Inheriting a program that was in shambles after the James Johnson era, Buzz Williams has slowly but surely designed a team to his likely. The talent is young, but there is a light at the end of VT's seemingly endless tunnel of mediocrity in the ACC.

A massive step was took today, as old VPI used mental fortitude and timely threes to drill out a win over NC State in Cassell Coliseum, 73-68.

This was an offensive outburst for Jalen Hudson, the talented yet inconsistent guard for Virginia Tech. Hudson pushed his through the Wolfpack defense, scoring 23 points on the evening. He was matched in points by former Maryland transfer Seth Allen. Allen hit a few critical three-pointers in the home stretch that pushed the Hokies over the top, including one that eventually sent the game to overtime with 17 seconds left.

Although Hudson and Allen will receive most of the credit, it's hard to deny the impact that Kerry Blackshear Jr. had for VT. The freshman from Orlando, who has been getting more and more confident in himself as the season has progressed, led all scorers with 6 points in overtime. Blackshear Jr. battled with NC State's BeeJay Anya, holding his own while grabbing 8 rebounds.

Kerry Blackshear Jr. was a beast for Va. Tech today (hokiesports.com)

NC State was led by Cat Barber as the backcourt leader scored 21 while garnering 7 rebounds. He and Caleb Martin unleashed a barrage of deep three-pointers to open up a double-digit Wolfpack lead in the first half. However, both cooled off dramatically in the 2nd half, letting Virginia Tech make the comeback. Maverick Rowan was messy from the field today, shooting 1-8 and 0-4 from deep.

North Carolina State grabbed a whopping 50 rebounds in this game, but they were not able to consistently capitalize on extra opportunities on offense. NC State suffered from multiple shot clock violations throughout the game, for the Fighting Gobblers' defense was not letting them drive to the rim. Also, the Wolfpack threw up 18 errant threes.

Virginia Tech's budding freshman Zach LeDay has been criticized so far this season for occasional lack of effort, but there is no doubt that he came alive in this game. Scoring 9 points, grabbing 12 rebounds, and blocking 3 shots, LeDay was active all night long against NC State's tall squad.

Surprisingly, one of the nation's best three-pointer specialists in Justin Bibbs struggled mightly in this matchup, going 0-3 from the perimeter. However, the outside shooting from Allen and the powerful contributions from Blackshear Jr. made up for Bibbs's struggles.

Overall, this could be considered as Buzz Williams's best ACC win during his short tenure at Va. Tech. VT has bought into his system, crashing the boards and grinding out tough victories. Although an NCAA Tournament bid is likely far out of reach, a bid for the NIT is right in their view point.

NC State, now 10-4 on the season and 0-1 in ACC play, will head back to Raleigh and prepare for #18 Louisville. Virginia Tech stays in Blacksburg to tussle with their rival, #5 Virginia on Monday

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About the author
Ben Anderson
Hi, folks. I am Ben, a West Virginian, loud and proud. I've been the editor in chief of VAVEL USA since December of 2013, and continue to work hard and make the International Sports Newspaper the best on the internet.