Virginia Tech scored early, often and relentlessly in dispatching High Point 99-73 Tuesday night at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Va. The Hokies (2-0) fell just short of reaching triple-figures in points for the first time in three seasons.

They were led by Ahmed Hill with a career-high 20 points. Seth Allen had 17 points, Khadim Sy added 14 and Zach LeDay chipped in 12. Sy led the Hokies with six rebounds, and three other players had five each.

The Panthers (1-1), whose first game was against Division III Averett (Va.) College, had a hard time handling Virginia Tech's pressure. The Panthers finally got moving in the second half, with both teams scoring 39 points, but the first-half advantage allowed the Hokies to cruise throughout the second half.

Andre Fox had 23 points for High Point, while Miles Bowman Jr. had 17 and Jamal Wright added 12.

Virginia Tech left little doubt from the start, dominating across the stat sheet.

The Hokies, who saw a 25-point lead shrink to 13 in the final three minutes of their first game against Maine, kept a safe lead throughout the second half. The closest the Panthers were able to get was 20 points on several occasions in the second half.

The Hokies raced out quickly in the first half, grabbing a 29-10 lead before the second media timeout. The key was outside shooting, as Tech hit five of its first six shots from beyond the arc. Virginia Tech was also good from inside the arc, shooting 23 of 32 from the field in the first half in taking a 60-34 lead into intermission. The Hokies led by as many as 33 (58-25) in the first half.

The Hokies were well-balanced in the first half, with three players in double-figures. Hill had 14, followed by LeDay with 12 and Allen with 11.

High Point had its troubles from the field, shooting just 38.5 percent in the first half. The Panthers were led in the half by Fox and Bowman, who put in 11 points each.