BLACKSBURG, Va. (Sporting Alert) — Jerian Grant collected 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists and No. 8 Notre Dame pulled away in the second half for an 85-60 victory over Virginia Tech on Thursday night.
Grant, who also had two steals and two blocks on a balance night, went 6-of-9 from the field, include knocking down two of his four 3-point attempts for the Fighting Irish to registered its third win in a row and improved to 6-1 in Atlantic Coast Conference play.
Pat Connaughton shot 6-of-8 from the floor, including 5-of-6 from 3-pointers to finished with 17 points, while Zach Auguste added 16 points and Demetrius Jackson buried three 3-pointers on his way to scoring 12 for Notre Dame (18-2), as four of the five starters reached in double figures.
Ahmed Hill led the way for Virginia Tech (8-10) with 13 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Jalen Hudson added 12 points and Devin Wilson ended with 11 in the defeat for the Hokies, who were losing its sixth straight game and have also dropped to 0-5 in ACC league play.
Notre Dame led 38-28 at halftime on 13-of-28 shooting, and then used an early run to start the second half to break free, as Jackson and Connaughton both hit 3-pointers inside the opening five minutes after the break in a quick 17-6 run as the lead increased to 55-34.
The Fighting Irish, which shot 49.2 percent from the floor and an impressive 46.2 percent from long-range, continues league action on Sunday at NC State — looking to improve on their best start since the 2002-03 season.
Virginia Tech, which is averaging 46.3 percent shooting on the season, was only 38.7 percent from that area in the defeat on Thursday night.
Up next for the Hokies is another conference clash.
They will play against ACC leaders and No. 2 Virginia at home on Sunday.
QUICK GAME STATS
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Officials: Roger Ayers, James Luckie, Michael Roberts
Technical fouls: Notre Dame-None. Virginia Tech-None.
Attendance: 7451
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Notre Dame……………….. 38 47 – 85
Virginia Tech…………….. 28 32 – 60
Points in the paint-ND 34,VT 32. Points off turnovers-ND 16,VT 5.
2nd chance points-ND 7,VT 16. Fast break points-ND 15,VT 8.
Bench points-ND 15,VT 21. Score tied-0 times. Lead changed-0 times.
Last FG-ND 2nd-01:40, VT 2nd-00:24.
Largest lead-ND by 29 2nd-01:40, VT None.
