THE SETUP

uab continues their tour of Virginia, though hopefully this will be their last stop.  puff the magic dragon (aka: the blazers) jumped out to a big lead at vcu last week and held on to capture an 80-77 win over the rams in Round One.

uab finished second in Conference USA in the regular season but were upset by #7 seed tulsa in the C-USA quarterfinals.  Just to show you how poor C-USA was this year, uab was not even on the bubble despite finishing second in the conference.  memphis was the only top 50 RPI team they played.  The blazers nearly beat them at home, losing 79-78, but as VT learned, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.  At memphis, the tigers woodshedded uab by 38 (really sounds like VT/unc, doesn’t it?).

The Hokies, meanwhile, absolutely pasted the visiting morgan state bears over the final 30 minutes, winning 94-62.  A.D. Vassallo tied his season high of 27 points in just 25 minutes of action.  Delaney (13), Washington (11), and Allen (10) also reached double-digits for the balanced Hokie attack. 

In the game, VT looked slow on defense early on.  They were beaten off the dribble in the first 10 minutes, leading to some easy buckets.  The bears were also scrappy on the boards, getting some offensive rebounds.  But after morgan state went up 16-14, the Hokies used an 18-5 run to put the game away by halftime.  Tech played their best offensive half ever in the second half, hitting their first 15 shots from the floor and going 19/23 (82%) for the half.  That’s a VT record for a half.

THE GAME

uab likes to run and force tempo.  They broke 100 in regulation late in the season against houston and have hit 80 in seven of their last 14 games.  The Hokies must get back on defense to negate uab getting easy buckets and force them to run their half court offense.  If this is a half court game, VT should win.

Also, the Hokies must do a good job of protecting the ball against the aggressive uab defense.  The freshman guards will be key for VT.

#24 Robert Vaden is by far uab’s best offensive player.  Expect Deron to draw that assignment.  Vaden is a 6’5″ wing player who has reached double-figures in every game but one this season.  Robert has eclipsed 30 points four times and had 41 against utep.  He shoots more threes than twos and shoots 41% from long range.  He was tied with (ugh) Stephen Curry of davidson for most three-pointers made this season (139) heading into the postseason tournaments.  Vaden has hit seven or more three-pointers seven times this season!  So Deron needs to get out on him and play him tight, daring him to go at the hoop.  Terrell Bell might also get some minutes (Vaden rarely goes out) and must show he can be the next defensive stopper for the Hokies.

Inside, uab does not have many scoring threats.  Just some bodies to clog the lane.  Their best low post scorer, #21 Lawrence Kinnard, is not a back to the basket player and is actually their second best three-point shooter (though Vaden is the only real threat).  So VT can afford to stay out on the perimeter on D and not collapse on low post players.  Also, point guard #10 Ed Berrios is a pass-only guard, similar to Hank Thorns.  The Hokies do not need to respect his shot or penetration.  The only offensive players that will challenge VT are their wings: Vaden and #25 Channing Toney, along with small forward Kinnard.

uab is without the services of two starters from early in the season: Paul Delaney III and Walter Sharpe.  But neither has played for over two months, so the blazers are used to dealing without them.  It has thinned their bench though.

THE NUMBERS:

• VT is 9-0 all time at the Cassell in NIT play and home teams are 17-3 thus far in the NIT.

VT’s NIT HISTORY

This year marks Virginia Tech’s ninth appearance in the NIT, which used to be the premiere basketball tournament until the 1960s. In fact, the Hokies 1973 NIT Championship is regarded as the biggest moment in program history by many, including me. In that game, Bobby Stevens recovered his own miss and hit a 12 foot jumpshot at the buzzer for a 92-91 overtime win in the championship game. The Hokies won their four NIT games that year by a total of seven points and each of the last three wins were by one point. I watched the tape of the game in the VT library and I have to tell you, I got chills when Stevens hit the winning shot, even 25 years later.

Tech also won the NIT back in 1995, again in dramatic fashion as Shawn Smith hit two free throws with less then five seconds left for a 65-65 overtime win over marquette (for you hoops junkies, William Gates from the movie Hoop Dreams was on that marquette team but did not play in the game). This tournament included one of my favorite all-time VT games, a 64-61 win over new mexico state on a Travis Jackson three-pointer in the final seconds. The win sent VT to New York and nearly sent me to the hospital. I was one of the first to try and jump on the court but one of the cops caught me in mid-air and slammed me down onto the railing right on my twig and two berries. It was still worth it. After the championship game, students flooded Main Street and it had to be closed off.

The Hokies finished third in the NIT in 1984 using an ABA style multi-colored ball. Their last appearance in the NIT was three years ago. VT won at home over temple before falling to a memphis squad that included several of the players they have this year.

THE OPPONENT

• The university of alabama at birmingham is in… you guessed it, Birmingham, Alabama.
• Founded: 1936
• Conference: Conference USA
• Enrollment: 11,500 undergrad and 4,500 grad (3rd biggest in Alabama)
• Head Coach Mike Davis replaced Bobby Knight at indiana, before being removed a year ago.
• uab has 13 NCAA Tournament appearances, 3 Sweet 16 appearances, and even made a trip to the Elite 8.
• Famous Alums: None (I reviewed their list and didn’t recognize anyone except for Roddy White who plays for the Atlanta Falcons and they certainly don’t have a former Miss America like VT does!)