National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Virginia Tech 80, Louisville 64
When: 7:00 PM ET, Tuesday, March 5, 2024
Where: KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Kentucky
Officials: # Lee Cassell, # Jeb Hartness, # Tony Henderson
Attendance: 10544

Sean Pedulla scored 15 points with seven assists, MJ Collins and Tyler Nickel each had 13 points and Virginia Tech picked up a rare road victory by getting past Louisville 80-64 on Tuesday.

Robbie Beran scored 12 points and Lynn Kidd had 11 points and nine rebounds for the Hokies (17-13, 9-10 ACC), who won for just the second time in a true road game all season. Virginia Tech made 13 baskets from 3-point range to tie a season high and shot 44.8 percent from distance.

Virginia Tech helped its cause for a single bye into the second round of next week's ACC tournament that goes to the top nine teams in the regular-season standings. The top four teams earn a double bye.

The Hokies have won consecutive games for the first time since a three-game winning streak in late January that included a victory at NC State.

Brandon Huntley-Hatfield overcame a first-half knee injury to score 19 points and Mike James added 16 for the Cardinals (8-22, 3-16), who lost their sixth consecutive game. Louisville already has clinched the second worst season in program history behind last year's 28-loss campaign.

Ty-Laur Johnson scored 10 points for the Cardinals, who led 28-18 in points in the paint.

Virginia Tech wasted little time establishing itself, taking a 7-0 lead just over two minutes into the game and grabbing its first double-digit lead at 14-4 less than five minutes into the contest.

The Hokies had their first lead of at least 20 points on a Beran 3-pointer with 4:05 remaining in the first half for a 44-22 advantage. Virginia Tech led 49-31 at halftime.

Louisville outscored Virginia Tech 33-31 in the second half but never pulled within single digits in the closing 20 minutes.

Louisville's Zan Payne, son of head coach Kenny Payne, made two 3-pointers in the first half, his first baskets from distance in six seasons as a lightly-used Division I player, including a redshirt season. Payne finished with six points.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Virginia Tech   Louisville
Sean Pedulla 15 Scoring Brandon Huntley-Hatfield 19
Sean Pedulla 7 Assists Ty-Laur Johnson 4
Lynn Kidd 9 Rebounds Kaleb Glenn 8
Sean Pedulla 6 Free Throws Made Brandon Huntley-Hatfield 2
Hunter Cattoor 2 Steals Skyy Clark 1
Robbie Beran 1 Blocks N/A
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Virginia Tech 80 48.2 13-29 13-19 15 33 1 10 8
Louisville 64 45.5 9-23 5-11 11 31 0 4 14