Box Score

There’s ugly and then there’s the way the Hokies played Tuesday night in their 2012 ACC home opener against florida state. It was about as ugly as you can imagine. The final score, 63-59, wasn’t indicative of how poorly the Hokies played, but all you needed to do was look at the box score and wonder how it wasn’t much much worse.

Tech shot a dismal 30 percent from the field on 18 of 59 shooting. They shot the ball 59 times and made just 18 of them. And their three-point shooting was even worse – just 16 percent, or 2 of 12. The noles weren’t much better at 40 percent from the field and 30 percent from behind the arc.

Junior guard Erick Green led all scorers with 21 points, but it was fsu’s Bernard James and his 18 points and 15 rebounds that killed the Hokies. That and the 15 blocked shot fsu put up against Tech. That was the difference in the game.

The Hokies actually won the turnover battle, but couldn’t buy a bucket. If they’d shot 35 percent, they’d have won this game. Instead, Tech falls to 0-2 in ACC play and are looking at long road ahead. Niemo suggested Tech needed an 11-5 ACC record to get into the tourney, so at 0-2, that means Tech would need to go 11-3 from here on out. Based on what we’ve seen so far, that looks very doubtful.

Tech looked sloppy and out of sync. They just couldn’t get it going it looks like frustration is setting in. To make matters worse, people can’t give their tickets away to these games. The university opened up public sale of tickets to the UNC game next Thursday. Based on actual attendance thusfar, the fans are losing interest and support is waning.

Earlier today, ESPN’s Jason King put Seth Greenberg on his list of college coaches “who are on the hot seat (or should be).”

Tech will lick its wounds for a few days before it heads north to take on the boston college iggles for a Saturday, 3 p.m., matchup. Niemo already has the highlights up and will likely chime in with his thoughts on the game, but from what I can see, this team is on the brink and needs something good to happen very soon, or I worry that this season could spiral out of control very quickly.

SCORES AT EACH MEDIA TIMEOUT:

1st Half:

• Under 16: fsu 6-2
• U12: fsu 13-4
• U8: fsu 17-11
• U4: fsu 26-16

Half: fsu 30-21

2nd Half:

• U16: fsu 35-27
• U12: fsu 42-36
• U8: fsu 50-43
• U4: fsu 57-51

FINAL: fsu 63, VT 59

Popularity: 18% [?]

Box Score

Another slow start to a game and another ACC opening loss. The Hokies trailed early and for most of the game as they fell to 1-7 in ACC openers, 55-58, to wake forest in Winston Salem.

Tech fell behind early and trailed by as many as 13 in the first half, despite committing just one turnover. But it was the rebounding and poor shooting that killed the Hokies. The deacons out-rebounded Tech 42-31 for the game.

Both teams shot about the same from the field – VT was 23/58 for 39.7%; wake was 20/52 for 38.7% – but wake shot and made more threes and free throws. wake as 8/18 from three and 10/13 from the charity stripe. Meanwhile, the Hokies were just 6/22 from behind the arc and only 3/6 from the free throw line.

Erick Green led the way for Tech in the loss, scoring a game-high 19 points. Jarrell Eddie was the only other Tech player in double-digit scoring with 12. Dorenzo Hudson and Victor Davila each had 8 points; Robert Brown dropped in 6 and Marquis Rankin added 2. That was it. Only six VT players scored. CJ Barksdale, Cadarian Raines and Dorian Finney-Smith all got goose eggs.

The Hokies fell behind early, but fought back to cut the first-half deficit to three, before wake pulled ahead to take a 32-24 lead at the half.

Tech twice tied the game in the second half and even took a brief lead, 53-52, with 1:20 left in the game, but wake’s C.J. Harris drilled a three to retake the lead :15 later. Green answered quickly a jumper at the other end to tie the game at 55, but again, Harris was clutch for the demon deacons, drilling a critical three-pointer with just 18 seconds to play.

The Hokies called a timeout and inbounded the ball a mid-court and nearly had it stolen. wake put the pressure on Tech and the Hokies couldn’t get a good shot off to tie the game. The deacons got the last rebound, the Hokies fouled, wake missed the free throw and time ran out.

On the one hand, it’s hard to be disappointed with a loss like this because Tech relies heavily on young players who were playing their first road game in the ACC. And this game was pretty intense for a first conference game. Both teams were taking this game seriously and Tech played close and didn’t let it get out of hand.

