Virginia Tech forward Grant Basile discusses the impressive 79-72 victory over the Pittsburgh Panthers

Virginia Tech forward Grant Basile was one of the most coveted prospects in the transfer portal this offseason and he’s been busy showing why with his play this season for the Hokies. On Saturday night, Virginia Tech continued their recent dominance at home over the Pitt Panthers. The Hokies pulled out a 79-72 victory at home at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Virginia, an extremely difficult place to play for any team in the country.

Virginia Tech won their sixth straight game over Pittsburgh at Cassell Coliseum on Saturday night — the Hokies’ last loss at home to the Panthers came in 2003. Following the impressive win, Basile spoke with Dan Bonner and Wes Durham about how the Hokies shut down Pittsburgh from beyond-the-arc.

“I think they’re leading the league in threes. That was a big point of emphasis. They only had one in the first half. I’m not sure how many they ended with, but our guards did a great job of getting to shooters and helping inside. Getting back to shooters. They were awesome tonight,” Basile said.

He’s not lying. The Hokies’ perimeter defense turned up the heat — limiting the Panthers to just 3 of 18 shooting (16.6%) from three-point range on Saturday night, including just 2 of 12 in the second half. Pittsburgh came into the Virginia Tech game averaging 36% from beyond-the-arc for the season. The loss also knocked Pittsburgh out of first place in the ACC standings.

Basile also discussed how he was able to have yet another dominant individual performance, but was quick to deflect to his teammates.

“Our guys have been doing a great job of getting me some good looks. When you have guys that shoot the ball the way that Hunter [Cattoor], Sean [Pedulla], those guys do, they draw a lot of attention. The way Justyn Mutts passes. You saw some of the dimes he had tonight. Mylyjael [Poteat] played a huge role off the bench tonight. He was fantastic. We have a lot of really good basketball players and no one cares who gets the attention, so it’s been awesome,” Basile said.

Simply put, there might not be anybody playing better in the ACC right now than Grant Basile. He’s poured in 20-plus points in four straight games and in six of his last eight games. Not only that, he exploded for 33 points against Notre Dame on Feb. 11 and against Boston College on Feb. 8. Basile poured in 22 points on Saturday against Pitt and even though he fouled out, he’s been playing incredibly dominant basketball lately.

The ultra-versatile forward then discussed what an adjustment it was catching passes from his teammate, Justyn Mutts, because they come so fast.

“One of my first practices here, he drilled me. He hit me square in the chest because I wasn’t ready for it,” Basile laughed. “But he said, ‘Hey, just get them hands ready!’

Five Virginia Tech players scored in double figures in the impressive win over Pittsburgh on Saturday. While they might just sit at 6-10 in ACC play and 16-11 overall, this is an incredibly dangerous Virginia Tech team with multiple mismatches in their lineup.

Mike Young is one of the better coaches in the ACC and many people seem to have forgotten the Hokies won the 2022 ACC Tournament in Brooklyn to punch their tickets to the NCAA Tournament last year. The conference looks pretty wide-open heading into Greensboro this year for the 2023 ACC Tournament, and it wouldn’t be a shock at all to see the 2023 version of the Hokies make yet another magical run.

Up next, Virginia Tech will face the team that many people are saying is currently playing the best in the ACC, the Miami Hurricanes. That one will be on Tuesday, Feb. 21. Tip-off is set for 7:00 PM EST and the game will be televised on ESPNU.