Three Big Takeaways from Virginia Tech's 72-63 Victory over Boston College

On Tuesday, Virginia Tech eked past Boston College, 72-63, in the Hokies' final regular-season home game of the 2025-26 season. Here are three big takeaways from the Hokies' 17th contest in Cassell Coliseum this year:

Tuesday dub ✅

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No. 1: Tech was on-point from deep.

On the opening possession of the contest, freshman guard Neoklis Avdalas airballed his first look from three: an uncanny shot for the contest for both Avdalas and the Hokies (19-11, 8-9 ACC) from deep.

His miss was followed by an 11-for-24 stretch from distance for Tech as a squad, executing a split that kept the scoring out of the Eagles' reach throughout the contest.

Avdalas, by the 11-minute mark of the first half, connected on his next four attempts from behind-the-arc, paving a smooth start to his 15-point outing.

While five different Hokies connected from beyond the stripe, it was only the backcourt duo of Jailen Bedford and Ben Hammond that cashed in looks from the distance in the second half; the pair made four in the half, as the opportunities slimmed.

“They're just playing; I don't want them looking over their shoulder at me,” Tech head coach Mike Young exclaimed. “When they go in the air, I never want them thinking, 'Does this guy think this is a good shot or a bad shot?' You play, I'll take the misses, you take the makes.”

No. 2: Tech made do with limited second-half scoring looks.

Boston College limited the Hokies to just 21 second-half field goal attempts, compared to the Eagles’ 37 looks in the same period. For Tech, however, it happened to drain 11 of these looks for an impressive 52.4% mark in the half.

Compared to the Hokies’ 32 first-half looks that they fired off, Boston College slowed down Tech in a multitude of ways. Most prevalent, the Eagles presented a pesky, energized defense out of the halftime break that disrupted the Hokies' offensive rhythm.

“Just nasty,” were Young’s first words when asked about the Eagles defense.

“And I say that admirably, there's nothing dirty about Boston College," Young continued. "They are physical, they're scrappy. They are top 65 I think, in the country defensively.”

It took three minutes for Tech to log a field goal attempt in the half, as four straight turnovers plagued the Hokies’ possessions to open the period.

The Eagles also kept the rock down on their end of the court for long, draining defensive battles against Tech with nine offensive rebounds. 6’1 sophomore guard Fred Payne was getting into the mix the most for Boston College, crashing his way downhill for four offensive rebounds in the half.

The Hokies’ leading scorer, Tobi Lawal (20), crashed well in the half as well, nabbing two offensive rebounds, finishing the second-chance look for both himself, in the wake of a 5-for-6 half from the floor.

No. 3: The Hokies did what they needed to do

One could pin just about any saying they wanted on this contest for the Hokies: must-win, can’t-lose, essential, or critical. It could have even been tabbed a trap-game based on last year's matchup: a 54-36 low-scoring affair.

The Hokies took care of Boston College whistle-to-whistle, with the stampeding offense that propels Tech ahead to their next, and final must win game of the season.

“No, I'm thinking about spring break. I'm thinking about going to Islamorada with my beautiful wife this spring,” Young joked postgame on if the thought of the NCAA Tournament was in his mind. “[The tournament] occupies a lot of thought. What do we need to do? We need to go down to Charlottesville and play a really good ballgame, that would help. They're really good.”

Tech will head up I-81 to end its season with the second rendition of this season's Commonwealth Clash, against No. 13 Virginia, which the Hokies defeated in triple overtime on December 31.