But on the other hand, as Niemo pointed out in his video lowlights, wake was terrible last season at just 1-15 in conference play, so you kinda cringe at a loss like this. This is a bad loss in the eyes of the NCAA selection committee and if Tech can’t play with teams like wake, it doesn’t look good against the top half of the ACC.

SCORES AT EACH MEDIA TIMEOUT:

1st Half:

• Under-16: wake 10-5
• Under-12: wake 20-8
• Under-8: wake 26-15
• Under-4: wake 26-20

HALF: wake 32-24

2nd Half:

• Under-16: wake 36-33
• Under-12: wake 40-38
• Under-8: wake 45-40
• Under-4: wake 50-46

FINAL: wake 58, VT 55

Popularity: 11% [?]

Reminder: Highlights won’t be up until Niemo returns from vacation on Monday night or Tuesday morning.

Two words. De and fense. After a slow start, the Hokies dominated eastern michigan tonight, 71-50. Tech held the eagles to just 9 first-half points – the fewest allowed in the first half since the Hokies surrendered just 8 to north carolina central in January 2010, nearly two years ago.

Tech, winners of their last five, used a 16-0 run to close out the first half and take an 18-point lead (27-9) into the break. Seth’s stingy defense held emu scoreless for the final 8:38 of the opening half. Raines has really been playing well of late. He scored 10 points – his third double-digit performance in his last five games and two shy of his career-high of 12.

Junior guard Erick Green led an evenly balanced scoring effort for the Hokies with 12 points, while Cadarian Raines was the only other Hokie to score in double figures with 10. Senior Dorenzo Hudson added 8 points.

The Hokies opened the second half with a 6-0 run to extend their lead to 22 points. But the eagles would need just 7 minutes of the second half to match their first-half offensive output. From there, they played Tech pretty evenly, only being outscored 44-41 in the second half.

Unfortunately for emu, it found its offense too little too late. It wasn’t even close to being enough. Not even a little bit. The Hokies were too talented and too athletic. Plus, you have to figure that Seth opened it up just a bit and he certainly got his young guns some quality minutes.

Dorian Finney-Smith got his 31; C.J. Barksdale played 18 minutes, nabbed a game-high 10 rebounds and scored 6 points; Robert Brown had 17 minutes and 9 points; and Marquis Rankin registered career-highs in minutes (18) and points (6).

Popularity: 15% [?]

UPDATED 7:16 p.m. 12/22/2011

According to articles on Roanoke.com, Virginia Tech place kicker Cody Journell and two other Blacksburg men were arrested and charged with breaking and entering a residence Wednesday night.

The Roanoke Times reports that the three men entered the residence of Virginia Tech basketball player Dorenzo Hudson and his roommate, Sean Allen. The three men arrested were apparently looking for Allen, but when they didn’t find him, they left.

Police say that Zo and Allen then went after the three and an altercation ensued. The weapon turned out to be an Airsoft gun, not a real handgun.

Athletics director Jim Weaver issued a statement saying that Journell had been suspended from the football team immediately and indefinitely per the Athletics Department’s policy.

Visit Roanoke.com to get caught up.

Popularity: 24% [?]

Highlights and Commentary | Boxscore

True freshman Dorian Finney-Smith scored 14 points, as did fellow freshman Robert Brown as the dynamic duo helped Virginia Tech (9-4) to an 84-55 win over north florida. The home victory is the Hokies’ fourth straight.

Tech bolted out to a 13-5 lead, but let the ospreys keep it close and eventually saw its lead shrink to just one point, 32-31. But the Hokies used a late 8-0 run capped by a Jarrell Eddie three-pointer in the closing seconds to send Tech into the break with a 40-31 lead.

The fighting jacksonvilles out rebounded the Hokies in the first half, 16-15, but Tech was money from the charity stripe, hitting 11 of 13 free throws. Doe Doe was a perfect 6 for 6.

Tech had 6 steals in the first half alone, while the osprey hit 4 of 7 three point attempts to keep the Hokies from pulling away. It was only delaying the inevitable, though.

The second half was all Hokies. Eddie picked up two quick personal fouls in the first half, giving him four for the game and landing the sophomore on the bench. In stepped Brown, who scored 8 of his 14 points in the second half.

