Virginia Tech rode the long-distance shooting of Hunter Cattoor and Storm Murphy to a stunningly decisive 86-49 win over St. Bonaventure on Friday afternoon in the Hall of Fame Shootout in Charlotte, N.C.
Virginia Tech (8-4) scored the game’s first 13 points and St. Bonaventure never challenged as Cattoor notched a career-high 21 points, making all five of his shots from beyond the arc. Murphy added 18 points, hitting 4 of 7 shots from 3-point range.
The Hokies made 54.9% of their shots while limiting the Bonnies to 33.1% shooting. Tech also had a 34-27 rebounding edge and forced St. Bonaventure to commit 20 turnovers.
St. Bonaventure (8-3) welcomed back its best player Kyle Lofton, who missed the previous three games with an ankle injury. But in 26 minutes of action, Lofton scored just 3 points, 14 below his average.
The Bonnies, with all five starters back from a team that captured the Atlantic 10 title, were uncharacteristically flat. Dominick Welch led St. Bonaventure with 11 points. But Jaren Holmes and Jalen Adaway, who were averaging a combined 32 points per game, scored just five between them as they missed a combined 16 of 17 shots from the floor.
Tech was dominant from the start at both ends of the floor. Over the first 6:16, the Hokies harassed the Bonnies into three turnovers and misses on their first nine shots. Meanwhile, Cattoor hit a pair of 3-pointers and Nahiem Alleyne (nine points) added another as Tech raced to a 13-0 lead.
Midway through the half, Sean Pedulla came off the bench and sparked the Hokies, making a pull up jumper in the lane and then drawing a charging foul on Lofton. Murphy followed with a 3-pointer and John Ojiako added two free throws as Tech pushed its lead to 18 points.
As Cattoor and Murphy made 3-pointers late in the half, the Hokies extended their advantage to 42-20 at the break.
Virginia Tech kept pouring it on in the second half. When Cattoor and Murphy made back-to-back 3-pointers late in the game, the Hokies lead swelled to 40 points.
Keve Aluma added 12 points and four assists for Tech.
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–Field Level Media
