One aspect of Virginia Tech’s victory over Winthrop on Monday night pleased the team’s seasoned coach.
Mike Young, the men’s basketball coach at Virginia Tech, acknowledged his left knee following the team’s 93-74 victory over USC Upstate at Cassell Coliseum last Friday. The seasoned coach doesn’t often use the word.
Why did he lose hope? His team just allowed USC Upstate to score 74 points, including a 16–2 run to start the game. Early in the game, the Hokies saw no defensive opposition. Things improved after a timeout, but not to the former Wofford coach’s satisfaction.
It would be an understatemenWhen Young left here on Friday, he remarked, “I was discouraged.” “Defensively, we had to leap forward against Winthrop, and we did.”t to describe the game as a rock war between the two teams, but the Hokies prevailed 58-52. Winthrop is a strong mid-major team that brought back four players from the previous campaign, so it wouldn’t be shocking to see them win the Big South and go to the NCAA Tournament in March.
In the passing lanes, Virginia Tech had a highly active hands-on defense and won the fight on the boards, stealing several of the Eagles’ choices. Tyler Johson, a freshman, had 10 rebounds and was important on both ends.
Young said, “That was a good team.” “We needed to perform better than we did against Upstate and Delaware State.”
Against the Hokies, the Eagles excelled at pressing up against the shot clock and forcing Winthrop to work for the majority of their attempts. As they did on Monday night, this Virginia Tech squad will need to put in a lot of defensive effort every night; else, it will be a long night. Young didn’t depart Cassell Coliseum disheartened for a single evening.
