Box Score

Blacksburg, VA — For the second time in three nights, the Virginia Tech Hokies played a nail-biter of a game, this time against rhode island in an NIT quarterfinal matchup. Unlike Monday’s game against uconn, the Hokies were not able to hold on for the win, losing 72-79 to the rams, ending their season.

Tech blew a 12-point lead in the second half as rhode island used a 20-7 run to take the lead and the Hokies had lost their momentum and were unable to sustain a run of their own. The rams closed the game on a 31-12 run to win the game.

How bad was it? The Hokies made only TWO field goals in the final 16:07 of the game. Yeah, it was THAT bad.

Malcolm Delaney led the Hokies with 24 points, but it wasn’t enough to overcome 16 turnovers by the Hokies, including five in the first half as a result of the rams’ press. The Hokies kept trying to go over the top of the press, but it only resulted in turnovers.

Dorenzo Hudson had another outstanding performance with 19 points. Jeff Allen threw in a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. However, Allen also committed six turnovers, nearly a third of the team’s total.

The Hokies shot lights out in the first half, hitting 63 percent of their field goal attempts, including 3 of 6 from three-point range. The second half, however, was a completely different story as Tech went ice cold managing just 33 percent on 9 of 17 shooting, and just 1 of 6 from behind the arc.

Tech finishes the season 25-9, tying the 1994-1995 NIT championship team for most wins in school history.

We’ll have more later, right now we need to decompress, throw back a couple of shots and let this roll off our backs.

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Box Score | Highlights | Game Film

Blacksburg, VA — The Virginia Tech Hokies (25-8) advanced to the third round of the National Invitation Tournament by defeating the uconn huskies 65-63 at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg. The Hokies now have 25 wins, which ties the school record set in 1995-1996, when Virginia Tech last won the NIT. Tech’s junior guard Dorenzo Hudson powered the Hokies’ offense with 27 points. Surprisingly, Hudson also led VT with seven rebounds.

It was a good thing Hudson was on his game tonight because Tech’s leading scorer, Malcolm Delaney, struggled to score for the second game out his last three. The junior from Baltimore had only six points, two of which were free throws. Delaney shot just 2 of 14 and missed all five of his three-point attempts. He did, however, feed Hudson off a curl for the game-winning basket, and he played hard the whole game – just couldn’t get his shot to go.

Jeff Allen, another junior, also struggled, despite not being in foul trouble. Allen also had six points, but only three rebounds, well below his season average. Like Delaney, though, he came up big when it mattered, blocking a uconn shot with five seconds left that would have given the huskies the lead.

JT Thompson was the only Hokie other than Hudson to score in double figures with 10. Victor Davila, a sophomore, had eight points, four of which were huge free throws in the final two minutes to keep the Hokies within striking distance.

Both coaches received technical fouls for mouthing off the officials. Seth Greenberg, Tech’s seventh-year head coach, got T’d up in the first half after expressing his frustration with several no-calls including several goal-tending calls against uconn that were not called.

Calhoun picked up his technical about five minutes into the second half after the Hokies took a 38-37 lead and uconn’s Stanley Robinson got called for an offensive foul for elbowing Malcolm Delaney in the face. Calhoun disagreed and quietly said something to the official who immediately T’d him up.

The Hokies struggled mightily in the first half and looked out of sync. They committed seven turnovers and trailed by 12 points, 28-16, with 5:28 to play in the half. However, Tech mustered a late run scoring 14 points in the final five minutes, including a halftime buzzer beater three-pointer by JT Thompson, just his third three of the season. JT’s shot pulled the Hokies within five at the break, 30-35.

Tech came out strong in the second half with an 11-2 run to take the lead, 41-37. From that point on, it was a dog fight that featured two ties and nine lead changes.

Tech gave back it’s lead and uconn eventually led by five, 50-45, at the midway point of the second half. However, the Hokies never let the huskies pull away and kept within striking distance. Trailing by three, 61-58, with 1:58 to play, Davila made a pair of free throws to pull Tech within one. A minutes later, Davila did it again to draw tech within one again, 63-62, which would prove key because Hudson came of a screen and hit a pull-up jumper with :14 left to put the Hokies ahead for good, 64-63.

uconn had a chance to take the lead with 11 seconds left, but Jeff Allen blocked Kemba Walker’s attempt with :05 left and Gavin Edwards missed a layup with :01 left before Terrell Bell pulled down the rebound and was fouled. Bell missed the his first free throw and was told by Greenberg to miss the second with :00.7 left, but instead, Bell accidentally made the free throw giving uconn one last shot for a miracle, but the long shot fell short and the Hokies won 65-63.

Tech returns home Wednesday night to host rhode island, which beat nevada tonight 85-83, in third-round NIT action. Game time is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN2. Virginia Tech is 17-1 at home this season – its only loss was a double-overtime defeat to maryland.

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Boxscore

IT’S A BEAR FIGHT!  The Hokies b- smacked the ‘piac, winning 81-61!  Malcolm Delaney went ape, scoring 19 points in the first half, just one below his average.  Delaney finished with 25 points to lead the Hokies to an easy victory.  He hit four three-pointers in the first 20 to push Tech to a 12 point halftime lead.  The doctor was 9/15 from the floor and 4/8 on threes, his third great shooting game in his last four games (we know what happened in the other – miami – game).  [Random thought: How much would it stink if Malcolm went nuts throughout the NIT and declared for the NBA Draft based on that?]

Dorenzo Hudson was the story in the second half, scoring 14 of his 19 points.  He finished just 5/17 from the floor but was the Cash to Delaney’s Tango (sorry, really stretching my movie references).

For the bobcats, leading scorer James Feldeine (who averaged 17 ppg) was held to 0.  Yep, a goose-egg.  A donut.  Zippy.  An inner tube.  A Jeff Allen.  A Gilbert Arenas (minus the .40 caliber weapon).  Second leading scorer Justin Rutty had 22 on 10/13 shooting and James Johnson scored 17 (most in garbage time).  Other than that, no bobcat had more than 7 points.  In fact, only four guys had more than 3.

