Virginia Tech rolls over Louisville for rare road win

Sean Pedulla scored 15 points with seven assists, MJ Collins and Tyler Nickel each had 13 points and Virginia Tech picked up a rare road victory by getting past Louisville 80-64 on Tuesday.

Robbie Beran scored 12 points and Lynn Kidd had 11 points and nine rebounds for the Hokies (17-13, 9-10 ACC), who won for just the second time in a true road game all season. Virginia Tech made 13 baskets from 3-point range to tie a season high and shot 44.8 percent from distance.

Virginia Tech helped its cause for a single bye into the second round of next week's ACC tournament that goes to the top nine teams in the regular-season standings. The top four teams earn a double bye.

The Hokies have won consecutive games for the first time since a three-game winning streak in late January that included a victory at NC State.

Brandon Huntley-Hatfield overcame a first-half knee injury to score 19 points and Mike James added 16 for the Cardinals (8-22, 3-16), who lost their sixth consecutive game. Louisville already has clinched the second worst season in program history behind last year's 28-loss campaign.

Ty-Laur Johnson scored 10 points for the Cardinals, who led 28-18 in points in the paint.

Virginia Tech wasted little time establishing itself, taking a 7-0 lead just over two minutes into the game and grabbing its first double-digit lead at 14-4 less than five minutes into the contest.

The Hokies had their first lead of at least 20 points on a Beran 3-pointer with 4:05 remaining in the first half for a 44-22 advantage. Virginia Tech led 49-31 at halftime.

Louisville outscored Virginia Tech 33-31 in the second half but never pulled within single digits in the closing 20 minutes.

Louisville's Zan Payne, son of head coach Kenny Payne, made two 3-pointers in the first half, his first baskets from distance in six seasons as a lightly-used Division I player, including a redshirt season. Payne finished with six points.