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Mike Young on Virginia Tech's foul troubles: 'We fouled incessantly'

On3 imageby: Sam Gillenwater12/01/23samdg_33
Virginia Tech HC Mike Young
Jake Crandall | USA TODAY NETWORK

Plenty of things contributed to the 17-point loss for Virginia Tech at Auburn during the ACC/SEC Challenge on Wednesday. It was the Hokies’ foul numbers, though, that really took Mike Young by surprise in a bad way.

Young closed his postgame press conference after the 74-57 loss to the Tigers by sharing his frustration around the fouls. The lack of discipline in that aspect annoyed him because they gave Auburn all kinds of extra points at the stripe, especially since they fouled a handful of players on jump shots too.

“Oh, for God’s sake – we fouled incessantly,” said Young. “They foul a lot too. They pressure, they’re active. But we go to great lengths to not foul, to make teams earn what they get.”

“We fouled, I don’t know, three or four and it’s like the cardinal sin in our program – you cannot foul a perimeter shooter. You can’t do it,” Young explained. “Well, (Tyler) Nickel fouled two perimeter shooters on two possessions in the first half. You can’t do it. That’s a dumb foul. Contest without fouling.”

Virginia Tech finished the defeat with 25 fouls overall in comparison to the 22 from the Tigers. Two players, Robbie Beran and Mekhi Long, fouled out while two more, Nickel and Hunter Catoor, finished with three apiece.

That led to 36 free throw attempts, tied for their most this season, for Auburn of which they made 24. That includes 13 for the game’s leading scorer, Johni Broome, as he hit eight en route to his 30 points – his best scoring night in his two years as a Tiger.

Virginia Tech did not help themselves either by turning the ball over 21 times and only making 14 shots on the night. Those are all big reasons why it was their second straight game of not cracking 60 points and why they suffered a second consecutive loss by at least double digits.

Now, all the Hokies can do is get back to work and correct what Young clearly believes that they need to fix.

“That’s bad basketball and something we need to correct,” said Young.

Virginia Tech WR Christian Moss plans to enter the transfer portal

Virginia Tech WR Christian Moss plans to enter the transfer portal, he announced on Wednesday morning.

Here was his Twitter post with the news and his goodbye message to the Hokies:

Through three years in Blacksburg, Moss recorded just six catches and 71 receiving yards overall. All of that during the 2022 season.

Moss played high school football at Kennesaw (GA) North Cobb, where he was a three-star recruit in the 2021 class, per the On3 Industry Rankings. He was also rated as the No. 1,055 overall player and No. 153 WR in his cycle.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire.