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 North Carolina A&T (0-6) | 32 | 28 | 60 |
 Virginia Tech (3-1) | 46 | 44 | 90 |
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BLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech’s Zach LeDay scored 26 points to lift the Hokies to a 90-60 non-conference victory over North Carolina A&T on Tuesday at Virginia Tech Carilion Court.
The Hokies (3-1) won their third straight game after a season-opening loss to Alabama State and now travel to Destin, Florida for a Friday night game against Iowa State, ranked No. 4 nationally in this week’s Associated Press poll.
“I think all coaches would say that they’d like more time [to prepare],” Virginia Tech coach Buzz Williams said. “I think when you’re playing a team that’s potentially good enough to beat Kansas in the Big 12 regular season and a team with the talent that they have, you always want more time. But you can’t change it. We’ll see where we stack up.”
The Hokies tuned up by taking on the Aggies. LeDay hit 8 of 14 from the floor and 10 of 12 from the free-throw line in tying his career high. He also grabbed 12 rebounds to record his third double-double this season.
Chris Clarke had 14 points for the Hokies. Justin Bibbs and Kerry Blackshear, Jr., each scored 12.
Bruce Beckford led the Aggies (0-6) with 14 points.
Tech trailed the first seven minutes of the game, but grabbed a 9-7 lead on a field goal by Clarke with 12:56 left in the half. North Carolina A&T's Mike Owona gave the Aggies a 10-9 lead with a three-point play, but Clarke connected again, scoring with 11:58 to go to give Tech a lead it never would relinquish.
Clarke's basket started a 16-2 run in which Clarke and LeDay combined for 12 points and the Hokies gradually opened a 20-point lead and led 46-32 at halftime.
“We try to come out very hard every game,” LeDay said. “We try to get better every game. We came out hard and executed, and it led to a big ‘W.’
“We’re trying to make strides and mature as fast as possible. Chris is a freshman, and J-Rob [Justin Robinson] is a freshman. We’ve got a bunch of sophomores. We’ve got all these new people coming together. We’re trying to mature as a team and get better every day.”
The game featured a combined 51 fouls, with North Carolina A&T committing 34. Tech shot 34 of 50 from the free-throw line, while the Aggies made 6 of 10. The Aggies also hurt themselves with a season-high 20 turnovers.
In the second half, Tech led by as many as 32 points, with LeDay scoring 15 points in the half. The Hokies shot 52 percent from the floor in the final 30 minutes and they shot 50 percent for the game – a first this season.
“The game for us is the race to maturity,” Williams said. “You can see some growth and some maturity in what we’re trying to do collectively and individually. Now you play against some guys that are going to play in the NBA next year. How do you handle that from a mature standpoint? We’ll see. Then how will we handle the next day? I think there will be a lot of lessons to learn.”
Tech and Iowa State are slated to tip off at 7 p.m. The game is part of the Emerald Coast Classic.
For updates on Virginia Tech men's basketball, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_MBBall
