BLACKSBURG, Va. — This is a young team?

The Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team sure didn't play like one Monday night in its thrilling 74-72 win over Virginia Tech in an ACC-Big Ten Challenge game.

The Badgers got heady performances from their youngsters in a hostile environment inside Cassell Coliseum.

"In those games, you grow up quick," senior forward Joe Krabbenhoft said.

Sophomore forward Jon Leuer was 6-for-11 from the field and made both 3-pointers and all three free throws he attempted for 17 points, second only to senior forward Marcus Landry's 18.

Freshman point guard Jordan Taylor played early and often, spelling junior starter Trevon Hughes and not committing a turnover in 13 minutes.

Sophomore swingman Tim Jarmusz didn't attempt a shot but had three rebounds, an assist and didn't turn the ball over in 16 minutes. He also gave Krabbenhoft a break from defending Hokies senior forward A.D. Vassallo, who poured in a game-high 30 points, and was on the floor in the waning seconds.

Sophomore forward Keaton Nankivil started and played 18 minutes, making a nice block on Virginia Tech sophomore guard Malcolm Delaney and spending time defending sophomore forward Jeff Allen before the Hokies' leading scorer fouled out.

And freshman guard Rob Wilson was aggressive, burying a 3-pointer from the right wing 15 seconds after entering his first collegiate road game.

"It was a good test for us and that was a good learning experience for all our young guys," said Leuer, who also had six rebounds, including four on the offensive end, and two blocks.

Those contributions were vital considering the situation the Badgers were in. They were playing their fifth game in 11 days, and three of those contests came during a trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands.

UW beat UW-Milwaukee on Saturday and flew east the next day ahead of Monday's game.

"I was worried about legs," Badgers coach Bo Ryan said. "I was worried about that part of it, but our young guys really gave us some good minutes to be able to hold off Virginia Tech's flurry there at the end."

Krabbenhoft said that afterward in the locker room, some freshmen asked whether it was always so loud on the road. But Taylor and Wilson looked poise on the court, as did UW's sophomore trio — all of whom played sporadically last season.

"Last year, maybe they didn't play those significant minutes at Texas or at Indiana, in those style of games, but today they were in there and they learned from those games," Krabbenhoft said. "Jon did, and the freshmen, maybe they were watching because they did a great job."