The Hokies improve to 2-0 on the season with a impressive 99-73 win over High Point.
It didn’t take long for the Hokies to overpower High Point on Tuesday night. Within the first media timeout the Hokies were up by double-digits thanks to a couple of three-pointers by Ahmed Hill and two easy buckets inside from Chris Clarke.
Hill led the way for the Hokies with 20 points and four assists, a gut wrenching performance from the redshirt sophomore.
“I didn’t have to really aim,” Hill said on his shooting performance.
Hill missed last season with a knee injury, but in the second game of his return, he hit 7-of-12 from the floor and shot lights out from behind the arc making six three-pointers. The Hokies never trailed in the game and were up 60-34 at the half.
“His work ethic is superb. His respect from his teammates, for someone his age, is as good as I’ve ever seen,” Williams said on Hill. “When Med’s heart is pumping, you can literally feel and see the blood of how much he cares. I don’t necessarily think Med is a great player relative to his talent but I think he’s elite relative to how hard he plays and how much he cares.”
Seth Allen also joined the party chipping in with 17 points and five rebounds in 29 minutes off the bench. Zach LeDay also produced 12 points and five rebounds with Johnny Hamilton scoring nine and going 4-for-4 from the field in 16 minutes. Ty outlaw got six points in 10 minutes of action for the Hokies.
As a team, the Hokies went 37-of-66 (56.1%) from the field and shooting 40 percent, 12-for-30 behind the arc. The Hokies had 37 rebounds (28 defensive, nine offensive) and 24 assists. They also took the ball away from the Panthers eight times and had three blocked shots, one each from Khadim Sy, Hamilton and Allen.
High Point’s Andre Fox led the team in scoring with 23 points but Miles Bowman Jr., got a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Bowman had 10 of the teams 31 rebounds.
“We had a game plan but we didn’t execute it very well. We had a plan to try to make them take perimeter shots but we got caught up in the initial action of the offense,” Panthers head coach Scott Cherry said. “They got wide open, took those shots and executed. I give them a lot of credit, they made them.”
When you go back and look at the game stat sheet you won’t see the heart, the adversity or the determination from the Panthers players and coaches. Instead you will see that the Panthers shot 44 percent from the field and 39 percent from three-point range and went 18-of-26 at the charity strike.
“A young team like we have, they started pressing. Each guy wanted to go out there and try to win the game or get us back in the game. I told them “It is not that you’re selfish, it is just a pride thing,” Cherry said.
LeDay’s 12 points off the bench for the Hokies is his 31st time in double-figures at Virginia Tech. Hill also joined the career party bus with his 20, the second time this season he has scored in double figures, the 14th time he has done so wearing a Hokie uniform.
The 60 points the Hokies scored in the first half is the most since November 18, 2013 when Tech had 61 second half points against VMI. The Hokies will host VMI on Saturday, November, 19 with tip scheduled for 7 p.m. The Hokies will then embark on a 10-day road trip which will see them play New Mexico along with Michigan for the ACC/BIG Ten challenge.
“I think we made a distinct step in the right direction tonight. I didn’t think we were bad in game one but I think we were trying to justify too much,” Williams said. “I think, relative to the 10-day road trip, we need to hurry up and get off that and take the next step. I thought we for sure did that.”
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