Box Score

Fresh off a vote of confidence from Virginia Tech Athletics Director Jim Weaver, Seth Greenberg and his struggling Hokies hosted fifth-ranked duke Thursday night in front of a national TV audience. The game presented a wonderful opportunity for this talented, but young team to turn its season around.

But duke had too much depth, experience and talent for the Hokies to hang for a full 40 minutes. As a result, the Hokies lost for the seventh time in their last eight games, 75-60, at home to duke.

As usual, junior guard Erick Green led the Hokies with 17 points, while Victor Davila played a solid game and added 16 points. Marquis Rankin was Tech’s third-leading scorer, but he scored all 8 of his points in the final minutes, at which point the game was well in hand for the dookies.

Statistically speaking, the game came down to three-pointers, rebounding, and turnovers. And the blue devils outrebounded the Hokies 31-26, hit more threes (8/18) than the Hokies (3/13), and committed fewer turnovers (7) than did Tech (13).

Tech trailed the entire game, save for a 21-21 tie with less than 8 minutes to play in the first half. After Dorenzo Hudson hit a pair of free throws to tie the game, duke got away with an apparent shot clock violation on the next possession and got credit for the basket. From there, they went on a 17-4 run to take a 13-point lead.

The Hokies stole a little of that momentum with Green’s buzzer-beating three to cut duke’s lead to 10 at the break.

The second half was all duke as it stretched its lead to 22 points and cruised from there. Tech got absolutely owned on the boards in the second half. The blue devils didn’t even really need an outside shot (though they seemed to his everything) because they had free range in the lane.

Poor Doe Doe (Dorian Finney-Smith) struggled again, but he did manage to come up with a couple of big blocks, so hopefully he can build on that. At least he’s still getting quality minutes, but you hope that it’s not going to damage his confidence.

I finally figured out what’s missing with this team… JT Thompson. His fire and intensity is what’s missing from this team. Even if he were healthy, he may not be enough to beat a team like duke or unc, but he would certainly be enough of a spark and talent to help win games against bc, wake and georgia tech.

Next up for the Hokies is clemson on Saturday at 4 p.m.

Below is my stream of consciousness during the game. Accuracy not guaranteed.

– Doe Doe misses twice –
– Good defense by Green, forces turnover –
– DFS steps on baseline –
– DFS commits foul –
– Moving screen on Davila –
2-0 duke – Plumlee wide open underneath for the easy dunk
– duke foul, non shooting –
2-2 Eddie hits the pullup jumper
– duke foul, non shooting –
– Rankin misses, duke rebound –
5-2 duke 3-pointer
– Green misses jumper —
7-2 Plumlee easy hook over Davila
7-4 Davila works hard for the bucket underneath

Under 16 media timeout – 7-4

– DFS commits foul, his second —
9-4 Kelly hits 2 FTs
9-6 Eddie drives and dishes to Raines for the layup
– Green steals, but can’t get the layup –
– duke foul after great effort by Hokies —
9-8 Hudson with the crazy fall-away jumper of the inbounds pass
– Hokies called for blocking call, clearly looked like a charge —
11-8 Curry hits 2 FTs
11-10 Raines with some nifty double move underneath for the bucket
– Plumlee misses badly –
– Blocking call against duke, kinda surprised we got that consider it’s duke –
– Hokies turn it over and Dawkins celebrates like it’s the national title
14-10 duke’s Dawkins gets called for a technical foul for taunting

Under 12 media timeout – 14-10

14-12 Green makes two Technical FTs
– Stupid foul by duke’s Plumlee, his second –
14-13 Davila makes 1/2 FTs
16-13 Rivers drives empty lane for layup
16-15 Davila picks up rebound off Eddie’s miss, puts it back up for the bucket
18-15 duke scores
– Hokies turn it over, but duke gives it right back –
18-17 Davila backs down Plumlee, knocks him down (he flopped) and Davile DUNKS IT!
– duke misses three, VT rebounds –
– Eddie misses three, duke rebounds –
– duke misses, VT rebounds –
– Eddie misses, duke rebounds –
21-17 Curry buries a wide open three
21-19 Green drives the lane for the layup
– Kelly called for a foul –

