BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Grant Basile had 23 points and 10 rebounds, Sean Pedulla added 19 points, and Virginia Tech defeated Dayton 77-49 on Wednesday night.
Dayton scored the first five points of the second half and trailed 42-26 but Virginia Tech soon led by 20 again. Mylyjael Poteat made two free throws for a 51-31 lead with 12:28 remaining to start a 9-0 run and the Hokies led by at least 20 points the rest of the way. The final score was their largest lead.
The Hokies finished the first half on a 21-5 run and led 42-21 at the break. Virginia Tech shot 56% and had only two turnovers in the first half. Basile led the way for the Hokies, scoring 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting, hitting 4-of-6 3-pointers. He had six rebounds and two blocks.
Basile finished 9-of-17 from the field and made 4-of-9 3-pointers. Darius Maddox scored 12 points for Virginia Tech. The Hokies finished at 49.2% and committed only five turnovers in the game.
DaRon Holmes had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Flyers.
Virginia Tech (9-1) has won four in a row, including an 80-72 victory over then-No. 18 North Carolina. The last time the Hokies were 9-1 was in the 2018-19 season when they won 14 of their first 15 games.
The Flyers were the preseason favorite in the Atlantic 10 but have started 5-5 this season. Dayton returned all five starters from a team that finished 24-11 and tied for second in the A-10 with a 14-4 record.
___
More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
