Men's Basketball Handles Saint Joseph's In 35-Point Avenging of 2024 Defeat

Six Virginia Tech players scored in double figures in the Hokies' dominant 35-point win.

Virginia Tech Athletics

Virginia Tech basketball continued its standout start to the season, dispatching Saint Joseph's, 94-59. The victory marked the sixth time in head coach Mike Young's seven years that the Hokies have won each of their first three games to start a season.

"St. Joe's has a pretty good outfit and saw them play as much as we possibly could leading up to it," Young said following the victory. "... So, good work by our staff and getting things in place and great job from our team and executing. We are getting better. We've got a long long way to go. Great numbers from both ends of the floor."

3 up, 3 down ✅✅✅ pic.twitter.com/IUFbipWwuq

— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) November 13, 2025

The Hokies rode a balanced team effort to the victory; no Tech player dropped over 19 points. However, every Hokie that saw the floor scored, save for reserve freshman forward Sin'Cere Jones. For the third straight time this season, Virginia Tech has also eclipsed the 90-point mark. Through three games, the Hokies sit at a +73 point differential. Last year, that total sat at +48.

Tech was particularly adept in clogging the passing lanes, forcing 12 steals. Three came from guard Ben Hammond.

"It's great coaching," Young said. "It's the only thing I can attribute to. I had the slowest hands in the history of basketball. Ben Hammond, just a really a quick and hard-nosed young man. Always has been. So, again, good players making good defensive plays."

Though Hammond logged only six points, the point guard tallied four assists and no turnovers, in addition to his three-steal evening. In addition to Hammond's contributions, fellow returnee Tyler Johnson stood out with an 11-point, four-rebound, three-steal performance.

Wing Neoklis Avdalas led the team in assists for the third straight contest; through a trio of showdowns, Avdalas has accumulated 21 assists and coughed the ball up on only four occasions, tallying a 5.25 assist-to-turnover ratio. One of the seven dishes that Avdalas logged came in the first half when from the top of the arc, the wing lobbed a pass up near the top of the backboard. Forward Tobi Lawal was waiting, slamming the ball down and sending the Cassell Coliseum crowd into a cacophony of cheers.

"It's one of those things where you see it, it just never gets old," said guard Jaden Schutt. "I'm probabbly seeing it so many times in practice. [Tobi'll] just jump out of the gym and Neo's vision is incredible. So, it just never gets old. And I hope it doesn't get old.

Schutt himself took all seven of his shots from three, draining four for a total of 12 points, in addition to five rebounds. In total, six Hokies netted double-digit points — forward Amani Hansberry (19), Avdalas (14), Schutt (12), Hammond (11), guard Tyler Johnson (11) and Lawal (11).

Through the offseason and trio of 2025-26 contests, the outlook from both the unit itself and the coaches commandeering the squad is that this year's operation presents a whole different ball game. The pace is also much faster than in previous years under Coach Young, with several plays unfolding in mere seconds, beginning to coalesce into an offensive style that emphasizes thriving on the run.

"Coach Young, he's always trying to find some sort of advantage against the defense," Schutt said. "And that early seven seconds, if you can get some numbers, you want to take it... First seven seconds, last seven seconds are just great shot opportunities."

The feeling of a different unit — in the players making up the roster's complexion, in the tempo of the squad's offense, the improved defensive rebounding and more — extends to expectations for this unit. Several players stated during the team's media day in September that March, as in reaching the NCAA Tournament, is the expectation for this unit. Both Hammond and Johnson believe that the process is right on schedule, though there's still several venues in which the team can make improvement.

"I feel like we still got a lot to work on," Johnson said. "Right now, it's early in the season. Third game. We got this little thing on the board saying, 'Past success don't lead to future success.' So, it's like whatever you do in the past, just forgetting, move on."

"Right on track, playing good, gelling, learning more every day, getting better every day," Hammond said.

However, the team remains confident in themselves, both in their effort on the court but the camaraderie in every venue.

"I feel good with this team and our trajectory and where we going," Johnson said. "Man, I love these guys."

Virginia Tech's next challenge arrives on Sunday, Nov. 16 when the Hokies take on Charlotte in Cassell Coliseum. The contest will tip off at 2 p.m. ET and will be available for viewing on ACC Network Extra. Should Virginia Tech win Sunday's contest, it will be the first time since the 2022-23 season that the Hokies have won their first four games.