Virginia Tech left Sioux City with more than an overtime win Tuesday night. The Hokies walked away with a 93-88 victory over Iowa and a 3-0 start, surviving a game that turned into a foul-heavy grind before Ben Hammond and Jaylen Curry took over late.
Hammond was the engine all night. The junior point guard poured in 15 first-half points to help keep Tech close, then added 17 more after the break for a career-high 32. Curry matched the moment, scoring 25 and delivering the kind of clutch shot-making Virginia Tech needed once the game got tight down the stretch and into overtime.
The first half swung back and forth, with Virginia Tech controlling stretches before Iowa answered with a late push to grab the lead. Hammond stopped that momentum with seven straight points before halftime, sending the Hokies into the locker room up 41-40. Senior forward Amani Hansberry had 12 in the opening half as Tech kept pace offensively.
The whistle was busy from the start. Virginia Tech was called for 15 fouls in the first half, putting Iowa at the line 21 times, where the Hawkeyes made 14.
Iowa had 12 fouls of its own before halftime, and both teams were shooting efficiently from the floor, each topping 50 percent. The Hokies also had trouble containing 6-foot-8 forward Cooper Koch, who scored 14 in the first half after entering the game with just 15 combined points in Iowa’s first two contests.
The officiating even drew a technical on Mike Young, his first in two years.
Koch kept living at the line after halftime and finished with a career-high 26 points. He went to the stripe 17 times and made 15, and Iowa as a team eventually reached the double bonus early in the second half. The Hawkeyes built a five-point lead and seemed to have the Hokies on the ropes, but Virginia Tech kept answering every time Iowa tried to separate.
That pattern carried into the final minute. With under 10 seconds left, Curry tried a 3-pointer from the left wing and missed, but he was fouled on the play and earned three free throws.
He missed the first two, then made the third to give Tech an 80-79 lead. Iowa answered by putting the ball in Ty’Reek Coleman’s hands.
Coleman raced the length of the floor and pulled up from about 15 feet, but missed. Hammond fouled him with under two seconds left, picking up his fifth, and Coleman split the free throws to force overtime.
Virginia Tech never gave the lead back. The Hokies scored first in the extra period and stayed in front the rest of the way.
Curry kept delivering in the second half and overtime, Hansberry finished with 16 points, and junior guard Isaiah Elohim added 12. Graduate senior guard Butta Johnson knocked down two free throws late in overtime to push Tech ahead by three, and the defense finished the job.
The numbers told the story of how physical this one got. Iowa attempted 47 free throws and made 31.
Virginia Tech went to the line 33 times and made 26. The Hokies shot 54% from the field and 7 of 18 from 3-point range, while Iowa finished at 50% overall and 5 of 17 from deep.
The one glaring issue for Virginia Tech was the glass. Iowa outrebounded the Hokies 40-26.
Still, this was the kind of early-season win that stands out. Iowa was a good test, and Virginia Tech passed it with Hammond, Hansberry and Curry leading the way, while Tyler Johnson gives the Hokies another versatile piece around that core. If the roster stays healthy, Young has a team that can hang with plenty of opponents.
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