'Catch-And-Schutt' Sparks Hokies In Win Over George Mason

Guard Jaden Schutt paced the team with 18 points, all from long range.

Virginia Tech Athletics

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Virginia Tech men's basketball continued its strong start to the 2025-26 campaign, toppling in-state foe George Mason for a 73-62 victory Saturday afternoon. The victory marked the Hokies' second straight after they dropped the final two contests of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament en route to a fourth-place Thanksgiving tourney finish.

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Tech (8-2) came into the contest off a promising victory over South Carolina in overtime, doing so without forward Tobi Lawal. On Saturday, Lawal was again unavailable for the first straight contest, but that didn't restrict the Hokies. As they've been wont to do this season, Tech relied on a bevy of scorers to shoulder the load against the Patriots (9-1) — four Hokies tallied double-figures Saturday.

"Our team was ready to play," said Virginia Tech head coach Mike Young. "Had to be. George Mason's good and came in 9-0. Some pretty gaudy statistics coming in on both ends of the floor...The ball moved and Jaden [Schutt] had one of those nights where everything he shot went in the basket and that never upsets the head coach."

Schutt anchored the Hokies' charge to victory, delivering arguably the premier outing of his career. Schutt attempted 13 shots Saturday. Just one was inside the arc. The redshirt junior incinerated the Patriots' defense from deep, nailing a career-high six three-pointers for a season-high 18 points, including a sly leaner curling off a screen that gave the Hokies a 34-28 late in the first half.

"[Young] was like, 'Hey, let's go get six threes today' before the game," Schutt said. "So, it's like he gave me permission to go do that."

I've seen him shoot like this before, but his consistency over these last few games has been wild," said fellow guard Tyler Johnson. "So, I'm just happy for him, and glad to be his teammate."

George Mason held around, however, in the first half, whittling Tech's lead down to one off a pair of free throws from guard Masai Troutman.

But then, Schutt struck. The redshirt junior nailed the aforementioned curling three and after Patriots guard Fatt Hill missed a layup attempt and Emmanuel Kanga coughed it up to Hokies big Amani Hansberry, Schutt was at it again, hitting another three — this time, from the right sideline.

Following a George Mason timeout, Tech continued to roll. Three possessions later, Schutt rose up for his fourth three-point attempt of the half. For the third straight time, it was money, giving the Hokies their first ouble-digit lead of the game.

45 seconds of gametime later, Virginia Tech struck again, with Greek wing Neoklis Avdalas nailing a triple of his own to give the Hokies a 43-30 lead heading into halftime.

Once the second half arrived, the Hokies continued to roll; from the 17:47 mark of the final frame to the 14:47 mark, Virginia Tech embellished its lead from 10 points up to 23, leading 60-37, after two more Schutt triples. From there, George Mason did not close the gap to under 15 until the 6:20 mark. At that point, though, the Hokies were solidly in the driver's seat with Johnson slamming the ball emphatically off a steal and dish from Avdalas with 4:46.

Johnson himself was stellar in the contest, adding 13 points and five rebounds.

And the ever-mobile Hansberry produced another stellar outing, contributing 15 points, seven rebounds and career-highs in both assists (six) and steals (three).

Young referred to the forward as "outstanding" and "terrific" after the team's wins over Charleston Southern and Saint Joseph's. This game's post-game word? Brilliant.

"He's not smart, he's flipping brilliant on both ends of the floor," Young said. "And to see that big rascal out there handling the ball and dribble handoff and zoom, all this stuff. He's the straw. He's the straw that stirs it."

Virginia Tech's last points came with 3:03 to play; in the ensuing three minutes, the Hokies held George Mason to six points for an 11-point victory.

The two-game stretch since the Battle 4 Atlantis brings the Hokies to 8–2, and the win over George Mason gives them three Quad 2 victories at the time of writing: Colorado State (66–64), South Carolina (86–83, OT), and George Mason (73–62). While the combined margin in those games was only 16 points, the results indicate that Virginia Tech is regaining its early-season rhythm.

"Long way to go and Western Carolina on Thursday, we're going to get better," Young said. "We've got to continue to get better. But that performance certainly propels us on to Monday's practice and improvements to be made. We're going to make them."

Per Bart Torvik’s metrics, the Hokies posted an adjusted offensive efficiency above 115 in each of their first four games. Over the next four contests, from Bryant on Nov. 19 through VCU on Nov. 28, Tech failed to surpass 106.8.

This week, the Hokies climbed back toward that initial standard, recording a 118 mark against South Carolina and a 120.9 against George Mason. The performance versus the Patriots was Tech’s third-best offensive efficiency of the season on Torvik’s scale, trailing only Saint Joseph’s (125.0) and Charlotte (123.3).

Virginia Tech will next contest Western Carolina on Thursday, Dec. 11 at 7 p.m. ET, with viewing for the contest available on ACC Network Extra. It's the first leg of a three-game stretch that represents an easier caliber of foe for the Hokies.

After a difficult four-game epoch where Tech faced either Quad 1 or Quad 2 teams, the Hokies draw a trio of Quad 4 teams, with the first two being below the top-300 in Torvik's metrics. The Catamounts rank No. 305, followed by Maryland Eastern Shore (No. 345) on Dec. 14 and Elon (No. 167) on Dec. 20. There's still work to be done, in the team's eyes, specfically on operating against slower-tempo teams.

"Just staying disciplined," Johnson said when asked about the main area of improvement needed. "Still playing hard and not falling off, even if we have to play 25 seconds and 26 seasons. Staying disciplined is the main part, making them shoot bad shots."