JT Thompson chipped in his typical 9 off the bench and Victor Davila stepped up in Allen’s place, also scoring 9.  The two hit 7/10 shots.

The bobcats tried to slow down the tempo and it simply didn’t work.  If this game was a movie, it would have been the Fast and the Furious (I was going to use Smokey and the Bandit but I’m not sure people would have known what that was).  Tech outscored quinnipiac 27 to 2 on fastbreak points.  VT was a Ferrari, qunnipiac was an AMC Gremlin.

Tech limited the bobcats at their #1 strength, offensive rebounding.  The bobcats, who get 41% of their misses on the season, were outrebounded on the offensive end 18-12 by Tech.  The Hokies grabbed 50% of their misses, getting 18 offensive rebounds in 36 opportunities!  VT had 16 second chance points to just 10 for the bobcats.

Jeff Allen, who had reached double digits in 10 of the last 12 games, scored just 6 points while battling foul trouble.  Jeff hit just 2/8 shots, but his services were not necessary tonight as the Hokies woodshedded the bobcats.  He did grab a game-high 9 rebounds though.

Both teams did a good job protecting the ball.  Tech had just two turnovers at the half and quinnipiac had just three.  VT finished with just seven turnovers while quinnipiac had 10.

Yet the Hokies enjoyed a lead of 12 at the break, 39-27.  Delaney’s 19 points were the key to that lead, along with cold shooting from the bobcats.

VirgiNIa Tech advances to the second round of the NIT for the third year in a row and will face the uconn huskies, who barely beat northeastern in their first round game.  The other huskies missed a three at the buzzer to win the game.  uconn is 6-1 against the Hokies, all in the last 10 years, but are just a #4 seed in the NIT.  Tech will get this game at home.  Hopefully more than 3,000 Hokie fans will show up, the estimated crowd at 10k seat Cassell Coliseum.

Tip of the cap to…:  Jeff Allen is now the only Hokie to be ranked in the Top 10 in rebounding, steals, and blocks.  He is 10th all time in rebounds at 767, 8th in steals at 187, and 6th in blocks at 122.  Only five Hokies rank in the Top 10 in three major categories: Dell Curry (points, assists, and steals), Bimbo Coles (ditto), Ace Custis (points, rebounds, and steals), and Zabian Dowdell (points, assists, and steals), along with Jeff Allen.

Random ugly stat: Erick Green has missed 17 consecutive shots.

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The No. 12 seed miami hurricanes shocked the No. 4 seed Virginia Tech, 70-65, in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals.

The Virginia Tech Hokies knew they were in for a tough game today against the No. 12 seeded miami hurricanes, and they got one. The canes manhandled wake forest in the opening round on Thursday and were apparently still amped from the win as they upset the Hokies 70-65.

Jeff Allen led the Hokies offensively, scoring 18 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. Dorenzo Hudson, who missed the Hokies’ regular season finale – a road win over gt – went off for 15 points in the first half, but managed only one point in the second half.

Seth Greenberg, who is now mentioned as a favorite for both the rutgers and st. john’s jobs, got great contributions from Terrell Bell, who hit 4/9 three pointers for 12 points. All nine of Bell’s attempts were from behind the line. JT Thompson also stepped up with 10 points. Lewis Witcher added a tip-in for two points.

Malcolm Delaney, the ACC’s leading scorer, played easily his worst game of the season, scoring a just seven points. It’s the first ACC contest in which he failed to reach double figures. Only twice this season has Delaney scored fewer points: against longwood when he left the game with a high ankle sprain less than a minute into the game and against nc central where he scored five points before being taken out.

Today, Delaney was 3/15 from the field and miserable 0/8 from three point range. He attempted only three free throws and made only one. As Delaney goes, so go the Hokies. That, and their lack of size and rebounding ability.

The Hokies got destroyed on the boards and got out-rebounded 29-46 by the canes and that was the deciding factor of the game, plain and simple. As if that weren’t enough, the Hokies shot just 38 percent to miami’s 46. Take away Delaney’s dismal day and the Hokies shot 43 percent.

Tech took a 65-64 lead with 2:02 to play in the game when Jeff Allen hit one of two free throws. The Hokies failed to score again as miami closed the game with a 6-0 run.

The Hokies, the No. 4 seed, were a little sluggish out of the game and trailed 4-2 after 2-1/2 minutes, but Hudson got the Hokies’ offense rolling with a three-pointer from the right wing. Hudson, back from missing Tech’s regular season finale with a foot injury, scored eight straight points and 13 of Tech’s next 20 points to push the Hokies’ lead to 22-12 at the under 12 media timeout.

miami crawled back into the game with clutch shooting while the Hokies went cold (sound familiar) and eventually took two brief leads (33-32 and 35-33) in the final 2:13 of the half. But Jeff Allen scored the final four points of the first half to put Tech ahead 37-35 at the break.

The Hokies will now have to sit and wait for Sunday to see where they will be seeded in the NCAA tournament. This loss definitely hurt and they’ll like be seeded anywhere from 9-12.

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Malcolm Delaney’s 32 points and 9 assists led Virginia Tech to a huge 88-82 victory over the georgia tech yellow jackets in a very physical game in Atlanta. The win clinches fourth place in the ACC and guarantees the Hokies a first round bye in the ACC Tournament which gets under way Thursday in Greensboro. The win also almost assuredly will mean an at large bid to the NCAA Tournament for the Hokies when bids go out a week from tomorrow.

With second leading scorer Dorenzo Hudson unable to go due to a bad bone bruise in his right foot, the Hokies got a balanced scoring effort and actually outrebounded the much larger yellow jackets, who feature future NBA stars Gani Lawal and Derrick Favors, 38-36. Jeff Allen had 17 points and 10 rebounds while Terrell Bell came up huge with 14 points and 13 boards playing in his home state of Georgia. Victor Davila also had a nice game with 10 big inside points.