Under 8 media timeout – 21-19

– Ranking comes in at PG –
– Hudson called for foul away from the ball –
– Hudson fouled in the act of shooting –
21-21 Hudson makes 2 FTs
23-21 duke gets away with a walk, plus shot clock expired
– Hokies turn it over –
– Foul on Raines –
25-21 Kelly dunks it
– Green misses three –
27-21 Kelly goes down the lane untouched
– Thorton picks up 2nd PF –
27-23 Green hits 2 FTs
29-23 duke scores down the lane … again (8-2 run)
– Rankin misses –
32-23 Kelly hits the three pointer
– Eddie misses –
34-23 Dawkins make another easy bucket in the lane
34-25 Davila cleans up Brown’s miss with a beautiful bucket

Under 4 media timeout – 34-25

36-25 Plumlee makes 2 FTs
– Raines misses hook shot –
– Brown commits foul –
– Jump ball, possession to duke –
– Duke on 15-4 run –
– Green bad pass, turns it over –
38-25 duke did something amazing
– DFS turns it over again, VT’s 8th turnover —
38-28 Green hits a three-pointer at the buzzer!

Halftime score – 38-28

40-28 – duke opens the scoring
40-30 Davila makes 2 FTs
42-30 Reverse layup
– Foul on Hairston, his second –
42-32 Davila with a two-handed slam
45-32 Rives buries a three, quiets the crowd
45-34 Hudson hits a jumper off the screen, top of the key
– Green called for a handcheck –
– Kelly called for offensive foul –
– Hudson called for a moving screen –
– VT with near steal, jump ball called –
47-34 Curry driving layup
– VT sloppy pass, turns it over -
49-34 Duke fast break dunk
– Rankin fouled by Kelly –
49-35 Rankin makes 1/2 FTs
51-35 Plumlee misses twice, third time a charm, VT getting owned on the boards
51-38 Brown buries a three from the top of the key

Under 16 media timeout – 51-38

– Raines called for his 3rd PF –
– Brown called for the PF –
52-38 Kelly makes 1/2 FTs –
– Brown misses –
– duke turns it over, bad pass –
– Barksdale in the game –
– Plumlee called for reach-in foul –
52-40 Green hits a tough jumper with defender in his face off the dribble
55-40 Rivers buries a deep three
– VT misses, duke rebounds –
57-40 Cook to Plumlee dunk
59-40 duke on 7-0 run
– VT misses, duke rebounds –
62-40 Kelly drains a three, 12-0 run
– VT turns it over –
– God, just make this end –
62-42 Green with the floater
– Kelly picks up 4th PF –
62-43 Davila makes 1/2 FTs
64-43 Rivers to Hairston for the alleyoop dunk
64-45 Green with the circus shot, he has 15 points
– Brown misses dunk –
66-45 Hairston gets the hoop and the harm (DFS with the foul), misses FT
66-47 Eddie with the baseline jumper
66-49 Green drives untouched for the layup (17 points)
66-51 Davila gets a rebound off DFS missed three, puts it back
– DFS with two blocks, YAY! –
– Brown with the steal, but Green got fouled, but no call, out of bounds on VT –

Under 8 media timeout – 66-61

68-51 Curry hits 2 FTs
– Brown with the foul –
70-51 Curry hits 2 FTs
– duke steals it from Davila –
– Green travels, turnover VT –
70-54 Rankin hits a three
70-56 Eddie with a fast break jumper in the lane
72-56 Thorton hits 2 FTs
72-58 Rankin gets the bucket
75-58 Why the hell is duke shooting three pointers up 14 with 1:35 to play?
– Davila airballs a hook shot –
– Duke misses another three pointer attempt, why are they shooting threes? –
75-60 Rankin with another jumper

Final Score – duke 75, Hokies 60

Popularity: 7% [?]

