Andy Hancock

Men's Basketball

Cal Rallies to Beat Virginia Tech 82-73 in Double OT in 1st Round of ACC Tournament

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Andrej Stojakovic scored 29 points, and Mady Sissoko and Rytis Petraitis each posted double-doubles as California rallied to beat Virginia Tech 82-73 in double overtime in Tuesday’s first round of the 2025 T. Rowe Price ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament.
 
The 15th-seeded Golden Bears (14-18) will play No. 7 seed Stanford on Wednesday, March 12, in a second-round matchup between the Bay Area rivals. Cal was coming off a 112-110 four-overtime loss at Notre Dame in Saturday’s regular-season finale.
 
Sissoko scored the first two baskets in the second overtime and Stojakovic polished off an 8-0 run to give the Golden Bears a lead that they would hold for the remainder of the night.
 
Stojakovic made 11-of-20 shots with three 3-pointers for the Golden Bears. Petraitis finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Sissoko scored 12 with 10 boards. DJ Campbell didn’t have a made field goal but made 10-of-12 free throws.
 
Brandon Rechsteiner scored 19 points off the bench to pace the 10th-seeded Hokies (13-19). Tobi Lawal totaled 17 points and 12 rebounds. Jaydon Young missed all 11 of his 3-point attempts, but contributed with 12 points.
 
Rechsteiner buried a 3-pointer with 27 seconds remaining in regulation after Virginia Tech had missed eight straight from beyond the arc to give the Hokies their first lead of the second half at 60-59. Campbell was fouled with five seconds left and he made the second free throw chance to send it to OT.
 
Virginia Tech took a four-point lead in the first OT, but Petraitis contributed two free throws and a layup to pull Cal even at 65 with 1:40 left. Stojakovic sent it to a second OT tied at 67 with two late free throws.
 
It was the first double-overtime game in the first round of the tournament since Wake Forest beat Georgia Tech 114-112 in 2007.
 
 
Of Note
  • Tuesday’s affair between the Hokies and Golden Bears was the 600th ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament game of all-time.
  • The contest marked the first overtime affair in the ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament’s First Round since 2014 and the eighth first round overtime affair all-time. It also marked just the 49th overall overtime game in tournament history.
  • The contest became the second-ever First Round game to go to double overtime , joining Wake Forest and Georgia Tech in 2007, and the seventh-ever ACC Tournament game to make it to a second overtime or beyond.
  • Cal became just the second NCAA Division I men’s basketball team to play in back-to-back games with two-or-more overtimes since the 1996-97 season, joining Boston College in 2025. The Golden Bears fell at Notre Dame, 112-110, in four overtimes in the regular-season finale.
  • Virginia Tech had not played in a double-overtime contest since January 22, 2020, when it knocked off North Carolina at home.
  • Virginia Tech falls to 1-2 in ACC Tournament overtime contests, while Cal moved to 1-0.
  • Tuesday’s contest marked the first-ever ACC Tournament game for California.
  • California became just the second-ever 15-seed to win an ACC Tournament game, joining Notre Dame in 2019.
  • Cal’s Andrej Stojakovic poured in 20-or-more points for the 12th time this season, finishing with a game-high 29 points. His 12 games with 20-or-more points leads the Golden Bears this season.
  • Cal’s Rytis Petraitis finished with his third double-double of the season, turning in 16 points and 10 rebounds. It is also his team-leading 12th career double-double.
  • The Golden Bears’ Maddy Sissoko also tallied a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
  • Virginia Tech won the regular-season meeting between the two squads, 71-68, in Berkeley, California.
  • Both teams shot less than 20 percent from three-point range in the game, with Virginia Tech connecting on just 12.0 percent of shots from deep, matching the fourth-lowest three-point percentage in a First Round game in ACC Tournament history (Florida State vs. NC State, 1996).