead at 75-50 with 2:38 left.
After hitting 50 percent of their shots in the first half, including 5 of 7 from beyond the arc, the Eagles cooled off after intermission, making 30 percent from the floor.
– Field Level Media