The Good, Bad and Ugly From Virginia Tech Men's Basketball's 85-71 Loss to Louisville

What's the good, bad and ugly to take from the Hokies' 85-71 loss to No. 23 Louisville?

Jan 24, 2026; Louisville, Ky; Louisville guard J'vonne Hadley (1) shoots against Virginia Tech guard Neoklis Avdalas (17). | Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images

Virginia Tech men's basketball fell back to a .500 record in ACC play, dropping to 0-3 against league opponents on the road with a 85-71 loss to No. 23 Louisville. Here's my opinion as to what was the good, bad and ugly notes to take away from the game:

Final from Louisville pic.twitter.com/YrXgF3mrTl

— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) January 24, 2026

The Good: Save for the end of the first half, the remainder of the game was quite even.

Save for the final four minutes of the first half — a 14-2 Louisville run — the rest of the game was quite close. The Hokies (15-6, 4-4 ACC) outscored the Cardinals (14-5, 3-3 ACC) 49-48 in the second half and disregarding the final four minutes of the opening frame, the score would have been 71-69, Louisville.

Virginia Tech has shown fight in every conference game thus far this season and displayed an impressive shooting split of 58.6% (17-for-29) in the second half, including a lights-out 11-for-17 (64.7%) from long range. Though the Cardinals pulled away with the aforementioned run to end off the first half, the Hokies once again showcased their mettle and have at least been within a fighter's chance in every game of league play this season.

The Bad: That Louisville run at the end of the first half silenced the Hokies' hopes of victory.

The good is where you take it from a glass-half-full kind of view. But looking objectively, the tide turned once Louisville went on its 14-2 run, creating some serious breathing room. Though Virginia Tech cut it to 10 with six minutes to play, the Cardinals created a quick 7-0 burst, spearheaded by three-pointers from guard Mikel Brown Jr. and Ryan Conwell.

Though Virginia Tech showcased that fight, the run that it gave up put it behind the 8-ball. That was compounded by Louisville's stellar shooting in the second half; in the final 20 minutes of play, Louisville knocked down 17 of its 31 looks from the field, good for a 54.8% clip.

The Louisville game was one that looked claimable for the first 16 minutes and even afterwards, Virginia Tech cut the Cardinals' lead down from 20 points to 10. It was a game that, save for the run, was somewhat even. Combined with the three one-possession losses, it stings, albeit less than the previous three defeats in league play — all of which came via game-winning triples by Tech's opponents.

The Ugly: Neoklis Avdalas has struggled in league play (Honorable mention: Tech's record on the road in regard to ACC play).

While guard Ben Hammond has starred, averaging a team-high 16.6 points through eight ACC games, wing Neoklis Avdalas has regressed from his non-conference outputs. In eight ACC games, Avdalas has averaged 10.9 points, five assists, 2.5 rebounds and 3.1 turnovers per game. He's also shot 33% from the field over league play, with a 17.9% clip from three-point range and a 69% rate from the charity stripe.

Against Louisville, Avdalas shot 1-for-8, logging two points. He was subbed out with 9:53 remaining in the contest and did not return.

As an honorable mention, I'll spotlight Tech's road record in league play. The Hokies have snagged just one road win in conference games this season: Syracuse, which slipped out of Quad 1 territory this weekend. Last year, Virginia Tech was an OK 5-5 in conference play on the road, but the previous two years, the Hokies were 2-8 on the road.

To qualify for the NCAA Tournament, Virginia Tech will need to claim one or two games on the road while taking care of business against the ACC's substandard teams in Georgia Tech, Boston College and Florida State.

The Hokies' next challenge comes against Georgia Tech on Tuesday, Jan. 27 at 8 p.m. ET. The contest will be carried on the ACC Network.