Written By: Joey DeRosa

I’m not going to lie to you Hokie fans; I am still living high off the win from last night against the #3 Michigan State Spartans. Less than 24 hours later, the Hokies fell to the Dayton Flyers for their first loss of the season. Does this suck? Yes. The Hokies first loss of the season occurred on 11/26/2019. If you told Hokie fans worldwide that their Men’s Basketball team would begin this season 6-1, with their first loss coming in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational and it WAS NOT to Michigan State; your boy would be thrilled. We knew this team would not go undefeated. Could this have been a let down game? Sure, but let’s dive in.

Virginia Tech, on average, gave up 58 points per game to start the season. The Dayton Flyers put up 48 in the first half. It is hot in Maui, but Dayton was hotter. In the first half, they shot 19/29 (65.5%) from the field, and 8/14 (57.1%) from three. What frustrated this viewer was that the Hokies didn’t even shoot poorly; shooting 11/24 (45.8%) and 5/12 (41.7) from three. Turnovers and Fouls seemed to be the theme for the Hokies in the first half. 7 turnover and 10 fouls are uncharacteristic for the Hokies, and lead to them being down a whopping 18 at halftime.

One of my takeaways from this game is that, although Bede is an all-world shot creator for his teammates, he is not somebody you want taking a plethora of pull-up jumpers. I understand wanting to have the threat of shooting so teams don’t just play him soft, but he it’ll be important that he stays within himself and is that drive and dish creator this team needs moving forward.

I also will continue to show my love for Hunter Cattoor. This guy plays hard defense and took a big charge from Ryan Mikesell of Dayton. Speaking of Ryan Mikesell, #33 of Dayton, he has a twin from Wedding Crashers.

Anywho, back to the game.

The defense seemed to come around a little bit more in the second half, allowing only 5 points to Dayton in the first 5 minutes and cutting the lead to 14. The Cattorr foul and subsequent 3 looked like a chance for the Hokies to be within 11, but then the refs decided to waive the 3 off and say the play was on the floor before the shot. Look, they were correct, but it seemed like every single foul or ticky tack play went the Flyers way this evening.

It also seemed like every time the Hokies would chip away and get any semblance of a run, Dayton, lead by future lottery pick Obi Toppin would shut it down immediately. If you are not familiar with his name, get used to hearing it. He had 10 points in the first 14 minutes and was a problem all night long. He finished the night with 24 points and 8 rebounds. He looks special.

The Virginia Tech Hokies (6-1) fall to The Dayton Flyers (5-0) 89-62.