Senior Dorenzo Hudson followed up his 15-point performance against the camels with a game-high 16 points. Meanwhile, junior guard Erick Green added an even dozen, meaning he’s scored in double figures in all 13 games this season.

Next up for the Hokies is eastern michigan on Thursday at 7 p.m., on ESPN3.com.

Popularity: 14% [?]

Erick Green came off the bench to lead the Hokies with 24 points, Cadarian Raines scored a career-high 12 points, and Marquis Rankin made his first career start as the Hokies shook off a sluggish first half to beat rhode island 78-67.

Green, a junior guard, started the game on the bench because of “the manner in which he was carrying himself.” Sounds like someone was getting a little too big for his britches, but when you’re the Mean Green Machine, can you blame him? Whatever he did to draw the ire of Greenberg, starting the game on the bench seemed to motivate MGM, because his 24 points led all scorers and was a bucket shy of setting a new personal best.

Dorian Finney-Smith had 11 points, the fifth time this season he’s reached double figures. Meanwhile, fellow freshman Robert Brown had an off game for him, registering only two points. After scoring 15 points against kansas state and 13 against minnesota, UPS didn’t quite deliver tonight, but as a freshman, you can’t expect double digits every night. He’s already shown that he can play big time ball, so he just needs more playing time.

The Hokies and rams both started off slow offensively, but that’s probably because of the defense both teams play. Tech fell behind early, 7-0, but used a 9-2 run to pull even. Raines was a lot more aggressive on the boards tonight and scored the 6 of the Hokies’ first 11 points. Doe Doe’s first six points were three pointers, one of which gave Tech its first lead of the game.

Tech built a 7-point lead, 24-19, but allowed the rams to stay close and ended up with just a 1-point lead at the half, 28-27.

The second half featured a lot more offense. The Hokies nearly doubled their first half points total, outscoring rhode island 50-40. Sophomore Jarrell Eddie got hot in the second half including a key sequence in which he blocked a shot by the rams and then went down at the other end and buried three pointer. Eddie scored 15 points, two shy of his career best. Eddied was 5/6 from the field including a perfect 3/3 from behind the arc.

The Hokies pulled away late in the second half and put it away down the stretch. The first half was interesting, but Tech was too much for the struggling rams.

Two more disappointing performances from senior Victor Davila who put up a big donut in just 13 minutes while fellow senior Dorenzo Hudson managed just 8 points. Raines, if he can stay healthy, could probably take most of Davila’s minutes as he did tonight. Raines was 6/8 from the field in a career-high 25 minutes of play.

The Hokies return to the Cassell Coliseum to face norfolk state on Sunday, Dec. 11, at 4 p.m. The game will be televised by ESPN3.

Popularity: 19% [?]

Box Score — The Hokies lost another tough one tonight in similar fashion to their other two losses: they led at the half, but came out flat and sloppy in the second half and lost 69-61 to kansas state.

Freshman Robert Brown came off the bench and played well to lead the Hokies in scoring with 15 points. He didn’t shoot particularly well, just 6/17, but he’s playing with confidence. Junior guard Erick Green was the only other Tech player and the only starter to score in double figures – he has 14 points. Dorenzo Hudson bruised his left knee yesterday and was questionable going into the game, but still played. He struggled, however, contributing only 7 points in 25 minutes.

Marquis Rankin made his first appearance of the season. The 6-1 freshman from Charlotte, N.C., played seven minutes and scored 2 points. Rankin looked solid on defense and has a good handle. He took all of Tyrone Garland’s minutes. Garland did not appear in the game.

The Hokies continue to play agressive and smothering first-half defense, holding the wildcats to just 22 first-half points. k-state took an early 8-4 lead, but the Hokies slowly pulled even after a layup by Brown and a pair of free throws by C.J. Barksdale. The teams traded buckets before the Hokies used a 10-3 run to take a 20-13 lead.

The wilcats closed the game to 26-22 with time winding down, but sophomore Jarrell Eddie buried a jumper with :03 left to give the Hokies a 6-point half-time lead, 28-22. Tech has led at the half of every game this season.