Tell me if you’ve heard this one before… the Hokies got off to a painfully slow start and fell behind early, but played just-good-enough defense to keep it somewhat close. Then, in the second half, they more than doubled their first half scoring and made a game of it, but committed one-to-many turnovers and fouls to be able to pull off the road win.

Virginia Tech lost to the terps 73-69 after scoring just 19 first-half points. The terps’ Terrell Stoglin led all scores with a blistering 28 points. Erick Green paced the Hokies with 18. Victor Davila and Dorenzo Hudson both had 14 and Jarrell Eddie added 11 points.

Cadarian Raines made his first career start, but managed just 4 points. Dorian Finney-Smith continued to struggle in ACC play failing to get a field goal in yet another game. He scored one point and looked lost while taking some bad shots. He’s looking like a freshman, but I can’t imagine he’ll struggle this mightily for the entire season.

Freshmen Robert Brown and Marquis Rankin played pretty well… for the most part. Tech had cut the terps lead down to 5, 63-58 in the final minute and change, and forced maryland to take a bad three point attempt as the shot clock wound down. But Brown fouled Sean Mosley’s three point attempt with the shot clock at zero and Mosley made the Hokies pay by making all three free throws to put the terps’ lead back to 8.

Tech didn’t give up, though. The terps inexplicably seemed to just give the Hokies points in the final minute. Green had a pair of easy layups and fed a wide-open Davila for an easy dunk to keep the Hokies in the game.

Brown atoned, somewhat, for his egregious foul by burying a three pointer with :03.6 seconds left to cut the maryland lead to just two, 71-69. Tech immediately fouled Stoglin on the inbounds pass, but he made both free throws to put the game away.

The Hokies shot just 24 percent in the first half and as has been so often the case this season, it was their undoing. After managing just 19 points in the first 20 minutes, Tech dropped 50 on the terps in the second half.

Niemo can speak more intelligently to the Greenberg’s alternating between the zone and man-to-man defense, but whatever they were doing, it didn’t stop Stoglin. That kid was in the zone and made some crazy shots, even when he was well-guarded.

Look, this is a tough loss, and the first half was just plain awful, but I have to say that I’m somewhat encouraged by the play of Rankin and Brown.

Rankin had a key steal in the second half where he literally just took the ball away with both hands and immediately passed it a streaking Green for the easy bucket. A few plays later, Rankin drove the lane from the right and drew the double team and fed Raines for the bucket.

The one thing I haven’t seen much of from this team is a high level of intensity and emotion that we’ve seen from previous teams. They play hard and they didn’t quit today, but where’s the floor-slapping and chest bumping? This team is subdued and I think it drives the fans and even the coaches a little crazy.

Looking ahead is pretty gloomy. They have duke and clemson at home before hitting the road against the canes. Then back home to face the eagles, at fsu, home against ga tech and uva, at duke and clemson, and back home to wrap up the regular season against nc state. Ouch. I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t see many wins in there. Maybe bc and gt? I don’t see the hoos losing to us twice.

Tech returns home to take on the dookies next Thursday, Feb. 2, at 7 p.m.

Play by Play
accuracy not guaranteed

– Raines made his first career start –
5-0 maryland to start the game
Hokies missed first 2 shots
5-2 Green jumper off the screen
8-2 Mosely 3pter

Under 16 – 8-2

8-5 – Erick Green 3 ptr (all 5 points)
– Doe Doe missed badly –
11-5 – Mosley 3 ptr
11-6 – Doe Doe fouled, makes 1/2 FTs
13-6 – 2 MD FTs
– MD in man-to-man defense –
13-9 – Green with another 3ptr
16-9 – Howard 3ptr
16-11 – Zo jumper in the lane from Barksdale

Under 12 – 16-11

18-11 – 2 MD FTs
20-11 – inside post move
22-11 – stoglin driving bucket
24-11 – panky dunks
– 8-0 terps run –
24-13 – raines with the rebound and putback

