Grant Basile scored 18 points to lead Virginia Tech to its first road win over Louisville in more than 32 years with a 71-54 victory in Atlantic Coast Conference play on Tuesday.
Basile hit 7 of 14 from the field, including 3 of 5 from 3-point range, to go along with seven rebounds. Justyn Mutts added 13 points and 12 rebounds for Virginia Tech, which defeated the Cardinals on their home court for the first time in 10 meetings dating to January 1991.
Hunter Cattoor chipped in 11 points and Sean Pedulla finished with 10 points, five rebounds and five assists for the Hokies, who ended a two-game slide.
The Hokies (17-13, 7-12) shot 24 of 64 (37.5 percent) from the field, including 10 of 29 (34.5 percent) from 3-point range.
Virginia Tech scored 18 points off Louisville’s 12 turnovers, while the Cardinals tallied just five points off the Hokies’ five miscues.
Louisville (4-26, 2-17), which lost its third straight game and fell for the 17th time in its past 19 games, was led by El Ellis and Mike James, who scored 14 points apiece.
JJ Traynor added nine points and six rebounds, but no other Cardinal scored more than five.
The Cardinals shot 24 of 57 (42.1 percent) from the field, including an abysmal 2 of 14 (14.3 percent) from beyond the arc.
After Virginia Tech took a 47-37 lead on Basile’s 3-pointer with 11:41 remaining, the Cardinals countered with a 10-3 run to pull to within 50-47 on Traynor’s 3-pointer with 9:07 to play.
But that’s as close as the Cardinals would get.
The Hokies put the game away by going on a 14-0 run, during which Mutts scored eight points, to take a 64-47 lead on Pedulla’s 3-pointer with 4:29 left.
Virginia Tech led by as many as 13 in the first half en route to taking a 35-27 halftime advantage.
–Field Level Media
