Live Score Updates for Virginia Tech Men's Basketball vs. Syracuse

Virginia Tech men's hoops held on for a 76-74 victory over Syracuse in New York. Read below for a game thread, organized in reverse chronological order.

FINAL | Virginia Tech 76, Syracuse 74

The Hokies nearly let it go, but just held on. Naithan George hit a triple at the buzzer, but that three-pointer changes little beyond the final margin. Lawal/Hammond were combined 22-for-27 at the stripe. Next up: Louisville on Saturday, Jan. 24 at 3:30 p.m. (TV: CW). Stats:

H2 5.1 | Virginia Tech 74, Syracuse 71

Avdalas split his free throws; Lawal got the O-board.

H2 6.6 | Virginia Tech 73, Syracuse 71

Starling fouls out with six seconds remaining. Avdalas to the line.

H2 7.5 | Virginia Tech 73, Syracuse 71

After Avdalas made the second free throw, Syracuse went coast-to-coast and Starling converted with 7.5 to spare. The Hokies are hanging on for dear life here, though they have the ball. Can't cough it up.

H2 13.7 | Virginia Tech 72, Syracuse 69

Kingz missed his triple from the right wing; Avdalas coralled the rebound and was subsequently fouled. Review on the play, though.

H2 21.5 | Virginia Tech 72, Syracuse 69

Uh oh. Avdalas coughed it up after he was double-teamed on the inbound. Bumped off the leg of Hansberry. Orange have the ball with 21.5 to spare.

H2 0:32 | Virginia Tech 72, Syracuse 67

Schutt turned the ball over; Freeman got a layup as a result. Lawal drew a foul on the other end and raised the Hokies' lead back to five.

H2 0:48 | Virginia Tech 70, Syracuse 62

Syracuse's Tyler Betsey knocked one down from deep, but Hammond drew a foul and drilled both FTs.

H2 1:02 | Virginia Tech 68, Syracuse 59

Another Hammond steal; another pair of free throws for the guard. That's the sophomore's sixth steal of the night.

H2 1:40 | Virginia Tech 66, Syracuse 57

Pair of Hammond free throws. He's up to 20 points. 8-for-9 from the line.

H2 2:00 | Virginia Tech 64, Syracuse 57

The Hokies lead by nine. They've held Donnie Freeman to 2-for-13, JJ Starling to 2-for-8. Lawal has 12 points, 10 rebounds. Hammond has 18 points, four rebounds + FIVE steals. Tech two minutes away from improving to 15-5 — if it can hang on.

H2 3:07 | Virginia Tech 62, Syracuse 55

The Hokies are up by seven at the U-4 MTO after an Avdalas bucket. Aggressive look from the Greek wing there. He's struggled today from the field, going 4-for-15 (0-for-4 from deep).

H2 5:11 | Virginia Tech 60, Syracuse 55

#Hokies have 13 fouks; Syracuse has 21. Tech has outscored the Orange 13-3 from the line; it's shot 68.4% from the stripe, though.

H2 5:29 | Virginia Tech 59, Syracuse 55

The Hokies have outnumbered Syracuse 16-3 on fast-break points. The Orange call time. Hammond leads with 18 points; Lawal has 11, while Hansberry and Gurdak each have chipped in eight.

H2 5:50 | Virginia Tech 58, Syracuse 53

#Hokies beginning to create some separation. Hammond and-one. Kingz was clutching at his knee, staying in the game though.

H2 6:27 | Virginia Tech 54, Syracuse 53

Lawal splits a pair of free throws. He's 5-for-8 at the line.

H2 7:20 | Virginia Tech 53, Syracuse 51

White. Again. Slam. The Hokies are still hanging steady, though. A pair of Hammond FTs have Tech up two.

H2 8:00 | Virginia Tech 49, Syracuse 49

Lawal splits a pair of FTs at the line. 49-all with eight minutes to go in this ball game.

H2 8:30 | Syracuse 49, Virginia Tech 48

White again. After a pair of Hammond free throws, White got up for another jam. The Orange are back up by one.

H2 8:55 | Syracuse 47, Virginia Tech 46

Hansberry has checked back in. Critical for him to avoid foul No. 5; the Hokies are thin on frontcourt depth and German center Antonio Dorn's played just two minutes today.

H2 9:47 | Syracuse 47, Virginia Tech 46

Syracuse catches Gurdak on a screen and Sadiq White gets by for the slam. #Hokies now down by one. Gurdak's also up to four fouls.

