Brock Zylstra's only field goal of the game, a 3-pointer with 26 seconds to play, broke a 66-all tie and BYU held on to beat Virginia Tech 70-68 on Wednesday night.
Noah Hartsock scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half to lead the Cougars (18-5), and Brandon Davies added 17. BYU led throughout the first half and then prevailed after the score was tied five times in the closing minutes.
Dorenzo Hudson scored 14 to lead the Hokies (12-8), who missed their first 16 field goal attempts, but still closed to within four by halftime and had a final shot to tie it or win. But Erick Green's driving layup missed, and freshman Robert Brown's long 3-pointer missed at the buzzer.
Victor Davila and Jarell Eddie added 12 points each for the Hokies, with Eddie adding 14 rebounds. Green scored 11.
In the first meeting between the schools since 1967, Virginia Tech scored eight straight points to take a 57-55 lead with 4:55 to play, and each basket to put one team ahead was answered by the other. The game was tied at 57, 59, 62, 64 and 66 until Zylstra caught a pass wide open with the shot clock running down and made his 3-pointer from the right wing to give BYU a 69-66 lead with 26 seconds left.
The Hokies then turned the ball over and fouled Anson Winder, who made 1 of 2 from the line to stretch the lead to 70-66.
Green then drove quickly downcourt for a layup and the Hokies called timeout with 10 seconds left. On the ensuing inbounds play, the ball appeared to be tipped and went off a Cougars player, giving Virginia Tech possession again and a chance to tie it or win with 9.8 seconds to play.
The Hokies inbounded it to Green, whose driving layup missed, He rebounded and the ball swung to Brown, whose long shot missed.
Virginia Tech trailed 29-25 at halftime, but finally pulled even at 30 on Brown's 10-foot jumper. A 6-0 run capped by Hudson's 3-pointer gave the Hokies a 39-35 lead, but the Cougars quickly retied it. Victor Davila scored four points in a 6-0 burst that put the Hokies back in front, 45-39. That just prompted an 11-0 run by the Cougars, even with Davies, their scoring leader at that point, on the bench in foul trouble.
Matt Carlino, who was 1 for 10 from the field at that point, hit a long jumper and then a 3-pointer 33 seconds apart in the run.
The Cougars still led 55-49 before Eddie's 3-pointer started an 8-0 burst that gave Virginia Tech the lead.
Both teams shot miserably in a first half marked by runs. The Cougars took a 13-1 lead when the Hokies missed their first 16 attempts from the field, including many from in close, before C.J. Barksdale banked in his own miss with 10:19 to play. That made it 13-3 and sparked an 11-2 run.
Davies then scored six points in a 10-3 burst for the Cougars that gave them a 25-15 lead, but the Hokies got five points from Hudson and a 3-pointer by Eddie in an 8-0 spurt that pulled them within 27-25 before a driving basket by Hartsock made it 29-25.
The Hokies shot 25.8 percent for the half (8 of 31), but outrebounded the Cougars 26-18 to stay in it. BYU shot 30 percent (9 of 30).
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