Neoklis Avdalas poured in 30 points to lead Virginia Tech past Western Carolina 96-74 Tuesday night, pushing the Hokies’ home start to 6-0 at Cassell Coliseum.
Avdalas hit four 3-pointers and repeatedly stopped Western Carolina’s pushes, including a pair of early second-half buckets that stretched Virginia Tech’s lead to 59-37. His jumper and free throw at 12:50 held the margin at 67-46, and he later buried a 3 with 5:36 left to make it 80-58.
Western Carolina (4-6) leaned on Marcus Kell’s 22 points, including 15 after halftime. Justin Johnson added 15 points and hit a key 3 at 12:19 that cut the deficit to 67-49 before the Hokies steadied again.
Tyler Johnson scored 13 for Virginia Tech (9-2) and knocked down a 3 with 10:41 remaining that reopened a 71-51 cushion. Amani Hansberry had 18 points, six assists, four steals and six rebounds.
No. 4 Iowa State 66, Iowa 62: Joshua Jefferson scored 24 points for the Cyclones (10-0), who overcame a 13-point deficit to stay unbeaten with a victory over the visiting Hawkeyes (8-2) in Ames.
The Cyclones entered leading the nation in field-goal percentage following a 23-point victory at then-No. 1 Purdue, but they were sluggish before reeling off a 19-0 run spanning both halves to take the lead. They held off a late surge to win their third straight in the CyHawk Series.
Tamin Lipsey had 14 points and four assists, and Milan Momcilovic scored eight of his 10 points in the second half for ISU.
Tavion Banks led the Hawkeyes with 14 points, and Bennett Stirtz and Cam Manyawu had 10 apiece.
Syracuse 71, Saint Joseph’s 63: William Kyle III had 12 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks as the Orange (6-3) turned back the visiting Hawks (6-4).
Tyler Betsey came off the bench to score 16 for Syracuse, and Nate Kingz had 14 points. The Orange went ahead to stay, 45-43 with 12:50 remaining, on a Kiyan Anthony layup.
SJU’s Deuce Jones had 18 points, four steals, five assists and seven rebounds.
Women
No. 9 Oklahoma 103, Little Rock 48: Raegan Beers had 26 points and 15 rebounds for the Sooners (10-1) in Norman as she exceeded 1,000 career rebounds. The senior center is in her second season at Oklahoma after playing two years for Oregon State. She made 10 of 16 field goals and had five assists in 23 minutes against the Trojans.
Freshman Aaliyah Chavez had 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting for Oklahoma.