Freshman and Georgia native Manny Atkins, seldom used this season, got his first career start in place of Zo and had a solid 5 point, 5 assist, and 7 rebound performance. Manny also cut down on the turnovers that had plagued him earlier in the season.

Unlike the previous two seasons when the Hokies faced must win games on the road to close the regular season – at clemson in ’07-08 and at florida state in ’08-09 – this time the Hokies took control of the game early on. Virginia Tech trailed 8-7 at the first television timeout, but from there went on an 11-0 run to seize control of this game. The Hokies hit 8 three-point bombs in the first half, led by four from Delaney. The Hokies led by as many as 11 in the first half and led 45-39 at the half.

The second half started with very rough and physical play on both ends. Lawal was whistled for a flagrant foul on Manny Atkins as he went for a layup with just over 12 minutes to go and it turned out to be a four point possession for the Hokies after Atkins sank both free throws and JT Thompson nailed a baseline jumper. The Hokies extended their lead to 73-56 with just over nine minutes left, before the jackets started to chip away at the lead.

The lead was 80-74 after a three by Iman Shumpert (16 points before fouling out) at the 2:10 mark, but the jackets never got closer than three points, 83-80 after a Favors (18 points) lay in with 36 seconds left. However Delaney (14-17 at the line) and the rest of the Hokies were clutch with their free throws and the Hokies held on for the all important win.

For the third straight game Jeff Allen stayed out of foul trouble and had a huge presence against georgia tech’s inside players and also connected on two threes. However Jeff did sustain a shoulder injury during this game and the severity is not known as of right now, though it didn’t appear to be too serious. Hudson’s status for the ACC Tournament won’t be known until at least Wednesday or Thursday.

The Hokies are assured of the fourth seed in the ACC Tournament no matter what happens in tonight’s or tomorrow’s ACC action. The pairings will not be known until games are completed tomorrow. Stay tuned to Techhoops.com for more!

Popularity: 24% [?]

Boxscore

LEWWWWWWWWWWWWW! WE WANT DEBNAM! The Hokies picked up an absolute must-win on Senior Night in Blacksburg and closed the home season (we hope) at 15-1 by defeating the nc state wolfpack 71-59. The Hokies swept the season series against the pack and have won three in a row over state after dropping six in a row.

There were three keys to the game: nc state turnovers, nc state offensive rebounds, and Hokie points in the paint. VT forced 20 nc state turnovers, limited the pack to 11 offensive rebounds (after grabbing 27 in the first meeting), and Tech scored 34 points in the paint on 16 layups/dunks (state had 22 points in the paint). The Hokies also hit 16 layups/dunks in the first game. That’s 32 layups/dunks in two games against state! Read: Sidney Lowe can’t coach defense. Part of this is the Hokies made much better decisions on the break, not settling for pull-up jumpers when they had numbers.

Tech played an absolutely perfect game in Raleigh except for one thing – they gave up 27 offensive rebounds in the first meeting in 55 opportunities (just a 51% defensive rebounding Percentage). But tonight the Hokies were great on the glass, grabbing 19 of 30 defensive rebounds (63%). And nc state had just three offensive rebounds in the first half.

Turnovers plagued the pack again tonight. They turned the ball over just 15 times (‘just’ is a bit generous, 15 is slightly high). But tonight state had 13 turnovers at the half, including four by point guard Javier Gonzalez. “He’s scored more points for Tech than he has for nc state,” Bill Roth on nc state’s Javier Gonzalez. That pretty much says it all about the nc state point guard.

Malcolm Delaney and Dorenzo Hudson finished with a game-high 21 points. While it was great that Delaney shot 50% for the second game in a row (6/12), the bigger tip of the cap has to go to Zo. He was VERY questionable going into tonight (was seen wearing a protective boot before the game) but scored 21 points on 7/14 shooting and played 37 minutes.

Delaney might as well forget his acting lessons, his ham jobs aren’t working anymore. Refs simply won’t give him the calls they used to give him, or give any other star in the ACC (reference Hansbrough). But he did step up in the second half by knocking down shots. After state cut Tech’s nine-point halftime lead to two with 16:15 to go in the game, Malcolm hit three big treys that pushed the lead to 11 and jump-started an 11-0 run for the Hokies that put the game away. state never got closer than seven after that point. Delaney finished 3/6 on threes. This was just the second time since the florida state game (13 games) that Malcolm had made more than two three-pointers.

Why the Hokies didn’t feed the ball to Jeff Allen on every possession this game I will never know. For the second straight game he stayed out of foul trouble and had a monster game with 18 points on 6/10 shooting. He also chipped in nine rebounds, just missing a double-double.

This game did not have the same recipe for success the game three weeks ago in Raleigh had. In that game, the Hokies hit their first 10 shots on their way to a 26-7 lead in the first nine minutes. Tonight the Hokies trailed 9-7 after nine minutes and had made just three of their first 13 shots (23%). But then the Hokies caught fire again against the porous wolfpack defense. The Hokies closed out the half making 12 of their final 18 shots (67%) and used a 14-2 run to close to half to lead by nine at the break. In comparison, VT led by 11 in Raleigh at the half so it wasn’t much of a difference.

Despite the hot end to the first half, the Hokies still really struggled on threes and free throws. Tech was 0/7 on threes in the first half and just 1/5 from the line (Hudson was 0/3, perhaps because of his foot injury). Speaking of threes, nc state didn’t make a three in the meeting at state but hit a three-pointer with just under eight minutes left in the first half, stopping their three-less streak at 52 minutes against the Hokies. But in the second half the Hokies got back to fundamentals – they hit 3/5 threes (60%) and 19/23 free throws (83%).

Note: It was an odd starting lineup for the Hokies on Senior Night with Allen, Delaney, and Hudson starting, but Witcher and Debnam (Tech’s seniors) also starting.

