Virginia Tech forward Justyn Mutts reinforces his coaches' confidence with strong game vs Penn State

Virginia Tech is through to the title game of the Shriner’s Children’s Charleston Classic after defeating Old Dominion Thursday and Penn State Friday in a pair of close games. The Hokies led wire to wire and were up by as many as 16 in the first half. But the Nittany Lions stormed back in the last 20 minutes and had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead on the final possession.

However, Penn State’s super-senior guard, Camren Wynter, lost the ball out of bounds on his way to the rim, giving VT the ball with one second left to essentially end it. A gritty 61-59 win for the Hokies in a game between two teams who entered the day 4-0.

After the game, the broadcasting crew caught up with Virginia Tech forward Justyn Mutts, who finished with 10 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. He was first asked about the coaching staff’s increased confidence in him this season.

“Oh yeah, my coaches put a whole lot of confidence in me. So I mean, this is what we go out and do every single day in practice. So we’re just trying to go out there and execute now. We got a lot of areas we need to clean up still. But I feel like we’re doing a pretty good job right now.”

Plenty of room for improvement, but better to learn from a win than a loss. And this win over Penn State was a big one for the Hokies, according to Mutts.

“I mean, Penn State, that’s a great program right there. They’ve been great for, you know, a long time. I think us just really locking in, us just having a great culture as well — you know, just being able to rely on that down the stretch, I think that’s what helped us pull it out at the end.”

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The Hokies torched their first few opponents from beyond the arc but needed to turn into more of a tougher, paint-oriented team to pull out a rock fight against the Nittany Lions. For Mutts, that just shows they can win in more ways than one.

“For sure. I think we have a great inside and outside game. We have a lot of great shooters as well, and, you know, a lot of big guys that can score down low. So I think just being able to mix it up is what makes this team so special and so versatile.”

Lastly, Mutts was asked how he’s able to play so many minutes without taking a break. The senior forward wasn’t off the court often on Friday, playing 38 out of 40 total minutes. He doesn’t care, though. He’s just happy to get to play.

“I was just grateful to be out there. A lot of guys would kill to have that many minutes. So I’m not taking none of them for granted right now.”

Virginia Tech moves on to face the winner of Colorado State and Charleston tomorrow in the event’s title game. Justyn Mutts is going to need a lot of rest before then if he plans to perform at the same level.