Mike Young believes Virginia Tech is turning a corner: 'Don't count the Hokies out'

Virginia Tech stormed back in the second half to defeat NC State at home on Wednesday night after trailing by as many as 15 points to secure head coach Mike Young’s 100th win as the head coach of the Hokies.

Tech has now won three of their last four games in ACC play — all of which were decided by three points or less. That included the 79-76 win over the Wolfpack, as well as wins over both Cal on the road, and Miami at home.

“Don’t count the Hokies out,” Young, who is now one win shy of 400 on his career, told reporters postgame. “I don’t care what you’re playing. Don’t count the hokies out. An incredible amount of heart from from our bunch tonight. That was snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, as we did against Miami.

“I don’t want to live like that very often, but we’re coming on. I’m really proud to see it and excited for what lies ahead.”

Sophomore guard Jaden Schutt was the one who iced the victory with a pair of last-second free throws. He made his pair of free throws trailing 76-75, and Ben Burnham stole the subsequent in-bound pass and threw down a statement slam as time expired.

Schutt, a Duke transfer, scored 17 points off the bench and cashed in on his game-sealing opportunity. Burnham logged 12 points of his own coming off the bench as well.

However, Virginia Tech was led by forward Tobi Lawal, whose fingerprints were all over the game. He scored 22 points of 7 of 10 shooting, including 3 of 3 from 3-point range, to go with 11 rebounds (six offensive) and a pair of blocks.

Virginia Tech improved to 8-9 overall with the victory, and are set to take on some of the ACC’s stiffer competiton in the coming weeks. They’ll take on Wake Forest up next, who is 5-1 in conference play and 13-4 overall. Before the end of the month, they’ll also battle Clemson as well. Luckily for the Hokies, both of those games will be played in Blacksburg as they look to turn their season around heading into February.

Tip-off between the Hokies and Demon Deacons is set for Saturday at 2 p.m. ET live on the ACC Network.