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Highlights | Box Score

The Virginia Tech Hokies dropped their third straight game, 100-104 to maryland in double overtime. It was the highest scoring ACC game in more than seven years. With the loss, Tech’s hopes of an NCAA tournament bid fade little bit. Greivis Vasquez scored a career- and season-high 41 points (33 in the second half) to lead the terps, who improved to 11-3 in the ACC and 21-7 overall. maryland also locks up second place in the ACC. The Hokies fall to 8-6, 21-7.

The loss is the Hokies’ first at home this season. Malcolm Delaney and Jeff Allen both missed a pair of free throws late in double overtime that cost them the game. But the biggest surprise came in the final seconds of overtime and the Hokies trailing 100-102. Tech had a chance to tie the game and send it to a third overtime, but Delaney dished the ball to freshman Erick Green in the corner. Green missed the three-pointer and maryland got the rebound to secure the win.

Delaney led the Hokies with 27 points and was 8 of 10 from the free throw line, but his two misses came late in double overtime that would have tied the game at 97 with :39 to play. Instead, maryland took a three-point lead and the Hokies weren’t able to come back to tie it.

Jeff Allen played his best game in nearly two months, scoring 25 points and pulling down 15 rebounds. It was his first double-double since he dropped 14/10 in an 81-66 win over miami. But his missed free throws were killer.

Trailing 80-77 in the second half, the terps had the ball, but Terrell Bell intercepted the inbound pass and Tech called a timeout. JT Thompson, who was 1 of 4 from three-point range this season, hit the game-tying trey with 15.1 seconds left.

Eric Hayes answered with a long two-pointer from the left wing with 5.2 seconds left. Delaney took the inbound pass and drove the length of the court for a layup to tie the game at 82 with .9 seconds left. The terps missed a hail Mary at the buzzer and the game went into overtime.

In overtime, the Hokies committed two early turnovers and the terps took an 84-82 lead. The Hokies answered to tie the game at 84, but Vasquez buried a three to take an 87-84 lead. Thompson hit a pair of free throws to pull Tech within one and Terrell Bell nailed a triple to put Tech on top 89-87. maryland’s Eric Hayes answered with a pair of free throws to tie the game and send it to double overtime.

Five Hokies scored in double figures: Delaney – 27, Allen – 25, Hudson – 21, Thompson – 15, and Bell – 10. Thompson and Bell added nine rebounds each as Tech won the rebounding battle 52-43. It was the first time four Hokies scored 20 or more points in a game since the Delaney, Allen, Thompson and A.D. Vassallo did it in a 116-108 double overtime win over Duquesne in last year’s NIT tournament.

Note: The game was originally schedule for a 4 p.m. tip-off, but was delayed until 7 p.m. due to three water main breaks near the Cassell Coliseum. There were no functioning bathrooms in the Cassell, so fans were permitted to use the facilities at Dietrick and the new basketball practice facility.

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Box Score

The Virginia Tech Hokies dropped their second straight game, 60-80, on the road to a bad boston college team. Tech played flat and looked defeated from the opening tip. They were never in the game as the eagles bolted out to a quick 7-0 lead and never trailed, leading by double-digits for much of the game.

Jeff Allen was once again in foul trouble, picking up his second less than seven minutes into the game and fouled out with about seven minutes to go in the game. Bottom line, the Hokies couldn’t hit a shot and bc couldn’t miss, especially early on.

Malcolm Delaney and Dorenzo Hudson provided virtually all of the scoring with Delaney getting 21 and Hudson adding 14. Ten of Delaney’s 21 were free throws, where he was a perfect 10-10. Allen was the only other Hokie in double-digit scoring with 10 points.

Tech shot just 31 percent from the field and a paltry 13 percent (2/15) from behind the arc. Meanwhile, the iggles shot better than 50 percent from the field and 44 percent (7/16) from three. Joe Trapani lead bc with 17 points, virtually all of which came in the first half.

This loss is a bad one. In fact, it’s easily their worst loss of the season. And you have to wonder if Sunday’s loss to duke stuck with the team. bc was 4-8 in ACC play and a very weak 13-13 overall.

Now the Hokies have to return home to face a good and dangerous maryland team that could easily hand Tech a third straight loss. With the loss to bc, the Hokie need to win two of their last three games to be in a comfortable position for an NCAA bid.

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The Hokies put up a good fight on the road at duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium, but Tech couldn’t overcome duke’s 3-pt shooting and great rebounding. The Hokies lost by 12, but the game was much closer than that, with duke icing it late with two deep threes.

The Cameron whistles weren’t really a story in this game (although opinions vary as always with ACC fans where duke is concerned), but as usual Jeff Allen was caught a couple times early. Allen had his second at 12:56 in the first half and went to the bench. Delaney picked up his second soon after, but stayed out and picked up his third late in the half.

In spite of a little foul trouble, the Hokies scrapped well throughout the half, leading early but eventually going down 34-23, before pulling back with the final 6 points of the half to close at 35-30. duke was laying bricks (25% shooting) through the first half, but the difference was 6 made threes and 15 made free throws.

In the second half, the Hokies came out well and the whistles went their way early. duke’s Lance Thomas picked up his 3rd early in the half, and would later foul out. The Hokies quickly closed the gap and eventually took the lead 45-44 with 9:51 left. But duke soon went on an 8-0 spurt to stretch out to 55-47.

The Hokies stuck with it as expected — as we’ve come to enjoy this season — pulling to 61-55 on a nice Jeff Allen runner off the glass with a couple minutes left. But duke ran clock, and Tech seemed reluctant to foul duke’s excellent free-throw shooters. On consecutive possessions, duke worked the clock and drained a three, and that was the ballgame.

The Hokies lost tonight, but they played tough, and ACC wins on the road aren’t easy to come by. The Hokies didn’t appear rattled at all by the matchup or the hostile environment in Cameron. Tech played duke closer at Cameron than anyone else has in ACC play, and the late threes made the final score look worse than the game played out.