Under 8 – 24-13

24-15 – Davila rejected, but gets rebound and puts it back up and in
– Jarrell Eddie picks up 2nd foul on Stoglin while attempting a 3 ptr –
25-15 – Stoglin makes 1/3 FTs
26-15 – Len makes 1/2 FTs
26-17 – Davila makes 2 FTs
– Davila nice move but blows the easy layup –
28-17 – Stoglin fast break off Green’s missed three

Under 4 – 28-17

28-19 – Jarrell Eddie makes 2 FTS
– Hokies missed 2-on-1 break layup –
30-19 – Len dunk
– Hokies shooting 25% –
32-19 – Stoglin hits a jumper
– Hokies have gone nearly 5 minutes without making a FG –
– Hudson misses front end of 1-and-1 –
– Stoglin fouls Rankin –
– Rankin misses front end of 1-and-1 –
– VT 2 of last 14 –
– VT shot 24 percent in the first half –

Halftime score – 32-19

– Hudson starts 2nd half, misses –
34-19 – Stoglin
34-21 – Davila one-handed dunk after Green misses a runner
– Davila misses hook –
– MD turnover, walk –
– Eddie misses –
– Hudson airballs a floater –
– Davila has hands of stone, couldn’t catch a cold –
– Green misses –
36-21 – Faust finishes fast break
36-24 – Hudson hits a three pointer
– MD turnover –

Under 16 – 36-24

36-27 – Hudson buries a three from the corner
– Hokies cut lead to single digits –
36-29 – Robert Brown with the steal and the dunk
– MD timeout, has four TOs in the 2nd half –
38-29 – Pageant scores
38-32 – Hudson with the hoops and the harm, converts the three-point play
– Hudson has 9 points in 2-1/2 minutes –
40-32 – Mosley scores for MD
40-34 – Davila works the low post and scores (8 points)
43-34 – Stoglin hits a three pointer
– Hokies turn it over –
46-34 – Stoglin hits another three pointer
46-37 – Eddie buries a three pointer (his first FG of the game)
48-37 – Mosley jumper
– Turnover by the Hokies –

Under 12 – 48-37

50-37 – MD two
50-40 – Eddie makes the layup and is fouled, makes the FT
50-42 – Rankin steals it, passes to Erick Green for the fast-break layup
– MD turnover, but VT can’t convert, Green missed —
51-42 – MD makes 1/2 FTs
– Green drive, feeds Eddie who is fouled going to the hoop –
51-44 – Eddie makes 2 FTs
54-44 – Stoglin hits contested 3 pointer
54-46 – Ranking drives, dishes to Raines down low for the layup
– Weiss picked up 2nd PF –

Under 8 – 54-46

– Stoglin throws it away –
– DFS walks —
56-46 – Pageant scores inside over Eddie
– Turnover by VT –
– VT fouls Stoglin hard, Eddie hurts his elbow, picks up 3rd PF –
58-46 – Stoglin makes 2 FTs
58-48 – Hudson misses, but Rankin skies for the one-handed putback
– Like what we’re seeing from Rankin –
60-48 – Pankey makes 2 FTs
– Eddie fakes a three, passes inside the Davila who is fouled –
60-50 – Davila makes 2 FTs (10 points for VD)
– Green taking some quick, bad shots –
– Rankin foul on the Green miss –

