Virginia Tech rode the long-distance shooting of Hunter Cattoor and Storm Murphy to a stunningly decisive 86-49 win over St. Bonaventure on Friday afternoon in the Hall of Fame Shootout in Charlotte, N.C.
Virginia Tech (8-4) scored the game's first 13 points and St. Bonaventure never challenged as Cattoor notched a career-high 21 points, making all five of his shots from beyond the arc. Murphy added 18 points, hitting 4 of 7 shots from 3-point range.
The Hokies made 54.9 percent of their shots while limiting the Bonnies to 33.3 percent shooting. Tech also had a 34-27 rebounding edge and forced St. Bonaventure to commit 20 turnovers.
St. Bonaventure (8-3) welcomed back its best player Kyle Lofton, who missed the previous three games with an ankle injury. But in 26 minutes of action, Lofton scored just 3 points, 14 below his average.
The Bonnies, with all five starters back from a team that captured the Atlantic 10 title, were uncharacteristically flat. Dominick Welch led St. Bonaventure with 11 points. But Jaren Holmes and Jalen Adaway, who were averaging a combined 32 points per game, scored just five between them as they missed a combined 16 of 17 shots from the floor.
Tech was dominant from the start at both ends of the floor. Over the first 6:16, the Hokies harassed the Bonnies into three turnovers and misses on their first nine shots. Meanwhile, Cattoor hit a pair of 3-pointers and Nahiem Alleyne (nine points) added another as Tech raced to a 13-0 lead.
Midway through the half, Sean Pedulla came off the bench and sparked the Hokies, making a pull-up jumper in the lane and then drawing a charging foul on Lofton. Murphy followed with a 3-pointer and John Ojiako added two free throws as Tech pushed its lead to 18 points.
As Cattoor and Murphy made 3-pointers late in the half, the Hokies extended their advantage to 42-20 at the break.
Virginia Tech kept pouring it on in the second half. When Cattoor and Murphy made back-to-back 3-pointers late in the game, the Hokies' lead swelled to 40 points.
Keve Aluma added 12 points and four assists for Tech.
--Field Level Media
St. Bonaventure | Virginia Tech | |
Dominick Welch 11 | Scoring | Hunter Cattoor 21 |
Kyle Lofton 3 | Assists | Keve Aluma 4 |
Jalen Adaway 6 | Rebounds | Justyn Mutts 7 |
Jalen Adaway 2 | Free Throws Made | John Ojiako 5 |
Kyle Lofton 2 | Steals | Keve Aluma 3 |
Osun Osunniyi 4 | Blocks | Keve Aluma 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
St. Bonaventure | 49 | 33.3 | 6-23 | 7-13 | 8 | 23 | 5 | 7 | 20 |
Virginia Tech | 86 | 54.9 | 13-28 | 17-23 | 14 | 31 | 5 | 8 | 14 |