Game Film | Boxscore

The Hokies (3-0) advanced to the semi-finals of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off with a 74-57 win over the fairfield (CT) stags. Tech will face missouri or xavier tomorrow at 1:30 PM EST, or 2:30 if you made the trek to Puerto Rico.

For a while, this game appeared eerily similar to the gardner-webb game. Tech jumped out by as many as 15 in the first half and led 40-31 at the break, only to see the lead trickle down to 4 (51-47) with 12:30 to play. But VT went on a 9-0 run at that point, fueled by a Jeff Allen three-pointer to start the streak and an Allen flush to close it. The stags never got closer than 9 after that point and the Hokies cruised down the stretch and opening up leads of as much as 21 points.

Tech did a much better job of using their transition game, getting out and pushing the ball at every opportunity in the first half and later in the game. They had two lazy spells on offense and defense that almost cost VT their lead. The Hokies continued to struggle at times against a zone defense. fairfield used a 2-1-2/2-3 zone at times. Tech would just pass the ball along the perimeter instead of passing to the free throw line and running backdoor cuts, or penetrating the zone and having the other perimeter players slide along the three point line for kick-outs or dump passes to weak-side post players going towards the rim. But the Hokies did shoot very well from the outside in the half court set.

Welcome to the Jeff Allen Show (again)! Hope you enjoyed the ride. The Big Donut (or Dunking Donut as one clever student called him on Monday) hit two early threes and had 10 points in the first 10 minutes of the game, including a beautiful drop-step along the baseline for a layup. He set career highs with 4 three-pointers (on just 5 attempts!) and 5 blocks. But for the third straight game he just missed a double-double, ending with 18 points, 8 rebounds, 5 blocks, and 3 assists (what a fantasy line).

A.D. Vassallo had a strong game back in his native land of Puerto Rico. A.D. knocked down 12 points in each half. He hit 9/16 from the field, including several nice runners, and 3/8 on threes.

The third member of the Big 3, Malcolm Delaney, struggled to find shots in the first half and had a donut at the break. But in the second half he hit his first three-pointer and finished with 10 points.

Tech held Jonathan Han, the stags best player, to just 5 points.

After 60 minutes of poor offensive play, the Hokies came out hotter than an August day in Puerto Rico in the first half. Tech hit 8 of their first 9 shots from the field and jumped out to a 19-8 lead. Surprisingly, Cheick Diakite had 6 of those points on 3/3 shooting. VT increased that lead to 15 points at 36-21 late in the half, but fell asleep and gave up a 10-2 run late in the half. The Hokies finished the first stanza shooting 55% from the field (4/12 on threes) and outrebounded the stags by a 19-15 margin.

The Hokies finished the game shooting 54% from the field and 43% (9/21) on threes. That is great news heading into their semi-final game against mizzou or xavier.

Another encouraging sign for VT was the play of Terrell Bell. After starting the season 1/8, Bell hit his first two shots and continued to play suffocating defense. Expect him to possibly take over the starting spot (at least until J.T. Thompson returns) at shooting guard, as Hudson continues to struggle, finishing 0/2 from the field with 3 fouls. Both played similar minutes.

Freshman Victor Davila continues to improve. He scored a career high (yes, I realize this is just his third game) 9 points and was aggressive near the rim. He hit all three of his shots from the field and line. Lewis Witcher saw just 5 minutes of action, and has to be concerned about what his role is as Davila’s minutes increase.

Tech’s defense was not as good defending the three as it was in the first two games, but the block party continued for VT. The Hokies had 8 blocks for the game and 22 now on the season. Allen led Tech with 5. The ‘Pow! Right in the Kisser’ block of the game went to Cheick Diakite, who stuffed 6’8″ Anthony Johnson on a dunk attempt with 5 minutes to play.

Recap of the Key to the Game: Put the ‘O’ in Guard – Virginia Tech’s guards (Delaney, Hudson, Bell, and Thorns) were 5/16 from the field for 16 points and 8 assists. Delaney had 10/4 of those. So once again, outside of Malcolm, the Hokies are struggling at the 1 and 2 spots, though Bell showed some improvement.

Key Stat: The Hokies had just 10 turnovers for the game after averaging 17.5 giveaways in their first two games.

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