Villanova Falls to Virginia Tech in Overtime

Virginia Tech’s Aluma led the Hokies with 25 points, connecting on nine of his 14 field goals. (Jessica Hill/AP Photo).

The Hokies would scratch and claw their way back after the Wildcats run, going on one of their own. Led by Keve Aluma, Virginia Tech scored eight straight points, cutting the Wildcats lead to 52-48 with 6:45 left to play.

Article by Dave Nguyen, AKSM Sports

UNCASVILLE, CT - In a game that was decided at 1:45 am two days ago to be played, the Virginia Tech Hokies were able to upset the third ranked Villanova Wildcats in overtime 81-73 on Saturday night. Villanova drops to 2-1 while Virginia Tech moves to 2-0.

"I would like to congratulate Virginia Tech,” said Villanova head coach Jay Wright. "I really like their team. They're tough, really physical, well coached. They were the better team tonight.”

The game was a defensive battle in the opening five minutes of the first half, as Collin Gillespie hit two three-pointers while the Hokies went 3-5 from the field to hold a 7-6 lead. Virginia Tech’s defense would step up in the first 10 minutes of the first half, holding the Wildcats to shoot 4-of-13 from the field. Offensively, Virginia Tech went 6-of-10 from the floor, building a 14-11 lead in the process. Their lead would extend to 21-13 with seven minutes to play in the opening stanza.

Yet, Gillespie would keep the Wildcats afloat in the first half. Down 25-19 with five minutes to go, the senior captain hit two consecutive three-pointers to tie the game. Gillespie was fearless in the first half, scoring 18 of his 25 points. It would stay tied after 20 minutes to play at 29.

The game would stay tight in the opening minutes of the second half, but Villanova appeared to control the game with just under nine minutes to play, going on a 13-2 scoring run over a span of six minutes. In addition to Gillespie, Caleb Daniels would help out on that run, scoring six of the 13 points in that span, as the Wildcats had a 52-40 lead. The Tulane transfer finished with 17 points and shooting 50% from the field, scoring 14 or more points in all three games.

The Hokies would scratch and claw their way back after the Wildcats run, going on one of their own. Led by Keve Aluma, Virginia Tech scored eight straight points, cutting the Wildcats lead to 52-48 with 6:45 left to play. Aluma led the Hokies with 25 points, connecting on nine of his 14 field goals. Jermaine Samuels lay-up stopped the Hokies run, giving the Wildcats a 54-48 lead with 5:49 left in the half. The Hokies were 10 of 20 from beyond the arc, making three of them late in the second half. A triple by senior guard Wabissa Bede cut Villanova’s lead to one with 1:45 to play, and a basket and three free throws allowed Virginia Tech to take its first lead of the second half at 64-62 with 1.3 seconds left to play.

Wildcat sophomore guard Justin Moore was able to draw a charge from Hokies forward and South Jersey native Justin Mutts, allowing Moore to sink two free-throws to extend the game into overtime.

In the game’s extra session, Virginia Tech outscored Villanova 17-9, to earn their second win of the season. In addition to three point shooting, Virginia Tech held Villanova to 9-of-25 behind the arc, beat it on the glass 40-31, and had a +10 advantage for points in the paint at 32-22.

"You learn when you have a lead and you're playing against a good team, you've got to play every possession until the end," said Wright. "So, we're definitely going to learn that the hard way."

Villanova will take its time to rest before it takes on Hartford on Tuesday at 5 pm at the Mohegan Sun Arena and can be seen on ESPN 2.