BLACKSBURG — Tobi Lawal scored a season-high 22 points off the bench, Amani Hansberry added 21, and Virginia Tech defeated Notre Dame 89-76 Saturday for the Hokies’ ninth win in their past 10 matchups with the Fighting Irish.
Lawal and Hansberry scored 15 of Tech’s 18 points during one stretch early in the second half at Cassell Coliseum as the Hokies extended an 11-point halftime lead to 66-48 with 12 1/2 minutes remaining.
Notre Dame got as close as 79-66 with four minutes remaining, but Ben Hammond buried a 3-pointer and Hansberry finished a layup for an 84-67 lead with three minutes left.
Hammond scored 16 points and Jailen Bedford added 14 for Virginia Tech (14-5, 3-3 Atlantic Coast Conference). Lawal grabbed 11 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. He is working his way back after missing all of December with an ankle injury.
The Hokies sank their first 24 free throws before Lawal missed the first of two attempts with six minutes left in the game. They finished 28 of 32 from the line. Lawal made 14 of 18.
Brady Koehler made 5 of 7 3-pointers, and the freshman led Notre Dame (10-8, 1-4) with a season-high 17 points off the bench, but the Irish lost their fourth game in a row. Cole Certa, another reserve, scored 14 points, and starter Sir Mohammed had 12. Notre Dame backups scored 41 points.
Virginia Tech trailed only once, at 7-5. The Hokies went out front to stay with a 13-2 run and led 45-34 at halftime. Their previous six games had either gone to overtime or been decided by three or fewer points.
Virginia Tech will play next at 9 p.m. Wednesday at Syracuse on ACC Network.
