BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) Virginia Tech was picked to finish 14th in the 15-team Atlantic Coast Conference, but so far this season, the Hokies aren’t exactly the league pushover that many expected coming in.

Truthfully, the Hokies are quickly becoming a team that no one wants to play.

They showed that again Saturday, as Landers Nolley II scored 29 points to lead Virginia Tech to a 72-58 victory over NC State - the Hokies' third ACC victory in five conference games.

"I'm not shocked. Are you kidding me" Virginia Tech head coach Mike Young said. "Never underestimate young people. Don't. I'm not. Never have. There is a great deal of belief in that locker room."

The Hokies have a nice collection of talent, but more importantly, a superstar in Nolley. The redshirt freshman hit 8 of 19 from the floor for the Hokies, who won their second straight game after a 26-point loss to rival Virginia on Jan. 4. Nolley drilled four 3-pointers and hit 9 of 10 from the free-throw line en route to his second-highest scoring game this season.

Tyrece Radford added a career-high 18 points for Virginia Tech. DJ Funderburk led the Wolfpack (11-5, 2-3) with 18 points.

Virginia Tech fell behind 10-0 to start the game after the Wolfpack hit four of their first seven shots. But following a timeout, the Hokies answered with a 13-0 run and never trailed again. Nolley hit two 3-pointers in that run, including one with 13:23 left in the half that gave the Hokies their first and last lead.

"He just told us to settle down and take good shots," Nolley said of the message during the timeout. "We were rushing, trying to match their intensity, but that's not how we play. We had to stick to our style and get back to doing what we do “ and it ended up working."

Virginia Tech led by 40-33 at halftime, and NC State cut the lead to one in the second half on dunk by Funderburk with 12:07 remaining. But a Radford layup pushed the lead to 48-45 with 11:41 remaining and a breakaway dunk by Nolley gave the Hokies a 50-45 advantage with 9:56 to go.

Radford and Nolley put the game away three minutes later, combining to score eight points in an 11-0 Virginia Tech run that gave the Hokies a 66-52 lead - their biggest of the game.

UP NEXT

NC State: The Wolfpack play at home against Miami on Wednesday.

Virginia Tech: The Hokies play at Wake Forest on Tuesday.