The second half got off to an inauspicious start for VT as freshman Dorian Finney-Smith picked up his third and fourth personal fouls in the first 29 seconds, putting him on the bench for most of the second half. And the Hokies missed his rebounding. After leading the wildcats in rebounding in the first half, 23-21, k-state dominated the boards in the second half, even though VT won the overall rebounding stat.

k-state opened the second half with a 12-2 run to turn a 6-point half-time deficit into a 4-point lead. The Hokies pulled even at 43-43, but another wilcat run, this time a 10-0 burst, gave the visitors a 10-point lead and it was all downhill from there.

Tech made it interesting down the stretch, but came up short, losing its second straight game. Next up for the Hokies is a road game against Rhode Island on Wednesday, Dec. 7, at 7 p.m. The game is not on TV, so snuggle up to your radio.

Also, if you’re looking for Niemo’s Emmmy Award-winning narrated highlights, he’ll have those up tomorrow. Patience you must have.

Popularity: 18% [?]

Highlights up by 1 AM  |  Boxscore

This was a resume building opportunity for the Hokies, even if the gophers were without two of their best players in Trevor Mbakwe and Ralph Sampson III. But Tech couldn’t get it done as the lost in the final seconds, 58-55.

Tech got all it could handle in the first half from 6-11 freshman Elliott Eliason. The towering rookie kept the Hokies out of the paint for much of the half until he picked up his second personal foul.

When Eliason left the game, the gophers were leading. By the end of the half, the Hokies had surged ahead to take a 28-25 halftime lead behind 12 points from junior Eric Green and 8 points from freshman Robert Brown off the bench.

Senior Dorenzo Hudson was held scoreless the entire game, and freshman Dorian Finney-Smith managed only three points.

The second half was a back and forth affair, with the gophers using a 10-4 run to take a lead in the early minutes of the half. The Hokies tied the game at 51 with 3 minutes to play when Doe Doe scored his first and only points of the game — a three from the corner. Green gave the Hokies the lead back, 53-51.

Green scored again after minnesota tied it at 53. The Green Machine, who led the Hokies with 25 points, got a tough layup with :25 to play to give VT a lead. However, Green fell off the elevated court at the other end with 18.9 seconds left and appeared injured.

Meanwhile, minnesota hit two free throws to take a 56-55 lead. The Hokies, with a banged up Green checking back into the game, called a timeout with 9.9 seconds left. On the inbounds pass, however, Robert Brown fumbled the pass into the back court, committing the turnover.

Tech fouled immediately, sending the gophers to the line where they hit both free throws to push their lead to 58-55. Green got a good 3-point shot off at the buzzer that would have tied the game, but it hit the back of the rim and fell away. Game over. And a key resume building opportunity was wasted.

***** NIEMO’S THOUGHTS (Think of it as the Recap, Part Two) *****

Virginia Tech fell off the cliff… literally… in the final 30 seconds and lost a heartbreaker to a short-handed minnesota team 58-55 in the ACC/Big(12)Ten Challenge.  Tech falls to 2-5 all time in the Challenge, with both wins against iowa.

In what was a see-saw game the final 22 minutes, Tech took a 55-54 lead with 26 seconds left on an Erick Green putback.  But the gophers pushed the ball up the court and that’s when the insanity ensued.  For those of you that are not familiar with ‘The Barn’ minnesota plays in, the court is a good two-feet above the stands and benches.  As Julian Welch drove to the hoop for a shot, Green elevated and blocked the shot.  Green then fell awkwardly and literally slid off the court, over the edge, and likely hit the metal stairs (yeah, that makes sense to have them right behind the basket) with his right (shooting) shoulder.  To make matters worse, Welch grabbed the block, got fouled, and promptly sank both free throws to put minnesota up 56-55.  Green laid on the floor (ie: the stand’s floor) for several minutes and went to the bench holding his right shoulder nearly in tears from the pain.

After a ball was deflected out of bounds, Tech called their final timeout and Erick, being the warrior he is, re-entered the game.  VT inbounded the ball to Robert Brown who fumbled the ball into the backcourt.  In what was a questionable call since he never had possession in the frontcourt, the officials ruled it over-and-back and gave the gophers the ball.

After Welch sank two more free throws with 6.5 seconds left, Erick Green rushed the ball up the court and launched a 3-pointer to tie as time expired.  But the ball rolled around and off the rim, sending the Hokies to defeat.

Erick was the star of the game for Tech.  He scored 25 points on 9/19 shooting and 4/8 from deep.  He also added 4 rebounds, 4 assists, a steal, a block and 0 turnovers.

