BLACKSBURG, Va. – Freshman Tariq Simmons continued the impressive start to his collegiate career Sunday night and fellow freshman Hayden Brown didn't seem fazed by the hostile environment inside Cassell Coliseum either despite the Bulldogs falling 132-93 to the Virginia Tech Hokies.

The duo of Simmons and Brown combined to score 44 of the Bulldogs' 93 points, including 20 in the first half from Simmons and 13 in the second half from Brown. Brown started the game off by hitting his first seven shots and ended the game 9-for-10 from the field.

"At halftime, we had shot 46% from the floor and 50% from (three-point range), and against anybody else we play, that's usually pretty good, at least offensively," said head coach Duggar Baucom. "But I thought (Virginia Tech) shot it extremely well. The other night, they shot the ball 7-of-21 (from three-point range) and tonight they were 12-of-22, so that's quite an improvement. They have a very nice team.

"In the first half, we got down a little bit and our three marquee players, Preston Parks the SoCon Freshman of the Year last year, Kaelon Harris, who was SoCon All-Freshman team last year, and Zane Najdawi, who was all-freshman team the year before, the three of them had six points and five turnovers at the half," Baucom continued. "We were relying on freshmen, and (Tariq and Hayden) had 22 (points) each. I thought the freshmen played well and grew up quick, but we can't get off to that kind of start; depending on freshmen against an ACC, NCAA tournament team."

The Hokies (2-0) came out firing on all cylinders as Justin Robinson hit a three-pointer on Virginia Tech's first possession of the game, but the Bulldogs (1-1) were able to use their quickness to hang around with Virginia Tech for a while, despite being out-sized. The Hokies eventually were able to take their first double-digit lead with 11:54 to play in the opening half and built up a 66-47 lead by the halftime break.

Simmons had an extremely good first half as he scored 20 of his 22 points in the opening stanza. The 6-0 guard went 8-for-13 from the field and 3-of-4 from three-point range as he was able to drive around the bigger Virginia Tech players and hit several contested shots from long range.

Out of the intermission, the two teams played close for much of the early going of the second half, but after Quayson Williams hit a layup to set the Bulldogs' score at 86, The Citadel failed to score for a stretch of nearly four-and-a-half minutes. During that stretch, the Hokies went on a 19-0 run to extend the lead out to 40.

In The Citadel's opener on Friday, the Bulldogs converted 21 three-pointers, tying the program record for treys in a single game. Sunday night, The Citadel went 14-for-32 (43.8%) from long range. The Citadel shot 42.3% (33-of-78) from the field, but the Hokies managed to shoot 68.6% (48-of-70) from the field and 54.5% (12-of-22) from beyond the three-point arc. The Hokies also took advantage of their larger size by out-scoring the Bulldogs 72-36 in the paint.

Simmons and Brown led the way in scoring for the Bulldogs with their 22 points each. Sophomore Frankie Johnson ended the night with 12 points, including a pair of three-pointers, and junior Matt Frierson scored nine points off three treys.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker led the Hokies with 29 points off 10-for-16 shooting while Kerry Blackshear, Jr. finished with 22 points. Justin Robinson converted a game-high five three-pointers.


FAST BREAK FACTS

• The loss drops the Bulldogs to 2-19 all-time against Virginia Tech.
• Head coach Duggar Baucom is now 211-222 all-time and 23-44 at The Citadel.
• With 22 points from Hayden Brown and 22 points from Tariq Simmons, it is the first time two freshmen have scored 20 or more points in one game since Preston Parks and Leandro Allende scored 28 and 23 points at Western Carolina on Jan. 19, 2017.

UP NEXT
The Citadel will continue the current three-game road swing on Wednesday, Nov. 15, with a game at North Carolina A&T. The contest against the Aggies will tip off at 7 p.m. Following the game in Greensboro, the Bulldogs will travel to High Point on Saturday, Nov. 18 for a 2 p.m. tip.

For more information on The Citadel basketball team, follow @CitadelHoops and @CitadelSports or visit CitadelSports.com.