Following Virginia Tech’s 67-57 win against the Minnesota Gophers. Both head coaches took the podium to discuss the action in the last ever Big Ten/ ACC matchup for either side.

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A big emphasis from the Gophers head coach Ben Johnson was the physicality of the Hokies.

“Tech made everything we tried to do difficult,” Johnson said.

Virginia Tech found themselves being able to create massive runs, one of which included a 13-0 run with sophomore guard Sean Pedulla scoring 11 of the 13. When asked about that run in specific, Johnson stated that they oftentimes find themselves in an offensive lull. That combined with the fact the Gophers could not keep Pedulla in front of them caused the game to slip away. Pedulla finished the game with 17 points shooting an efficient 8-13 from the field. Johnson also took a lot of blame in terms of playing Dawson Garcia. Garcia had the flu but was adamant he could play yet, he had an inefficient night shooting 2-9 from the field and finishing with a game high -17 in the plus minus category.

You would expect coach Young to be very happy with how the game went after all, his Virginia Tech side held the Gophers to 36.7% from the field and an even more disappointing 26.3% from the arc. Yet Young was sure to let the press know that their play was nowhere near enough.

“Playing eight games in November leaves us no time to practice and we need practice time,” he said.

Young compared his team to a team playing a lazy team scrimmage in the heat of the summer, something he said was unacceptable. Even though they have implemented a no dribble segment of play into practice, it is felt by the coaching staff that they still do not move the ball anywhere near as much as they should. Young also stated that the team was shooting at a rate nowhere near good enough. Yet he also said that the field goal rates would tick up as the season progresses, he feels that if his biggest concern was the ability for his side to hit shots, then he would rest easy every night.

Virginia Tech opens their ACC schedule on Sunday at 2 PM as they take on the 18th ranked UNC Tar Heels at Cassell Coliseum.

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