Keve Aluma had 18 points and six rebounds as host Virginia Tech continued its mastery of Pitt by defeating its Atlantic Coast Conference rival for the second time in 48 hours, winning 74-47 on Monday night in Blacksburg, Va.
Hunter Cattoor had 12 points and six rebounds and Nahiem Alleyne scored 11 points for the Hokies (14-10, 6-7 ACC), who won 76-71 in Pittsburgh on Saturday.
David N’Guessan had eight points, seven rebounds and three assists for Virginia Tech, which won its fourth straight game. It was the Hokies’ seventh win against Pitt (8-16, 3-10) in the teams’ past eight meetings dating to the 2015-16 season.
Femi Odukale had 16 points and four assists, and Mouhamadou Gueye added 15 points and four rebounds for Pitt, which lost for the sixth time in seven games. John Hugley, who entered the game averaging a team-high 14.7 points per game, scored just two points on 1-for-4 shooting.
The Hokies shot 52.7 percent (29-for-55) from the field, including 48.1 percent (13-for-27) from 3-point range. Pitt shot 37.5 percent (15-for-40) from the field, including 50 percent (10-for-20) from distance.
The Hokies had 20 assists, seven by Sean Pedulla, on their 29 field goals. They also outrebounded the Panthers 36-19 and outscored them 30-10 in the paint.
Virginia Tech led 35-17 at halftime, then blew the game open by starting the second half with a 11-4 burst capped by Storm Murphy’s 3-pointer that pushed the advantage to 46-21 with 15:23 remaining.
After jumping out to a 5-0 lead, Pitt went scoreless for the next 6:36, enabling Virginia Tech to take over the game. Five different Hokies scored during a 17-0 run capped by Mutts’ free throw with 9:35 left in the first half.
The Hokies shot 48.1 percent (13-for-27) from the field, including 54.5 percent (6-for-11) from beyond the arc, in the opening 20 minutes.
Gueye was Pitt’s lone bright spot in the first half. He scored 12 of Pitt’s 17 points on 4-for-6 shooting from beyond the 3-point line. His teammates shot a combined 2-for-15 (13.3 percent) from the field and were 0-for-5 from 3-point range.
–Field Level Media
