Men's Basketball Outmuscles Bryant, 78-61, For Fifth Straight Victory

The Hokies remain undefeated after a quintet of contests.

Virginia Tech Athletics

Through five games of play, Virginia Tech men's basketball remains undefeated. After a rocky opening half where Bryant led for 14 minutes, the Hokies slowly but steadily peeled away from the Bulldogs, riding 33 combined points from forward Tobi Lawal and center Christian Gurdak en route to a 78-61 win and their fifth straight victory of the young campaign.

solid day at the crib 🫡 pic.twitter.com/S2Vg00lOn8

— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) November 20, 2025

"I kept telling them in timeouts, 'Just keep the hammer down,'" said Virginia Tech head coach Mike Young after the team's 17-point victory. "'Keep grinding on them defensively. They'll wilt. It might be the 18-minute mark the second half, 10-minute mark.' But I thought it flipped a little bit and [Bryant] shooting wasn't quite as pure."

The victory came without starting big Amani Hansberry. During the team's press conference, Young stated that Hansberry strained his ankle and that he would have played if the game were of a larger magnitude. Bryant was ranked No. 318 in Ken Pomeroy's metrics following the contest.

"Hansberry is such a critical part of what we do," Young said. "If we had a big game, he would have played. He hurt it late. I don't know the exact play. I'm not sure there was an exact play, but he strained his ankle a bit. Was hurting on Monday. We practiced very light on Monday, but he was bothered and Hisham [Ziyout] put him in a boot. He felt a lot better yesterday. I thought there was a chance that he could play and then we met this morning and it was Hisham's recommendation. We've got three coming up here that are critical to our team and our program and our league. And I didn't want to run the risk of aggravating it a little bit more. Now, we're looking at he's on the shelf through Monday. We travel down there. So, there you have it."

Young remarked that unless an unforeseen circumstance crops up, Hansberry will be in the starting lineup for the team's opening leg of the Battle 4 Atlantis against Colorado State, which features former Virginia Tech guard Brandon Rechsteiner.

In the meantime, it was Lawal and true freshman Gurdak that led the charge. In total, five Hokies scored in double figures. Gurdak, in particular, shined; his 15-point, eight-rebound effort marked a career-high in both categories. The true freshman, who did not play Sunday against Charlotte due to Young utilizing an eight-man rotation, knocked down seven of his nine shots from the field and save for accumulating four fouls, he acclimated well in his second contest playing over 10 minutes. When asked to assess his performance, the true freshman center remarked that he would give himself a seven and a half out of 10.

Meanwhile, Lawal's team-high 18 points marked the first time this season that Virginia Tech has had a player lead the team in scoring more than once. Prior to the contest, the Hokies had a different player pace the team in points in each of its four regular season contests, as well as the exhibition. Lawal also led the team in rebounds for the fourth straight contest, gobbling up 13 on Wednesday. Across the first five contests, Lawal has reached double digits in scoring and rebounding in four separate outings apiece.

Against a potent team in Bryant, which boasted four players in its starting lineup that were 6-foot-8 or higher, the Hokies stood out on the boards, outrebounding the Bulldogs, 38-24. In addition to Lawal's 13 rebounds and Gurdak's eight, sophomore guard Tyler Johnson gobbled up nine, coming up a single rebound short of logging his second career double-double.

Another key area that emerged in Hansberry's absence was the allocation of minutes. Prior to the contest, seven players averaged over 20 minutes a contest, with Ben Hammond sitting at No. 7 with 20.5 minutes a contest. Meanwhile, German center Antonio Dorn and Delaware transfer guard Izaiah Pasha were next at 8.7 minutes/game. However, Gurdak logged a career-high 27 minutes, fourth-most on the team behind Lawal (35), Johnson (35) and Avdalas (28).

Virginia Tech now has an eight-day layoff before it travels to Paradise Island, The Bahamas for a three-day tournament that kicks off Wednesday, Nov. 26. The first contest is against Colorado State; it begins at 5 p.m. ET and coverage for the event is available on ESPNU.

"I'm incredibly excited," Young said. "We've all got work to do... Keep in mind, it is November 20th. But I am bullish on our team. I am encouraged. I've seen it. And we need a little more time. But Battle 4 Atlantis and those three head knockers that we're going to encounter down there, we got progress to make here over the next week before we see the Rams."