COLUMBUS, Ohio — Early offensive struggles were too much to overcome for the Virginia Tech men’s basketball team as a spirited second-half effort fell short in an 81-73 second-round NIT loss at Ohio State.
Sean Pedulla and Hunter Cattoor combined to score 27 of their 36 points in the second half to keep the Hokies within striking distance, but a 36.7% shooting effort dug a hole Tech was never able to climb.
Lynn Kidd chipped in with 13 points despite playing just 21 minutes due to foul trouble that plagued him throughout the night.
Jamison Battle’s 21 points and 10 rebounds paced Ohio State, which had to overcome its own struggles on a night when the Buckeyes connected on 4 of 17 attempts from distance.
Ohio State advances to the quarterfinals of the NIT and will take on the winner of top-seeded Wake Forest (21-13) and fourth-seeded Georgia (18-1).
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Ohio State (22-13) controlled the opening tip, but it was Virginia Tech who seized early control of the game. The Hokies jumped out to a 7-0 lead to begin the game as Ohio State went nearly four minutes without scoring.
Roddy Gayle’s 3-pointer finally got the Buckeyes on the board, and Dale Bonner followed it up with his first 3-pointer of the evening to cut the Hokies lead to 7-6.
The lead grew to 12-6 for the Hokies before Ohio State finally began to find some traction on the offensive end. Consecutive baskets by Bruce Thornton, his first points of the game, sparked an 8-0 run to give the Buckeyes their first lead midway through the half. Gayle’s transition dunk pushed the run to 10-0, and Ohio State never trailed again.
Kidd’s basket with 6:21 remaining in the half temporarily tied the game at 19-19, but Ohio State responded by closing the half on a 17-7 run to take a 36-26 lead into the break.
Sean Pedulla, who led Tech in scoring at 16.4 points per game, was held to just two points on 1-of-6 shooting in the first half. As a team, Tech shot 36% overall including a 2 of 12 mark from distance while also committing seven turnovers.
Gayle led all first-half scorers with nine points to pace Ohio State, while Battle added five points and six rebounds to help the Buckeyes to the 10-point advantage.
Ohio State’s lead grew to 13 points over the opening five minutes of the second half, and it hovered around double digits as Virginia Tech’s shooting woes continued. The Hokies were 5 of 18 to begin the second half and in desperate need of a spark as Ohio State threatened to put the game away, and they got exactly that from an all-to-familiar source.
After missing on his first five attempts, Pedulla finally got a 3-pointer to drop, and it cut the Ohio State lead to single digits at 52-43 as the clock ticked under 11 minutes to play. The basket flipped the switch for Pedulla, who scored nine of Tech’s next 13 points to cut the Ohio State lead to 59-55 at the eight-minute mark of the second half.
After being in foul trouble for much of the game, Kidd put his stamp on the game with a three-point play that drew Tech to within a single possession at 67-64 with under four minutes to play. The three-point deficit was the closest the Hokies had been since the 6:13 mark of the first half.
That’s as close as Tech would get, though, as Ohio State scored the game’s next five points to pull away and secure a date in the quarterfinals.