The big news was the absence of Dorian Finney-Smith and Dorenzo Hudson.  Both played, according to the scorebook, at least, but not on the court.  Dorenzo Hudson put up a big goose egg, 0 points on 0/4 shooting.  And Doe Doe had just 3 points, although they came on a huge 3-pointer to tie the game at 51 with 3:47 to go.  If I had to guess, I’d say Zo is worn down from how much VT has been playing lately while getting his legs out, while tonight showed again how easy it is to shut down DFS if you play good defense and keep him off the offensive glass.

It was a game of runs in the first half.  minnesota opened to an 8-0 lead, forcing Seth to burn a TO.  But the Hokies battled back and took a 28-25 lead into the break thanks to an 11-3 run to close the half.  Brown had two 3s and Green a 3-point play to fuel the run.  But the second half was similar to the first — a slow start for the Hokies.

minnesota played without their two best post players.  Trevor Mbakwe, their leading scorer, is out for the season with an ACL injury, while Ralph Sampson III, also a senior and 6’11″, was out with an ankle injury.  Yet the gophers absolutely dominated VT in the paint.  6’11″ freshman Elliott Eliason, who looks like a cross between Lurch from Addams Family and a ‘before’ person in a proactive commercial for Sasquatches, had 8 points and 7 rebounds.

Welch led minnesota with 15, while super athlete Rodney Williams had 14 on 6/7 shooting.  For some reason Tech tried fronting him, allowing the gophers to easily feed the ball over the D for layups or dunks.

The gophers were awful from deep, hitting just 2/13.  They are an awful 3-point shooting team.  So I’m not sure why VT didn’t play more 2-3 zone and get guys inside, especially since they were getting burned off the dribble.

Meanwhile, 3s were the only thing keeping Tech in the game.  Tech hit 8/17, including 7 of their final 11. Brown was 3/3 from deep and scored 13 points.  15 of Tech’s 27 points in the second half came from behind the arc.

Victor Davila also had a solid game, at least on the offensive end.  He tallied 10 points, his second straight game in double figures.

Well, here we are.  It is tough winning on the road, and this was Tech’s first road game.  But this is a team that is just now adjusting to losing their best player, and also were without another key.  This is a bad loss, in my opinion.  I don’t foresee minnesota being a top 100 team in the RPI by the end of the season.  And either way, there’s no such thing as good losses in terms of the Tournament.  Tech really needs to beat kansas state in the Cassell Sunday at 5:30 PM… let’s hope Green is OK.

Popularity: 19% [?]

Heeeeeeee’s baaaaack! Virginia Tech’s redshirt senior Dorenzo Hudson was admittedly a little “rusty” in the first two games of the young season, but he shook off that rust tonight in the Hokies’ 78-63 win over florida international.

Hudson led the Hokies with 31 points in 34 minutes of action. Three other Hokies scored in double figures, including freshman phenom Dorian Finney-Smith, who had 14 points. Erick Green returned to the starting five and added 12 points while senior Victor Davila contributed 11, including a wicked “one-handed ram” … whatever that is.

Finney-Smith is the real deal, people. For reals. Doe Doe had a double-double tonight – 14 points, 10 rebounds – and still managed 5 assists and a pair of steals. It was his second d/d of the season.

It’s been a long time since Hokie fans have seen a freshman step into the starting lineup and play this well and more importantly, with this much poise and confidence.

Jarrell Eddie, a sophomore back from a semester suspension, was the only starter to not score, but he did contribute 5 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal. Tech’s bench threw in 10 points, getting two each from Robert Brown, Cadarian Raines, Ty Garland, C.J. Barksdale, and Joey Racer.

This game was never in doubt, folks, so it was a great game to sit back and enjoy watching the young guns get some quality playing time and build some confidence.

Tech led 33-26 at the half and came out in the second half with a zone defense that completely smothered fiu. The Hokies built a huge lead and then coasted to a 15-point victory, their third of the season.

The bad news is that Green left the game in the second half with an injury – presumably the same Achilles that’s been hampering him early this season. He played 25 minutes before coming out for good. When we know more, we’ll pass it on.