H2 11:11 | Virginia Tech 46, Syracuse 45

The Hokies snag the lead. They're shooting 4-for-9 (44%) from the stripe and 4-for-14 (28.6%) from deep, though. Need to hang on for this one — a victory for Tech tonight is critical for its March Madness hopes.

H2 11:54 | Virginia Tech 45, Syracuse 45

Hansberry accumulates his fourth foul. But the Hokies tie. Triple from Schutt. Corner three from the guard. Nails.

H2 12:55 | Syracuse 45, Virginia Tech 42

Syracuse in a three-minute-plus scoring drought. Gurdak dunk cuts the deficit to three. First time in a while that the margin has been a possession.

H2 15:48 | Syracuse 44, Virginia Tech 37

Happened again. Avdalas lay-in cut it to four, but Nate Kingz hit from deep for the third time today. He's up to 11 points. The Hokies trail by seven at the U-16 media timeout of the second half.

H2 17:50 | Syracuse 41, Virginia Tech 35

Feels like every time that the Hokies close it to four or five, Syracuse has just enough push back to fend off Tech. The Hokies are playing well, save for defending the three-ball.

H2 19:40 | Syracuse 37, Virginia Tech 32

Hansberry gets the second-half scoring underway. Five-point game.

HALFTIME | Syracuse 37, Virginia Tech 30

Syracuse didn't score for the final 2:59, but the #Hokies' trey from Hammond was their lone bucket in the final five minutes. Orange have held Avdalas to 2-for-9 shooting.

H1 0:46 | Syracuse 37, Virginia Tech 30

Hammond from deep. 3-for-5 from the field for eight points for the sophomore guard.

H1 2:22 | Syracuse 37, Virginia Tech 27

Orange forward William Kyle III's been a force today. Slammed it down on one end today, stuffed Avdalas on the other. Kyle III is 5-for-6 today for 10 points, four rebounds and two assists.

H1 3:29 | Syracuse 35, Virginia Tech 27

The Hokies and the Orange are deadlocked on field goals made and attempted at a 12-for-26 clip. Tech's 2-for-6 from deep, though, compared to Syracuse's 7-for-12.

H1 4:46 | Syracuse 33, Virginia Tech 27

Relatively flowy game — 12 combined fouls through 15:14 of ball. Also, Tobi Lawal dunked.

H1 6:00 | Syracuse 31, Virginia Tech 25

Hammond. Nothing but net. That shot looked silky smooth. He's 2-for-3 for five points. Syracuse's ball distribution has been on point today, though, with nine assists to Tech's three.

H1 9:00 | Syracuse 23, Virginia Tech 20

Gurdak. Again. Punishing the Orange on the interior. He's taking advantage of Syracuse's defensive rotations and is 3-for-3 from the field.

H1 10:20 | Syracuse 23, Virginia Tech 18

The Hokies are beginning to force their way back into the contest. Bedford buried a step-back trey to cut the gap to five.

H1 11:20 | Syracuse 23, Virginia Tech 13

Syracuse has a 16-3 run over the last five-plus minutes of ball. The Orange are now 5-for-7 from deep, while Tech did not knock down any of its three looks from long range.

H1 12:17 | Syracuse 20, Virginia Tech 13

Syracuse is 4-for-6 from three-point land. Consequently, they hold a seven-point lead at the second media timeout of the evening.

H1 14:06 | Syracuse 15, Virginia Tech 12

The Hokies are thriving on the interior; all 12 of their points thus far have come by way of the painted area. 5-for-9 inside. Syracuse outscoring Tech 6-0 on points off TOs, though.

H1 15:40 | Virginia Tech 10, Syracuse 10

At the U-16 MTO, we're knotted at 10 apiece. The Hokies have started 5-for-8 and have a 10-2 advantage in points in the paint.

H1 16:45 | Virginia Tech 8, Syracuse 7

Gurdak's cleaning up on the glass. Already at four rebounds, plus a pair of tip-ins.

H1 START | Syracuse 3, Virginia Tech 2

Neoklis Avdalas lay-in countered by a Nate Kingz triple. Of note: Ben Hammond is in the starting lineup for his third straight game.

Pre-Game:

Virginia Tech's starting lineup is as follows:

No. 0 - Jailen Bedford - Guard
No. 3 - Ben Hammond - Guard
No. 13 - Amani Hansberry - Forward
No. 17 - Neoklis Avdalas - Guard
No. 32 - Christian Gurdak - Center

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