Mike Young happy Virginia Tech players get recognition after win vs. Duke

Mike Young and his Virginia Tech Hokies ended their seven-game losing streak on Monday, beating the Duke Blue Devils. Virginia Tech knocked off the top 25 ranked Duke squad 78- 75 in a game that went down to the wire. After the game, Young expressed joy and happiness that his Hokies players received some much-needed recognition following the win.

“Yeah. Yeah, a great deal. They earned it; we played well enough to win. We played a good ball game at Virginia. But, you know, nice to (see the) fruits of your labor be recognized and rewarded,” said Young in the Hokies’ postgame press conference.

Virginia Tech’s offense was red hot from the field, shooting 57.1 percent from the floor and 52.6 percent from range. With that kind of hot shooting, there was little Duke could do to steal this one from Virginia Tech. Senior forward Grant Basile was the leading points-getter for the Hokies in the game, scoring 24 points on 10 of 15 shooting from the field. And senior guard Hunter Cattoor had himself a night shooting from beyond the arc. Cattoor went five or ten from the field and from 3, scoring 15 points in the game.

Young on flopping technicals: ‘What are we doing?’

There were plenty of storylines to talk about from that game. However, Virginia Tech head coach Mike Young started off his postgame press conference by addressing the recent rash of technical fouls for flopping.

I’m glad I got one in my favor,” said Young. “…Our two were flops at Clemson. We haven’t had one called all year. I get two in the same game about three minutes apart. My gosh, what are we doing? Nothing came across my desk. Brian Kersey is excellent, (he) hasn’t said anything to me. I was watching the play tonight; I think that was Roach… I really don’t know Paul.”

Duke’s star guard Jeremy Roach was assessed a technical foul with just over 16 minutes to play after the referees declared that he flopped while attempting to draw an offensive foul. Virginia Tech’s Sean Pedulla Knocked down the free shot giving the Hokies a 51-48 lead.

Technical fouls for flopping have been a topic of conversation as of late and have been very much hit or miss on the season. Like with all fouls, they were given at the referee’s discretion. But unlike other violations, this call has yet to develop any consistency throughout the college basketball landscape. And it appears that inconsistency has Young miffed at what to expect going forward with the call.