Other notes:
– duke student fans are extremely annoying. They don’t really do anything wrong per se, they just do a great job of being extremely irritating, which is their objective. Their location right on the floor certainly magnifies the effect. Its easy to see why so many people hate duke basketball.
– Dorenzo Hudson got a little lucky with the refs in a skirmish with Nolan Smith after a held-ball scrum on the floor. After some nose to nose jawing, Zo got his hand up with a half-shove, half-slap to Smith’s face. After a long review of the sequence, nothing more came of it than a duke possession on the held ball. Zo could have been ejected and suspended for the next game.
– Sweet win for US Hockey! 42 saves for US goalie Ryan Miller!
– This is the 1000th post on TechHoops.com, which is sorta cool.

The Hokies take the floor next on Wednesday night at boston college at 7 PM on ESPNU.

Popularity: 24% [?]

Update: VT moved up 8 spots to #44 in today’s RPI.  Not the huge jump we maybe hoped for, but the good news is we moved way up in the eyes of the so called experts with last night’s win over still #12 wake forest (#12 in the RPI).

Niemo’s Notes:

• ESPN Highlights – check out the Raines block/Hudson dunk
• The Hokies all but locked up a first round bye in the ACC Tourney last night.  VT has the tiebreaker over wake, clemson, and uva, the 4th, 5th, and 7th place teams respectively.  Based on the games everyone has left, Tech just needs to go 2-3 the rest of the way to lock up a bye. I know that’s not what anyone wants, just saying that is what it will take.
• Tech is finally getting the props it has deserved for a while. Everyone trashed the schedule, but now people are realizing this team is for real. Pat Forde even had us as the lead story on the NCAA blog on ESPN.com.
• With all due respect to Wick and his Bell block/Delaney 3-point play, I actually thought the play of the game and the Uncle Mo shifter (momentum) was the block by Raines and subsequent dunk by Zo Hudson with 12 minutes left (shown in the ESPN highlights above). Tech, to that point, had been shooting lights out but struggling to make up any ground on their 8-point halftime deficit. With VT down 9, wake had the ball in transition and 6-11 David Weaver went up for a layup.  Cadarian Raines swatted the ball off the glass and VT raced up the court.  Then Zo flushed the ball with one hand and sent the crowd into a frenzy with the lead cut to 7.  This play was a big part of a 15-4 run to tie up the game.
• Cope mentioned Bell had a career high 14 rebounds and was a big reason VT out-rebounded wake 47-38.  Malcolm Delaney also tied, a career-high with 9 rebounds.  Tech was getting dominated on the glass, especially on defense early, but responded the rest of the way.  VT finished with 19 offensive rebounds (45% of their misses!) while wake got just 15 (35% of their misses).
• Delaney fouled out for the first time all season and first time since his freshman year when he fouled out three times.
• Speaking of Malcolm, as Wick said and Delaney predicted on Twitter, he was due.  He had been shooting just 36.7% in ACC play going into last night but hit 9 of 20 including several jumpshots. His 9 FGs made tied his ACC high he set at virginia. His three made three-point shots also tied his ACC season high, which he set against fsu.  Malcolm’s trey with 3 minutes to go put VT up by four and I think really put the game in Tech’s control.  Last night marked the fourth time he has scored 30 or more this season and he’s back over the 20-point mark in his scoring average (20.2).
• L.D. Williams pulled a career game out of his rear end last night. L.D. does not normally stand for long distance, but it did last night. He had made just 4 threes going into last night, but drilled one last night and hit numerous mid-range jumpers. He finished with 19 points on 9/11 shooting. The 19 was his second highest of the season.
• We saw how good Ish Smith was last night.  He is a crazy finisher. But the deacs seem to be better when he is dishing, not scoring. wake was great in the first half when he had 5 assists, but struggled in the second half.
• Tech is now 46-45 in ACC regular season games.
• Last night was the Hokies’ fifth straight ACC win, their longest streak ever.
• VT moved to 14-0 at home, their best start since a 15-0 start in ’82-83. VT has two more home games – a tough one against maryland and what should be a win against nc state.
• Alright, we can finally stop sweating the NCAA Tourney (for now).  We have the silver in the ACC, let’s go for the gold Sunday night against the hated blue devils!

Popularity: 39% [?]

Box Score | ESPN Highlights

Behind a 55-point second half, the Hokies came back from an 11-point deficit to pick up their biggest win of the season over the 23rd ranked wake forest demon deacons, 87-83. With the win, the Hokies move into sole possession of second place in the ACC as they now prepare for first place duke on ACC Sunday Night Hoops.

Malcolm Delaney led the way tonight with 31 points and 9 rebounds. The 31 was one off his season-high of 32 against temple. For those of you Hokies who use Twitter, you probably follow @foe23 (that is Malcolm’s username) and might have noticed the tweet below from earlier in the day:

Delaney rarely tweets about games, so his prediction caught my attention and he certainly delivered. He kept the Hokies within single digits at halftime by scoring almost half of the Hokies first-half points (15 of 32). His three-pointer (although his toe was on the line) at the 6:30 mark in the second half completed the Hokies second-half comeback by giving Tech its first lead, 70-69, since the first half when they led briefly, 12-11. But Delaney’s biggest play of the game might have occurred a couple minutes earlier.

With the Hokies down by four with nine minutes to play, C.J. Harris stripped Terrell Bell in the backcourt. Harris was on the verge of converting the steal into a layup when Terrell made up for his mistake by swatting Harris’ shot into the hands of Delaney. Delaney raced down the length of the court, drove down the lane and made an acrobatic layup as he was fouled by Chas McFarland. It was McFarland’s 5th foul, and after Delaney made the free throw, the Hokies had cut the lead to one. It was a five-point turnaround, which also resulted in one of the deacs’ big men fouling out.

Helping Delaney on the offensive end tonight were the usual suspects, Dorenzo Hudson with 21 and JT Thompson with 16. Hudson continues to shine as our second best offensive weapon averaging 18 points per game since January 1. Jeff Allen was somewhat of a non-factor tonight, picking up four fouls with 16 minutes to go in the game.

