SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Nahiem Alleyne led four Virginia Tech players in double figures with 15 points and the No. 20 Hokies rebounded from their previous road loss to control cold-shooting Notre Dame 62-51 Wednesday night.
Keve Aluma and Justyn Mutts had 14 points each and reserve Hunter Cattoor scored 13 for coach Mike Young’s Hokies (12-3, 6-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who were coming off a 78-60 loss last Saturday at Syracuse.
Prentiss Hubb scored 22 points to lead the Fighting Irish (5-9, 2-6), who saw their two-game winning streak end. The guard scored just five points after intermission as the Irish, who shot 32% in the first half, finished at 36% for the game.
Virginia Tech, playing without suspended second-leading scorer Tyrece Radford, built 15-point leads twice in the first half, the second time on Aluma’s three-point play with 3:24, and Notre Dame never got out of the hole. The Hokies led 50-35 on Mutts’ basket with 12:37 to play and 62-47 late.
The Hokies shot 33% in the first half but took a 31-22 lead to the locker room behind Cattoor’s 12 points on 4-of-5 3-point shooting. Hubb scored 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting, but the rest of the Irish were a combined 2 of 15.
BIG PICTURE
Virginia Tech: Hokies played without Radford, who was suspended Monday after his early Sunday morning arrest by Blacksburg, Virginia, police on charges of driving under the influence and carrying a concealed weapon.
Notre Dame: Irish were coming off two victories, including a 73-59 win at Miami on Sunday, but hit just 3 of their first 18 shots. It was reminiscent of their second half in a 77-63 loss at Virginia Tech Jan. 10 when they made just two field goals and shot 10.5% from the field in the second half.
UP NEXT
Virginia Tech: No. 8 Virginia Saturday at home.
Notre Dame: Saturday at Pittsburgh.
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