That’s the quick and dirty version. Niemo may or may not chime in, but really, what more do you need to know? The Hokies played an absolutely terrible team tonight and they won as they should have. And, we’re going to Madison Square Garden, allegedly the world’s most famous arena, though we’ve yet to confirm.

Tech will play a real team on Wednesday, Nov. 23, when they take on No. 5 syracuse, which trashed albany in another second-round game tonight. We’ll get a good idea of how good VT’s young team is in about a week. The tip-off time hasn’t been set yet.

PS – Seth Greenberg > Isaiah Thomas

Popularity: 17% [?]

The season is over. The college careers of two of the most talented players ever to suit up for Virginia Tech have come to a close. The No. 1 seeded Hokies fell to the No. 4 seed, wichita state, 79-76 in overtime. As has been the case for so many games, when Delaney has a big game, Tech seems to lose. The senior from Baltimore, Md., had a game-high 30 points. Sophomore Erick Green had 17 points.

Another sophomore, Manny Atkins, hit a big three pointer in the final minute of regulation to give the Hokies a 69-66 lead, but the shockers tied the game to send it to overtime. With state leading 76-74 and with the possession, Green stole the ball and fed a streaking Terrell Bell for a layup to tie the game at 76. But state inbounded the ball and went the length of the court for an uncontested layup to retake the lead, 78-76, with 2.2 seconds left in the game.

The Hokies inbounded the ball and Delaney appeared to be fouled, but the ref swallowed his whistle and instead called Delaney for stepping out of bounds. The Hokies fouled, sent state to the line, and that was the game.

Jeff Allen reverted to his old ways by fouling out with 6:12 left in the game with the Hokies trailing by two. That sealed Tech’s fate as they had no size and no inside presence to either score or defend in the paint. Allen finished with 10 points and seven rebounds. The call was more than questionable as the shockers player took a dook-like flop to help sell it.

Delaney, a first-team All-ACC selection, shot lights out in the first half, hitting 6/9 from the field and 3/5 from behind the arc. Victor Davila, who had been battling an injured shoulder, started and played respectably, though you could tell the shoulder was bothering him, particularly when he air-balled a free throw in the first half. He’s bad from the charity stripe, but he at least hits rim when he misses.

The shockers opened the second half with an 11-3 run to take a 41-35 lead. After a steal and fast-break layup at the other end for wichita state, Joe Ragland was called for a technical foul, for something he must have said to Delaney after scoring the bucket. Delaney hit both free throws to cut the lead to 41-39, but then followed it up by committing his third personal foul with 16 minutes to play in the game.

Delaney stayed in the game, despite the three personals, with 21 of the Hokies’ 39 points at that point. After falling behind by six, 41-35, the Hokies used a slow, but steady 13-7 run to tie the game at 48 on Terrell Bell’s first points of the game – a three from the left corner.

That’s it for now. Niemo will likely have a season-recap in the days ahead, but for now, this season is mercifully over. See you in eight months, Hokie fans.

Popularity: 25% [?]

Yes, the Hokies didn’t get in … again. But the tournament still goes on and brackets must be completed. Are you all in? If so, join the TechHoops.com Pick’em Group at Yahoo! Sports by clicking here.

We may or may not give out a prize, but we will definitely give a shout out to the winner! So, hoop heads, bring it on, man up and pick some upsets and let’s do this!

Popularity: 9% [?]

Well, folks, it’s not like you can say you are surprised. We have wins over duke (No. 1 seed), two wins over fsu (which made the tournament), and a win over penn state (which also in the big dance), and we got left out. We won 11 conference games in the ACC including regular season and the ACC tournament. The Hokies made it to the semifinals of the ACC tourney, beating the No. 3 seed, fsu. And yet, Seth Greenberg and his 21-11, 11-8, Hokies got the big old snub once again from the NCAA tournament selection committee.

What more can we say? The NIT selection show is at 9 p.m., tonight. We would assume the Hokies would be a No. 1 or 2 seed and will host 2-3 games, assuming they win. Excuse us if we’re not all giggly about those prospects.

Popularity: 69% [?]

The Hokies’ NCAA tournament hopes now rest in the hands of the selection committee. Virginia Tech lost in the semifinals of the 2011 ACC tournament, 77-63, to the No. 2 seed duke.