If it were not for some poor free throw shooting by the Hokies in the final 90 seconds and the performance of Ish Smith, the Hokies might have won by double digits. Smith played a stellar game for the deacs as an assist maker in the first half and the only scorer in the final minutes of the second half.

During the first 30 minutes of the game, I was really impressed with the deacs balanced attack. They clearly are the best team that the Hokies have played all season. wake’s super sophomore Al-Farouq Aminu scored 21 points in the first 20 minutes, which is 5 shy of his career high. But the Hokies didn’t let Aminu reach a new career mark as he only pitched in four points in the entire second half. L.D. Williams picked up the slack for Aminu in the second half though and had a career shooting night. He finished with 19 points on 9 of 11 shooting, which is 11 points above his average. Bottom line, the 83 points given up by the Hokies were 22 points above their season average. It could have been much worse as wake reached the 61 point mark with 12 minutes to go in the game.

This should keep Virginia Tech off the bubble radar of bracketologists for awhile although I think it was total BS to call this a “must-win” game. There are plenty of games left to win. It definitely was our best opportunity for a high quality win, and we capitalized on it. That’s what this team has been about all season. Tech is winning the games that they should win and has lost when they were clear underdogs (except for the miami loss). If you’ve followed the Seth Greenberg era at Tech, this is not a characteristic of his teams. Past Greenberg teams have often tripped up against inferior competition and shocked the likes of #1 unc and wake forest or produced magical wins at duke and carolina. Let’s hope some of that past magic comes alive again this Sunday night in cameron indoor.

Cope-acabana‘s Notes:

• The 55 second-half points by the Hokies are the most in a half by the Hokies since they scored 54 against Morgan State on March 19, 2008, in a 94-62 Virginia Tech win. I went back four seasons and that’s the closest the Hokies have come to 55 points in a half. Beyond that, the stats aren’t readily available on HokieSports.com. The record for second-half points for Tech is 73 vs. Florida State on Nov. 30, 1981.
• With the win, the Hokies even the all-time series between the two schools at 26.
• Tech improves to 6-2 in ACC play against the deacons, including an ACC tournament win in 2007.
• The Hokies have now won five straight ACC games, a new record for Tech since joining the conference in 2004.
• Tech is now 14-0 at the Cassell this season.
• Delaney is the ACC’s leading score in ACC-only play with 22 points a game. Dorenzo Hudson is the conference’s 7th leading scorer (after tonight) with 16.6 per game.
• Two stat categories that blew my mind when I saw the final box score were blocks and rebounds. Somehow, the Hokies out-rebounded the much bigger deacons 47-38 and blocked more shots (7) than wake (5). Considering just how much bigger inside wake is than Tech, I’d say that’s a major point of congratulations.
• Terrell Bell was a big reason for the Hokies’ rebounding edge by pulling down a career-high 14 boards. It was also the most rebounds by a Hokie this season. Allen had 13 against vmi and seton hall.

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Box Score | Highlights

Blacksburg, VA – The Virginia Tech Hokies made it a clean sweep of ACC and in-state rival virginia with a 61-55 win over the hoos before a capacity crowd in Blacksburg. Junior guard Dorenzo Hudson led the Hokies with 15 points while Jeff Allen and Malcolm Delaney added 13 apiece.

The Hokies remain unbeaten at the Cassell this season – a perfect 13-0. More importantly, they are now 7-3 in ACC play and in third place behind duke (9-2) and wake forest (8-3). Additionally, Niemo’s beloved maroon “dress jeans” are a perfect 6-0 (possibly 7-0), including 3-0 against the boohoos.

This game was ugly. Actually, ugly is putting it nicely. Fugly is more like it. If you don’t know what “fugly” means, look it up at urbandictionary.com, then come back here for a recap of the carnage that set the game of basketball back about 100 years. Like, back when they actually used peach baskets as the hoops.

Why so fugly, you ask? Probably because the Hokies and hoos are the two best defensive teams (statistically speaking) in the ACC. The hoos gave up their average exactly – 61 points. The Hokies, meanwhile, held the hoos well below VT’s usual 61.4 ppg, allowing only 55 points.

Delaney got no love from the refs in this game. He was fouled repeatedly, but never got the call. He didn’t shoot his first free throw until late in the game. He also struggled from the field, but Hudson stepped up, as did Allen, Terrell Bell and JT Thompson.

Trailing 51-48 late in the second half, Allen got a layup in the paint and drew the foul. He completed the old-fashioned three-point play to tie the game at 51. After a missed shot by uva at the other end, Bell grabbed one of his nine rebounds and Allen hit the big three pointer that put the Hokies ahead for good, 54-51, with 1:14 to play.

Allen scored six points during an 8-0 run that resembled the late-game rally that gave the Hokies a key ACC road win on Jan. 28, in Charlottesville.

Tech led for much of the first half, but both teams were terrible from the field. The hoos used a 7-2 run to close out the half and take a 25-21 lead into the break. The 21 points are the second fewest in the first half this season – they managed an anemic 17 in an early season loss to temple.

Interesting to note… The Hokies used essentially seven players in the game. Delaney, Hudson, Allen, Bell and Davila started. JT and Erick Green also saw quite a bit of action. Cadarian Raines played only three minutes. JT and Raines filled in for Allen who picked up two quick fouls in the first three minutes and had to sit the rest of the half.

This is Greenberg’s third 20-win season since taking over the program in 2003. Tech has six games remaining in the regular season. Their next game is Tuesday, Feb. 16, at home vs. wake forest, which “upset” georgia tech tonight to improve to 8-3 in ACC play.

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Boxscore

Dorenzo Hudson’s 23 points, on 9-13 shooting, led Virginia Tech to a solid 72-52 win over north carolina state at the RBC Center in Raleigh. It was the Hokies first win in the North Carolina state capital since 1917. It was also Tech’s largest winning margin in a conference road game since they joined the ACC in 2004. Malcolm Delaney was held under his season average, but had 15 points and 5 assists. Jeff Allen added an energetic and impressive 14 point 8 rebound performance. JT Thompson had a strong 12 point effort off the bench.

