Justyn Mutts recalls go-ahead basket vs. Notre Dame
Justyn Mutts was exuberant following Virginia Tech‘s victory over Notre Dame in the ACC Tournament.
The Hokies basketball forward slammed home the go-ahead dunk over the Fighting Irish, giving Virginia Tech the lead they never looked back from. Afterwards, Mutts explained how much the moment meant to him.
“Man, it’s such a blessing,” started Mutts. “I think this is what you play for, moments like that. We’ve been working hard the whole season, we’ve been through a lot of highs, a lot of lows, but just small moments like that.
“Those media time-outs like that where you can look at your teammates and tell them we’re not going out like this makes all the difference. That play from Hunter was just him being a great player and just knowing how to affect the game and made great plays even without the ball in his hands, so all props to him for that one.”
In the end, Justyn Mutts scored 18 points and pulled down 13 rebounds, but nothing on the stat sheet was as big as his go-ahead basket. Now, the Hokies will look to make a nice run in the ACC Tournament, and Mutts is ready to continue giving it his all.
Mike Brey slams officials following ACC Tournament loss to Virginia Tech
Tuesday turned out to be the final game Mike Brey coached at Notre Dame. He will be going out with a loss to Virginia Tech in the ACC Tournament, ending what has been a tough season in South Bend. Brey might be coaching somewhere else next season but it will not be with the Fighting Irish.
Since he is not returning, Brey figured he could truly speak his mind on the officiating in Greensboro. Brey felt as if the conference did not implement a top crew for the first-round matchup, saying there was an “over analyzation” on a call involving Virginia Tech’s Sean Pedulla.
“I’ll be very honest now that I’m not in the league anymore,” Brey said. “I think that last play, if you have an ‘A’ officiating crew and that was not an ‘A’ crew, you say, ‘basketball play.’ And we shoot the free throws and play basketball. I think we got a little over analyzation on that part of it.”
Brey seemingly wanted no flagrant foul called and instead, wished the officials deemed it a “basketball play.” He believes if there was a top crew on hand, that’s how the scenario would have played out. Even so, he gave credit to Virginia Tech and how the game ultimately finished.
“Look, Virginia Tech made plays, but I don’t think that was handled right,” Brey said. “Now, we had some turnovers and made mistakes too, but I think you go ‘basketball play’ in a great game and you shoot the free throws and you let the game play out. That’s a big-time crew.”
At the very least, Brey was able to get his opinion out there on the officiating. He would likely tell you one call does not determine a basketball game, especially in the postseason. However, there was nothing for the head coach to lose, leaving the ACC.
On3’s Griffin McVeigh contributed to this article.