Box Score

The Hokies got a monster game from center Jeff Allen who scored a career-high 30 points as Tech beat the boston college eagles, 79-71, for the fourth straight time. Allen added three blocks, three steals, and finished one rebound shy of a double-double.

Tech successfully defended bc’s 10th year senior Tyrese Rice in the first half, holding him to just 8 points, but Joe Trapani stepped up with 16 first-half points to keep pace with the Hokies. However, Tech out-rebounded the eagles 17-11, got 13 points from Allen, and got a dozen from A.D. Vassallo to take a 41-37 halftime lead.

The Hokies fed off an energized crowd stocked with students back from the winter break and hungry for an ACC victory, which is exactly what they got. As if the fans weren’t already juiced for an ACC game against a team that has become a bitter rival, Rice had to up the ante with a hard flagrant foul against Jeff Allen in the first half. From that point forward, every time Rice touched the ball, the fans booed.

Allen really came on strong in the second half where he scored 17 of his 30 points and imposed his will inside the paint, though it’s clear that Allen’s lighter frame doesn’t allow him to out-muscle opposing big men. However, what he lacks in girth he gained in quickness.

The big three once again led the Hokies, scoring 65 of the team’s 79 points. Vassallo finished with 16 points and Malcolm Delaney added 19, though 11 of those were free throws. The next highest point total came from Dorenzo Hudson, who had five points. Hudson, however, blew back-to-back dunks in the second half and then missed a pair of free throws. The second missed dunk sent head coach Seth Greenberg into a sideline rage — I mean literally screaming at the top of his lungs and spit flying everywhere. Meanwhile, a couple of assistant coaches were smirking and trying to hide their amusement — not so much at Hudson’s misses, but more about what fate awaits Hudson at the next practice. Two words: dog house.

Minus Delaney’s 11/12 from the charity stripe, the rest of the team shot 9/19. As a team, they shot 60 percent — that’s WITH Delaney’s stats.

Despite getting most of their points from the big three, the Hokies got a balanced team effort. Nine players logged double-digit minutes. Cheick Diakite played only nine minutes. During his time on the bench, he and Greenberg had a chat, but it didn’t look like Cheick was too interested in what coach had to say.

This win was Greenberg’s 100th as the head coach at Virginia Tech.

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