Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting as No. 13 Virginia Tech held off a second-half comeback bid to defeat Washington 73-61 Saturday night in the inaugural Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Boardwalk Classic at Atlantic City, N.J.

Justin Robinson, Kerry Blackshear Jr. and Ahmed Hill each added 10 points for the Hokies (9-1), who won their fourth game in a row after a 63-62 defeat at Penn State. Virginia Tech improved to 4-0 in neutral-site games.

Matisse Thybulle led Washington (7-4) with 16 points, including five 3-pointers. David Crisp scored 12, Nahziah Carter had 11 and Jaylen Nowell had 10 for the Huskies. Carter grabbed a game-high nine rebounds, and Crisp topped all players with five assists.

UW forward Noah Dickerson was limited by foul trouble, scoring just seven points on 1-for-5 shooting with seven rebounds before fouling out.

Virginia Tech scored the game's first five points and never trailed, leading by as many as 21 points in the first half.

Robinson scored all 10 of his points before the intermission as the Hokies took a 39-21 lead. Hill had eight of his 10 in the first half, and P.J. Horne scored all six of his before the break.

Washington's top two players, Nowell and Dickerson, were held to a combined eight points in the first half on 2-for-11 shooting from the field.

The Huskies went on a 13-5 run midway through the second half to trim their deficit to seven points at 53-46 with 8:53 left, but couldn't get any closer.

Alexander-Walker scored 17 of his points in the second half to help thwart the comeback bid.

Virginia Tech shot 42.9 percent from the field (24 of 56) while limiting Washington to 36.7 percent (22 of 60). The Hokies also had a big edge at the free-throw line, converting 17 of 21 while the Huskies hit 7 of 14.

--Field Level Media