The 2023-2024 Virginia Tech men's basketball season was one Hokie fans sometimes wish they'd forgotten.
Tech is currently 13-10, with a 74-66 loss to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8-16, 3-10 ACC) on Saturday night. His record is 5 wins and 7 losses.
Entering the game at the Joyce Center in Indiana, the Fighting Irish were tied with Louisville for last place in the conference with just two wins against ACC opponents. Notre Dame also entered the game on a seven-game losing streak.
That was until first-year head coach Micah Shrewsberry and his team narrowly edged the Hokies despite trailing 39-35 at halftime.
Notre Dame held Virginia Tech to just 27 points in the second half, leading the Hokies by double digits on multiple points within 10 minutes.
Saturday night wasn't great shooting for a Tech team that shot 43 percent from the field and 8-of-24 from beyond the arc. At Notre Dame, he shot 49.1 percent on the night despite going 7 of 20 games.
The Fighting Irish forced 11 turnovers against the Hokies, despite averaging more than 13 turnovers entering this game. Meanwhile, on the floor end, there were just seven.
Despite Virginia Tech's poor performance overall, Hunter Cattore (18 points – team leading scorer), Mairijael Poteet (14 points, 5 off the bench), and Robbie Beran (8 points, season) (highest 13 rebounds), Tyler played an active role. Nickel (nine points off the bench, all in the first half) all made solid contributions for the Hokies.
It was an off night for junior guard Sean Pedulla. He scored 4 points for most of the game, scoring 13 points in garbage time, but missed eight shots and turned the basketball over six times.
In addition to Pedulla, senior center Lynn Kidd also had a disappointing game on the road, scoring just two points on three shots and grabbing one rebound while getting into foul trouble.
For Notre Dame, 5-foot-11 freshman guard Marcus Barton led the team with 16 points (6-of-18 from the field) and also added eight assists, six steals and four rebounds.
Other notable players for the Fighting Irish include Braden Shrewsberry (12 points, 5 rebounds), big 6-foot-10 Keva Nee (11 points, 6 rebounds), and freshman Carrie Booth. They came off the bench, which included junior Julian Roper II (15 combined points).
The loss was Tech's 10th of the season as the Hokies' road record fell to just 1-6.
If head coach Mike Young's Virginia Tech wants to reach March Madness, it will likely need to repeat what it did in the spring of 2021-22 and win the ACC Tournament again.
The Hokies return to action Tuesday night against the Florida State Seminoles at Cassell Coliseum.Tips are set at 9 p.m.
