Tweet

BLACKSBURG – Jalen Hudson scored a season-best 27 points, but it wasn’t enough, as Virginia Tech fell to No. 16 Louisville 91-83 in an ACC game played Wednesday night at Virginia Tech Carilion Court.

The Hokies, who lost their third straight game, fell to 12-9 overall, 4-4 in ACC play. Louisville won its fourth straight game, moving to 17-3 overall, 6-1 in the ACC.

Hudson hit 7 of 14 from the floor for the Hokies, including 12 of 14 from the free-throw line, but he was one of just four Hokies to score in the game, and it wasn’t enough to offset an evening in which the Cardinals hit 12 3-pointers. Louisville also became just the fifth team this season to shoot better than 50 percent against the Hokies (51.9).

“The reasons we got beat the previous two games were too high of a turnover rate, and giving them too many offensive rebounds and too many points in transition,” Virginia Tech coach Buzz Williams said. “Those were the things we addressed physically and mentally the last two days. We had less turnovers than they [Louisville] did (15-12). We had the same number of offensive rebounds that they did (8). We gave them four points in transition. They shot one more ball than we did.

“I apologized to the team. You guys [his team] did everything I asked you to do. I thought you played with great heart and great energy. Three of those 12 3-pont makes weren’t contested … but man, they hit some great shots.”

Tech trailed 35-34 after a Seth Allen dunk with 18 seconds left in the first half. But Louisville’s Damion Lee hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Cardinals a 38-34 edge at halftime.

That seemed to spark the Cardinals. In the second half, Louisville hit seven 3-pointers and led by as many as 11 points. The Hokies cut the lead to six on three occasions in the final three minutes, with the last time coming on an Allen 3-pointer with 19 seconds remaining that made the score 89-83.

But Louisville’s Trey Lewis hit two free throws with 12 seconds that basically sealed it for the Cardinals.

Lee paced the Cardinals with 29 points, hitting 6 of 8 from the floor, including six 3-pointers. Lewis added 22 points and hit four 3-pointers. The duo combined to go 17 of 18 from the free-throw line, with most of those coming in the final few minutes to hold off Tech.

Allen finished with 26 points for Tech, hitting 13 of 14 from the free-throw line. Zach LeDay added 20 points, and he made all eight of his free-throw attempts. The Hokies hit 33 of 38 from the line on the evening.

“Buzz would make a great pro coach,” Louisville’s Rick Pitino said. “I’m not trying to get rid of him, but he would make a great pro coach because he puts you in pick-and-roll isolations that hurt Virginia, hurt us, hurt everybody with it, and that’s the professional game. He does a lot of great things with the pick and roll.

“Everything he does offensively is difficult. He’s really one of our bright young coaches in our game. For his second year at Virginia Tech, he’s doing an awesome job. He really is.”

The Hokies now hit the road for their next two games. Tech plays Saturday at Pittsburgh, with the tipoff slated for 6:30 p.m.

For updates on Virginia Tech men's basketball, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_MBBall