Lynn Kidd scored 20 points for Virginia Tech to lead coach Mike Young to a win in his first game against his former team as the Hokies downed Wofford 98-76 on Sunday in Blacksburg, Va.
Kidd grabbed seven rebounds and made all eight of his free throws for Virginia Tech (3-1), who Young joined in 2019 after coaching the Terriers for over 30 seasons, including 17 as head coach.
Sean Pedulla tallied 13 of his 19 points in the second half, which the Hokies opened shooting 10-of-13 to build a 21-point lead at the under-12 timeout. Hunter Cattoor added 17 points and Tyler Nickel provided 14 on 3-of-3 3-point shooting off the bench.
Cattoor finished 4-of-7 beyond the arc, pushing him to second in Virginia Tech history in 3-pointers made and leaving him two 3-pointers away from the most career triples in Virginia Tech history.
Corey Tripp logged 14 points to lead a quartet of double-digit scorers for Wofford (2-2). Jackson Sivills pitched in 13 points, Dillon Bailey added 12 and Chase Cormier notched 11. Kyler Filewich contributed eight points and 10 rebounds.
Pedulla scored 11 straight points for the Hokies in less than three minutes early in the second half as Virginia Tech stretched its lead to 15 at the 15:24 mark. Pedulla’s layup four minutes later came between a pair of Nickel 3-pointers that powered an 8-0 run, which essentially sealed the game with the Hokies ahead 70-49 with 11:26 to play.
Virginia Tech owned a 44-24 advantage in points in the paint and out-shot the Terriers 57 percent to 43 percent.
The Hokies jumped ahead on a handful of second-chance points before both teams found their stroke from distance.
Nickel followed Brandon Rechsteiner’s 3-pointer with a four-point play to fuel a run that stretched Virginia Tech’s advantage to 22-13. Wofford used treys from Sivills and Tripp to pull within a possession entering the under-eight timeout, but Cattoor’s hot shooting kept the Terriers trailing.
Cattoor buried all three of his 3-point attempts throughout a 2:09 span that grew the Hokies’ lead to 35-26 with just over four minutes remaining in the half. Cattoor finished the period 4-of-5 from beyond the arc.
Each team drilled six triples in the opening half, which hinged on Virginia Tech’s greater success drawing contact near the rim. The Hokies went 9-of-9 from the foul line compared to Wofford’s 1-of-1 mark and led 43-33 at halftime.
–Field Level Media