National Basketball Association
Virginia Tech 76, Florida State 66
When: 7:00 PM ET, Wednesday, January 29, 2025
Where: Donald L. Tucker Center, Tallahassee, Florida
Officials:
# Brian O'Connell, # Roger Ayers, # Justin Porterfield
Attendance:
6448
By Field Level Media
A hot start and a double-double from Tobi Lawal led Virginia Tech to a 76-66 victory over Florida State on Wednesday in Tallahassee, Fla.
A 12-2 run in the first five minutes jump-started Virginia Tech to a 20-point halftime lead, and the margin never dipped below six in the second half.
The Hokies (9-12, 4-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) capitalized on 17 points and 13 rebounds from Lawal to post coach Mike Young's 400th career victory. He is 101-76 at Virginia Tech after going 299-244 at Wofford.
Virginia Tech jumped to a 35-15 halftime advantage after holding Florida State to 6-for-28 (21.4 percent) shooting before the break, including 0-for-8 from 3-point range.
Jaden Schutt added 16 points, including three 3-pointers, as the Hokies ended a three-game losing streak. Jaydon Young connected on a trio of first-half 3-pointers for nine points, and Mylyjael Poteat also put up nine points.
Florida State (13-8, 4-6) dropped its third consecutive game. After a miserable offensive first half, the Seminoles did shoot better in the second half, connecting on 19 of 34 shots (55.9 percent) after intermission, including 8 of 17 (47.1 percent) from 3-point range.
The Seminoles were led by Taylor Bol Bowen, who had 14 points and nine rebounds. Jerry Deng added 13 points off the bench and Jamir Watkins overcame a cold start to tally nine points, although he shot just 4-for-13.
In the early going, Florida State tied the game at 2 on a Bowen jump shot, then watched Virginia Tech unleash the next 10 points to pull ahead. Florida State pulled within 12-7 on a Watkins jumper, only for Virginia Tech to open a 13-4 run that culminated on a fastbreak dunk from Ben Burnham.
In the second half, a Florida State closed the margin to 49-43 with 8:08 to play on a Daquan Davis layup. However, Virginia Tech followed with treys from Ben Hammond and Schutt before stretching the advantage to 61-45 on a three-point play from Lawal.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
Virginia Tech |
|
Florida State |
Toibu Lawal 17 |
Scoring |
Taylor Bol Bowen 14 |
Rodney Brown Jr. 3 |
Assists |
Daquan Davis 4 |
Toibu Lawal 13 |
Rebounds |
Taylor Bol Bowen 9 |
Jaden Schutt 7 |
Free Throws Made |
Bostyn Holt 3 |
Ben Hammond 2 |
Steals |
Chandler Jackson 2 |
Mylyjael Poteat 1 |
Blocks |
Taylor Bol Bowen 1 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Virginia Tech
|
76 |
41.4 |
10-26 |
18-30 |
13 |
38 |
1 |
9 |
10 |
Florida State
|
66 |
40.3 |
8-25 |
8-12 |
13 |
37 |
4 |
6 |
11 |