National Basketball Association
Virginia Tech 72, Merrimack 43
When: 4:00 PM ET, Sunday, November 21, 2021
Where: Cassell Coliseum, Blacksburg, Virginia
Officials:
# Ryan Sassano, # Mark Schnur, # Bill Covington Jr.
Attendance:
4730
By Field Level Media
Storm Murphy led a balanced attack with 14 points and Nahiem Alleyne added 12 as Virginia Tech rode hot shooting and strong defense Sunday afternoon to remain undefeated with a methodical 72-43 victory over Merrimack in Blacksburg, Va.
Justyn Mutts scored all nine of his points in the first half and added a team-high seven rebounds for Tech (5-0), which shot 55 percent from the floor and made 11 of 23 shots (47.8%) from beyond the arc.
Tech was feeling it late as Murphy bounced an inbounds pass off the back of a Merrimack defender, collected the ball and rose for a sneaky layup. Then in the final 90 seconds, walk-ons Ben Varga and Camden Johnson hit celebratory 3-pointers.
Jordan Minor led Merrimack (3-3) with 14 points and seven rebounds. The Hokies forced 15 turnovers, limited the Warriors to 39 percent shooting and outrebounded them 32-22.
Virginia Tech gained control in the first half. Sean Padula came off the bench and hit a 3-pointer and then drove to the lane and fed Mutts for a layup to complete a quick 8-0 run that gave the Hokies a 23-11 lead.
Mutts added a 3-pointer, completing the half 4 for 4 from the floor as Tech took a 34-18 lead to the intermission.
Early in the second half, Mutts turned his focus to feeding his teammates. On back-to-back possessions he assisted on a 3-pointer by Nahiem Alleyne and a fastbreak layup by Storm Murphy which put the Hokies up 45-27.
Reserve Darius Maddox hit a 3-pointer later in the half, hiking Tech's lead past 20 points for the first time and making him 7 for 11 this season from beyond the arc.
Merrimack was never within 20 in the game's final nine minutes.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Merrimack |
|
Virginia Tech |
|
Jordan Minor 14 |
Scoring |
Storm Murphy 14 |
|
Malik Edmead 3 |
Assists |
Justyn Mutts 5 |
|
Jordan Minor 7 |
Rebounds |
Justyn Mutts 7 |
|
N/A |
Free Throws Made |
Nahiem Alleyne 2 |
|
Malik Edmead 2 |
Steals |
Hunter Cattoor 2 |
|
Ziggy Reid 2 |
Blocks |
Keve Aluma 3 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Merrimack
|
43 |
38.8 |
5-20 |
0-0 |
8 |
18 |
3 |
4 |
15 |
| Virginia Tech
|
72 |
55.1 |
11-23 |
7-12 |
15 |
32 |
5 |
5 |
12 |
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