Liberty gave the fifth-place team in the ACC all it could handle, but Virginia Tech was ultimately too much, defeating the Flames, 67-58, to advance to the Sweet 16.
The two schools are separated by less than 90 miles, but played across the country in San Jose for their second meeting of the year, if you include a closed scrimmage in the preseason.
Liberty, as it has done so often this year, spread out its scoring. Every Flames player to enter the game had at least three points and Darius McGhee (15 points) was their only double-figure scorer. He hit five from long range.
Virginia Tech went on a 10-0 run starting at the end of the first half to take control after Liberty built an early lead.
The Hokies are back on top! #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/tqFWROVz8b
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 25, 2019
While the Flames hung around, the Hokies seemed to have an answer to every Liberty run — Justin Robinson in particular. Playing in just his second game back from injury, the senior guard scored 13 off the bench, including three baskets in the final 10 minutes to answer Liberty scores.
Kerry Blackshear Jr. led all scorers with 19 points, while Ty Outlaw had 10 points and 11 rebounds. Virginia Tech advances to take on conference foe Duke in the Sweet 16. The Blue Devils advanced with a one-point devil-magic win over UCF.