Senior guard Malcolm Delaney led? Tech with 17 points, while sophomore Erick Green also scored 17. Victor Davila was the only other Hokie in double figures with 11. Jeff Allen was a non-factor, registering just two points and seven rebounds and fouling out in the second half.

Despite only 15 hours of rest since their gut-wrenching and near heart-breaking win over fsu, the Hokies came out strong against the defending national champs and kept it close for most of the first half.

But, with the game tied at 14-14, duke went on a 14-2 run to take a 12-point lead, 28-16, and led 39-28 at the break.

Tech fought stay in the game, but the devils didn’t have the same kind of off-day shooting-wise that they had in a loss in Blacksburg earlier this season, and managed to keep at least a 10-point lead for most of the second half.

Meanwhile, the Hokies played with a great deal of intensity and heart. They wanted this game and it showed. But they were clearly running on empty and struggled from the field, especially from behind the arc. Tech was 0/5 from three point range in the first half.

Tech stands at 21-11 overall and 11-8 in the ACC. Their chances are good for an at-large bid, but there are no guarantees.

Popularity: 20% [?]

Box Score

The Virginia Tech Hokies’ NCAA tournament hopes got a huge boost Friday night as Tech beat the No. 3 seed fsu in the 2011 ACC Tournament, 52-51, in a sloppy, low-scoring game, that for at least one half set the sport back a half century.

The Hokies overcame a 10-point, second-half deficit and tied the game at 49 on a Manny Atkins three pointer from near the Virginia Tech bench with three minutes to play. The noles retook the lead, 51-49, before Malcolm Delaney hit 1/2 free throws with :41 seconds left to cut the lead to one, 50-51.

Erick Green was just 2/13 on the night, but he hit his biggest shot of the game, a long two from the top of the key, with 4.7 seconds to play to give the Hokies their first lead, 52-51, since early in the opening half when they lead 4-3.

fsu still had a shot, though. Derwin Kitchen got the ball in the far corner and appeared to hit a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer as the noles’ bench and about a dozen fans erupted in celebration. But after nearly five minutes of reviewing the shot, it was clear that the ball was still on his fingertips when the clock hit 00:00:00. The officials left the scorer’s table and waived off the basket, thus giving the win to the Hokies.

Aside from the thrilling end, this game was ugly; something Hokie fans have witnessed so often this season. Everything that could go wrong, practically did. Things got off to an ominous start when head coach Seth Greenberg called a timeout just 41 seconds into the game and got into a verbal argument with first-team All-ACC guard Malcolm Delaney, whom Greenberg promptly benched for :32 seconds.

Greenberg could be seen trying to talk to Delaney, but the star player turned his head away from the coach, clearly not interested in what he had to say.

It got worse. Jeff Allen picked up two fouls less than five minutes into the game, while Davila finished the first half with three fouls and Delaney was called for two fouls. The Hokies couldn’t hit a free throw, or a field goal for that matter, the entire first half. It took Virginia Tech six and a half minutes to register their first field goal and were under 50 percent from the charity stripe until Delaney hit a pair with less than a second left in the half. The finished the half 7/13 from the FT line and trailed 19-27 at the break.

The Hokies shot a pathetic 17.9 percent from the field on 5/28 shooting in the first half. They had only 19 points and two of those came on a pair of Delaney free throws with less than a second to play in the half. The 19 points is the lowest first-half total by the Hokies all season. Their lowest scoring output in a half was 18 in a 72-57 road loss to georgia tech.

The second half didn’t get off to a particularly great start either. After a quick 4-0 run by the Hokies, Davila picked up his fourth foul, while Delaney and Allen picked their third less than five minutes into the second half. It was all downhill from there.

From there, the noles pushed their lead to 10 points, 28-38, with 13:25 to play. Then, the Hokies finally found some rhythm. Tech used an 11-3 run to cut fsu’s lead to one, 39-40 with nine minutes to play and it was a decent game from then on out.

With 3:05 remaining and Tech trailing 49-46, Manny Atkins came of a screen near the Hokies’ bench and drained a three pointer to tie the game at 49. The Noles regained the lead with a minute to play, 51-49. Delaney was fouled in the act with :41 to play, but missed the first and made the second, to cut the lead to 50-51.

The noles had the ball and the shot clock off when fsu called a timeout. On the inbounds pass, Allen stripped the ball giving the Hokies the ball. Green hit the eventual game winner, but only after replays showed that fsu’s would-be game-winner did not count.