In stark contrast to last Saturday’s win over clemson, and every game at n.c. state in recent memory, the Hokies came out smoking hot in this one, hitting on their first 10 field goal attempts. Dorenzo nailed his first two three pointers to get Tech off to the all important fast start on the road. In fact, the Hokies didn’t miss a shot until freshman Erick Green missed a long pull up jumper at the 9:45 mark of the first half. The Hokies led by 17 points several times in the first half and carried a 34-23 lead to the locker room.

Seth Greenberg told the team before the game to “remember who we are and how we win”. That is, do the little things and the big things will take care of themselves. Of those big things, the Hokies were determined not to let the wolfpack’s leading scorer Tracy Smith beat them and not to let the pack get open looks at three pointers. State had seemed to rain in threes from all over the court in Tech’s previous visits to RBC.

The Hokies held Smith to four first half points and only 12 for the game. Even more amazingly, for the first time since 1989 the wolfpack were held without a single three pointer. n.c. state tried to use a full court press on the Hokies, but Tech relied on valuable experience of the previous two games in which the Hokies faced the stronger presses of the tar heels and tigers. Tech passed right over top the wolfpack press early and often, and led to several layups in transition by Hudson.

This one was never in doubt, as the pack never got closer than eight points in the second half. Every player on the Hokies’ active roster got into the action. With the win Tech improves to 19-4 on the season and 6-3 in the ACC. state drops to 14-11 and 2-8.

The Hokies return to action Saturday night with an important 8:00 PM contest against the uva cavaliers at the Cassell. Tech will be going for the regular season sweep of the cavs and it will be the annual black out game. The hoos will be coming off a week long rest as their game Wednesday night at maryland was moved to next Monday due to the heavy snow(s) in the D.C. area.

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Boxscore

Niemo’s Notes:

• nc state, aka: our temple, our kryptonike, our Harlem Globetrotters, stinks.  But…
• Coming into tonight, VT had never led in the final 37:30 of any game at nc state since joining the ACC (eliminated).
• Coming into tonight, VT had never led by more than 6 points against nc state (we led by 22 tonight… eliminated).
• Coming into tonight, VT had never won at fsu or nc state since joining the ACC… (nc state – eliminated – and maybe fsu, too, due to forfeit)
• Coming into tonight, VT hadn’t won at nc state since 1917 (19 game losing streak – eliminated)
• Coming into tonight, nc state had made at least one 3-point shot in every game since 1989 (0/13 – eliminated)
• As much crap as we all gave Zo Hudson early in the year, I think we owe him a formal apology – I’m sorry.  Zo has now scored 17 or more points in 5 of the last 6 games.  He had a game high 23 points tonight (no one had more that 15 in the game).
• Tech limited nc state’s star, Tracy Smith, to 12 points, 5 below his average.  But considering he had 6 points in the first 100 seconds of the second half, VT really did a good job on him, forcing others to beat them.  And the pack couldn’t hit a 3 to save their lives tonight – 0/13.
• VT shot 54% from the floor.  Seriously?  The Hokies?  I told you their D sucked.  The Hokies hit their first 10 shots from the floor and finished at 54%, their third highest effort this year and first time in ACC play they’ve surpassed 50%.
• Look at these numbers: Hudson 9/13 from the floor (money!), Thompson 6/8, and Allen 5/7.  Wow, that felt good to type.
• The only bad thing tonight was Tech got dominated on the glass for the third game in a row.  nc state grabbed 18 offensive rebounds in 44 opportunities (41%).  Tech used to hold their opponents to 30% and nc state is not big inside.  Tech also lost the turnover margin for just the second time in ACC play, but just by -1 (15/14).
• What can you say?  We played a crappy nc state team in front of “plenty of good seats still available” type of crowd and waxed them.  The Hokies jumped out to a 19-point lead early, and while it got within 7 early in the second half, VT put the game away.  That’s what 6-3 ACC teams do.
• Oh, by the way, have I told you how bad georgia tech is on the road?  Yeah, they lost at miami, yes, miami tonight (yes, I know we lost there, too).  The jackets are now 6-31 over the last five seasons in ACC road games.
• My worst coaches in the ACC?  #12 – Sidney “Red Coat” Lowe (nc state), #11 – Paul “Can’t Win on the Road” Hewitt (ga tech).
• FYI: Tech was 6-3 last year in the ACC, but finished 7-9.  Don’t mean to be a downer but don’t get too comfy yet.  But VT was going into 2 road games at this point last year instead of…
• VT plays the ACC’s #5 and #3 teams back-to-back coming up at home (where VT is 12-0).  The Hokies must win at least one of these two games (especially the wake game, who are RPI darlings).  Now things get interesting!

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Boxscore | Highlights

The Hokies remained perfect at home this season after a 70-59 win over the clemson tigers. Virginia Tech and duke are the only two ACC teams that are still undefeated at home.

Malcolm Delaney, the league’s leading scorer, struggled from the field, but levied massive damage at the free throw line, scoring 20 of his 30 points from the charity stripe. Terrell Bell followed up his stellar performance Thursday night against unc with 10 points and 5 rebounds against the tigers. Jeff Allen added 13 points and 5 boards.

Tech got off to a very poor start, scoring just one point in the first seven minutes and falling behind 9-1. In fact, the Hokies only managed four field goals in the first half, got outrebounded and shot 15 percent, yet managed to lead at the half 29-27 behind 15 free throws from Delaney.

But a 9-0 run late in the first half turned a 6-point deficit into a halftime lead and a 15-4 run early in the second half put VT ahead to stay, blowing a close game out to a 51-41 lead.  The Hokies never trailed in the final 14:48 and pushed the lead up to as much as 15 points.

If this game had been a song, it would have been the Whistle Song (much like Thursday).  Only tonight most of them were on the bad guys.  clemson was called for 30 fouls and dealt with foul trouble all game.  The Hokies hit 38 of 46 free throws (83%) to fill in for a lack of shooting.

