Virginia Tech coach Mike Young said his team’s defense took “a quantum leap forward” in Monday’s 58-52 victory over Winthrop.Given who’s next on the Hokies’ schedule, that leap came just in time.Virginia Tech (3-0) will try to slow down Penn State’s high-powered offense on Friday when the teams meet at the Hall of Fame Series in Baltimore.The Hokies clamped down against the Eagles following what Young called a “next to deplorable” defensive effort in Friday’s 93-74 win over South Carolina Upstate. Virginia Tech held Winthrop to 34.5 percent shooting after letting the Spartans shoot 50.9 percent from the floor.”We weren’t very connected (on Friday) and I thought the complete flip of that was (Monday),” Young said.Young’s squad will be tested by the Nittany Lions (3-0), who have scored at least 90 points in each of their first three games for the first time since the 1995-96 season. Penn State put up 108 and 103 points in wins over Binghamton and UMBC, respectively, before hanging 92 on visiting St. Francis in a 30-point win Tuesday.Puff Johnson scored a career-high 20 points to pace the Nittany Lions in Tuesday’s victory, but Penn State’s offense has been all about balance. The Nittany Lions have had a different top scorer in each game, and Northern Illinois transfer Yanic Konan Niederhauser (15 points per game) leads a cast of five players who average double figures.