Foul trouble nearly killed the Hokies Friday night. Delaney, Davila and Allen all played with four fouls each for the critical final five minutes of the second half, which hindered their ability to play aggressive basketball. Despite that, Tech kept the game close and allowed them to hang with the noles before overcoming the adversity.

The Hokies will face No. 2 seed duke tomorrow in the ACC semifinals.

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Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse for the Hokies, it did. Yesterday, Virginia Tech men’s head basketball coach Seth Greenberg announced that freshman forward Jarell Eddie will not dress or play for the Hokies for the remainder of the 2010-11 season.

According to a news release on HokieSports.com, the freshman Charlotte, N.C., was suspended as a result of his marijuana incident that occurred on Feb. 15 in Blacksburg, Va.

“Jarell Eddie is a excellent student, a fine young man and a great teammate,” said Greenberg in the release. “He made a mistake in judgment and is paying the price for that mistake.”

Losing Eddie is a huge blow to the Hokies as they enter the ACC tournament today. Senior forward Jeff Allen is hobbled by a bad ankle that severely limited him in practice this week, so that leaves sophomore Manny Atkins as the only scholarship forward on the bench.

Essentially, the Hokies will be playing with only seven players against georgia tech, assuming Allen can go. Freshman Tyrone Garland, who was recently named to the ACC all-academic team, and Atkins are the only scholarship players on the bench to relieve the starting five: Malcolm Delaney, Jeff Allen, Terrell Bell, Victor Davila and Erick Green.

Tech lost its last two regular season games and is firmly on the NCAA tournament bubble heading into the ACC tourney. Realistically, they need at least two wins this week to make it into the dance. That is a challenge unto itself, never mind the fact they must do so with seven players.

If you’re looking for more details on this developing situation, you won’t get it from Greenberg, his staff or anyone in the basketball office. The official word in the release went something like this:

“This release will serve as the sole statement by the Virginia Tech Athletics Administration, Coach Greenberg and members of the basketball program on this matter. No further comments will be made on this matter during the remainder of the season and Coach Greenberg will not address this issue during press conferences at the ACC Tournament.”

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Virginia Tech's Jeff Allen puts up a shot against boston college

Virginia Tech’s six-game home conference winning streak came to an end with a 76-61 loss to boston college. To call this loss disappointing would be a gross understatement.

Coming off an emotional win over the top team in the country three days ago, the Hokies returned to the court for their final home game of the regular season… and promptly laid a big egg. On senior night no less.

The Hokies were badly out-rebounded 38-24. Tech was bad in just about every category. They shot just 42.9 percent from the field (24/56) and a woeful 17 percent (3/17) from three-point range.

Sophomore Erick Green led the Hokies with 21 points. Seniors Malcolm Delaney and Jeff Allen has 17 and 14 points respectively. Allen had just nine offensive touches the entire game, yet still managed 14 points.

The Hokies got off to a promising 4-0 start, but the eagles used a 19-2 run to blow by the Hokies and never looked back. Tech managed just 10 points in the first 11:45 of the game.

boston college, like uva, was money from behind the arc, hitting a dizzying 7/13 three pointers in the first half to help the eagles to an 18-point lead. Tech responded with a short 15-5 run to cut the lead to eight at the half, 27-35.

The Hokies came out in the second half with a pair of three pointers to cut the lead to five, but that’s as close as they would get. Ice cold shooting and inability to play effective defense led to a 20-point deficit – the Hokies’ largest of the season. And when we say “ice cold” shooting, we’re talking multiple air balls. It was bad folks, really bad.

We could talk about the refs and the questionable calls, but give bc credit – they shot the lights out and frustrated the Hokies defensively. They did what they had to do to win.

Green summed it up in the post-game presser. Here’s the quote from the HokieSports.com recap:

“It’s simple,” Green said. “We didn’t come to play. We got embarrassed. I feel bad for the seniors because that’s not how you want to go out. But hands down, we got outplayed. They got ahead too quick, and we tried to ramp it up. But they just beat us.”

Unless Tech can pull off a road win against clemson and win 1-2 games in the ACC tourney, it looks like it’ll be another NIT appearance. Here’s hoping the Hokies can pull off an upset on the road to salvage any hope of an NCAA tourney bid.

Popularity: 21% [?]