Tech is now 5-3 at the halfway mark of ACC play before they head to nc state.  While the pack are at the bottom of the ACC, they own the Hokies.  Raleigh is one of just two places VT hasn’t won at in ACC play (fsu is the other).

Niemo’s Notes:

• The Hokies snapped a 3-game losing streak against the tigers in the Cassell.  They are now 4-5 against the tigers since joining the ACC and 12-10 all time.  Tech has a winning record all time against just clemson and georgia tech of the current ACC teams.
• TECH SITS IN 4TH PLACE (tied with uva) IN THE ACC AT THE HALFWAY POINT!  More on that tomorrow.
• The Hokies are 12-0 at home this season and 4-0 in ACC play.  I promise I’ll check tomorrow to see the last time they started 12-0 at home.
• Tech is now 5-1 in ACC “quick turnaround” games (the second leg of 48 hours or less between games).  The lone loss was last year at bc on a tip-in in the final seconds.  This game was just like 5 years ago when VT beat miami just 40-something hours after beating duke.
• Delaney tied a Tech record with 20 made FTs.  Zo Hudson hit 20 earlier this year against seton hall and Terry Penn hit 20 in 1957 against the citadel.  It took Malcolm 23 attempts though compared to 21 for Zo.
• Malcolm finished with 30, meaning he has scored 67 points in the last 2 games against clemson in the Cassell.  His 37 last year are still a VT record in an ACC game.
• Hudson had just 5 points in this game, marking just the 2nd time in 13 games he hasn’t reached double digits.  He also didn’t hit a 3 for the first time in 8 games.
• The 15% VT shot in the first half is allegedly their worst shooting half in school history according to Bill Roth, yet they led 29-27 at the break thanks to 20/25 foul shooting (I would also bet that is a record for most first half FTs).  They added 21 FTs in the 2nd half.
• Tech was just 4/26 from the field at the half.  Tech did shoot 48% in the second half (11/23).
• Speaking of lousy shooting, clemson shot just 31% for the game.  Tech held them under 35% in both halves.  Star Trevor Booker had just 7 points, in large part due to his foul trouble and great help defense.  The Hokies made someone else beat them… and the tigers couldn’t find that person.
• Terrell Bell was the only Hokie to shoot 50% or better from the field, hitting 3/4.  He hit both of his 3s while the rest of the team was 0/9.  Delaney has hit just 4 of his last 34 three-pointers.
• VT was the best defensive rebounding team in the league going into the unc game.  Not anymore.  They gave up double-digit offensive rebounds in that game and clemson grabbed 21 offensive rebounds today in 44 opportunities.  VT was grabbing 70% of opponent misses before Thursday, but grabbed just 52% today.
• This game was the inverse of Thursday – clemson was called for over 15 fouls in the first half.  And their star, Trevor Booker, went out with 4 fouls with 13 minutes left in the game, similar to Delaney’s situation Thursday.
• I said turnovers would decide this game since VT and clemson were the worst shooting teams in the league, and best at turnover margin.  Well, the Hokies forced 17 turnovers while giving up just 10 against the clemson press, resulting in a 14-4 advantage in points off turnovers.  Since VT won by 11, that shows you how important that stat was.
• VICTORY WILD TURKEY FOR EVERYBODY!!!

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Box Score

The Hokies showed a lot of character this afternoon crawling back from a 19 point deficit in the second half to challenge the canes in the final minutes, but only to come up short 82-75. Behind the play of some tenacious pressure defense, Tech had 7 steals and forced 11 turnovers in the second half to trim the double-digit miami lead to single digits. With just over 30 seconds remaining and miami leading 75-70, the canes missed a front end of a 1-and-1. The Hokies rebounded with a chance to make it a one possession game. Malcolm Delaney drove the ball down the lane only to miss a wild, off-balance shot. That was the Hokies last chance to steal a victory as the canes went on to make their free throws and stretch the lead beyond the Hokies reach.

It was a tale of two halves for the Hokies on defense. Tech came into the game leading the conference in scoring defense, and the Hokies showed that in the second half. In addition to the opportunity in the final 30 seconds, Tech had several other prime chances earlier in the second half to cut the lead to less than 5 points, but just couldn’t convert on offense.

Dorenzo Hudson led the Hokies with 22 points on 8 of 14 shooting. Jeff Allen pitched in 19 and J.T. Thompson scored 14. Malcolm Delaney had a bit of an off-night on offense today, going 0 for 5 from three point lead and scoring 16 total, which is about 4 points under his average. It is the second straight game that Malcolm has not made a three-pointer.

After the Hokies got out to a 4-0 start, the canes outscored Tech by 21 points to take a 47-30 lead at the half. The canes shot 70% from the field in the first half, including 5 of 8 from three point territory. The first half today was the exact opposite of the first half in the first meeting between these two teams in Blacksburg. The Hokies shot lights out in the first half of the game in Blacksburg. Not this time around. Tech shot 38% from the field in the first half, including 2 of 9 from the three point line. miami made the Hokies look pitiful on defense as Tech gave up the most points in the first half all season. miami spread things around with 11 assists and 10 players scoring. Only Delaney, Allen, and Hudson scored for the Hokies in the first half.

As the first half was winding down with the Hokies trailing by 8 to 10 points, you hoped Tech could repeat the late half spurts that they put together in Charlottesville on Thursday. Unfortunately, the opposite happened. Dorenzo Hudson made two critical fouls on three-pointers that helped miami stretch their lead eventually to 17. Another key factor in the first half was Malcolm Delaney picking up 2 fouls in the first nine minutes of the game.The Hokies did hang tough with him out of the lineup, but you don’t know what could have happened if Malcolm had played his normal minutes in the first half. He did eventually return before the end of the half.

All in all, you have to be happy with a split on the road this week and I’d rather have the win at uva than at miami. With unc and clemson coming up at home this week, I’d be happy with another 1-1 week.

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