Under 4 – 60-50

60-52 – Hudson makes 2 FTs
– Hudson gets stuffed on a layup –
60-53 – Hudson makes 1/2 FTs after technical foul against MD’s Mosley
60-55 – Green does right down the lane for easy bucket
63-55 – Stoglin step back 3 pointer (has four so far)
– Faust misses front end of a 1-and-1, Hokies get rebound –
63-57 – Green feeds Davila for the layup (Davila has 12)
– Hudson gets called for a blocking foul, but it looked like a charge –
– Faust misses front end of 1-and-1, Mosley gets the rebound, but called for off foul –
63-58 – Eddies makes 1/2 FTs (has 11 points)
– Jump ball, :03 left on shot clock –
– Brown commits foul on a 3 point attempt –
66-58 – Mosley hits all three FTs
– Stoglin commits offensive foul –
66-60 – Green easy layup
– Brown foul on inbound pass –
– terps miss both FTs –
66-62 – Green with another easy layup (:26 left)
68-62 – Mosley makes 2 FTs
68-64 – Green feeds Davila for the dunk (Davila has 14)
69-64 – Stoglin hits 1/2 FTs (:17 left)
69-66 – Green with a tough layup
71-66 – Howard makes 2 FTs (:10 left)
– Timeout maryland –
71-69 – Brown hits a three pointer (:03.6 left)
73-69 – Stoglin makes 2 FTs

Final Score: terps 73, Hokies 69

Popularity: 18% [?]

Boxscore

Wow, what a rollercoaster game that was. The Hokies started the game 0/16 from field, falling behind by 12 early, battled back to go up 6 in the 2nd half, fell behind by 4 with 20 seconds left, but still had an Erick Green shot at the end to tie the game (blocked) and a 3-pointer by Robert Brown to win it at the buzzer (off the mark). Virginia Tech falls to 1-5 in 2012, with four of those losses by 4 points or less, and in three of which Tech had a shot to tie or win in the final 10 seconds.

This marks Tech’s third straight loss at home, the first time that’s happened since 2008-09 when VT lost to fsu, duke, and unc in a row late in the season.

The story of the game was free throw shooting. In a tightly called game, which this was, you have to make your FTs. Tech was the better team coming in, and were at home, but byu just could not miss. They finished 21/24 (88%) from the line, while VT went 15/23 (65%). There’s your difference. Davies and Hartsock were a combined 18/20 from the line, and those are their bigs!

This game started out uglier than a Proactiv before video. I mentioned the Hokies started 0-16 from the field. byu wasn’t doing much better, starting 2/10. But as they got going the Hokies kept missing. Tech did not make their 1st field goal until the 10:20 mark of the 1st half. VT trailed 13-1 before that make.

Virginia Tech did improve after that, hitting 8/15 the rest of the half. Tech used a 9-0 to turn a 15-3 deficit into a manageable 15-12 margin with 6:40 left in the 1st half. VT fell back behind by 10 at 27-17 but back-to-back 3-pointers by Eddie and Hudson got the Hokies within 2. byu went into the half up 29-25.

The Hokies were already thin at guard with Marquis Rankin out with an illness. That further became an issue when Erick Green picked up his 3rd foul with 4:39 left in the half. Dorenzo was forced to play point and committed a couple of turnovers, leading to 9 first half giveaways for Tech. Green had 0 points at the half while Brandon Davies had 12 on 8/8 FTs for byu.

Tech exploded offensively in the second half, attacking the rim. They were in the double bonus by the halfway mark of the half. Tech shot 64% for the 2nd half and jumped to a 45-39 lead with Davies on the bench with 4 fouls for the cougars.

But Noah Hartsock, byu’s leading scorer, took over the game. He scored 16 2nd half points (22 overall to lead byu) and was just dominate in getting byu back in the game. The cougars went on an 11-0 run with Davies on the bench to turn that 45-39 deficit into a 50-45 lead.

The Hokies battled back to tie the game at 55 on a Zo jumper. The teams would trade baskets after that for a while. VT went ahead 59-57 with 4:20 to play on a Green layup, but byu seemed to control the game after that.

The shot of the game was a 3-pointer by Brock Zylstra with 26 seconds left to break a 66-66 tie. It was Brock’s only points of the game.

Hudson turned the ball over with 20 seconds left and Anson Winder put byu up 4 with 15 seconds to go. Green easily drove and scored with 11 seconds to go to make it 70-68 cougars. Tech forced a turnover on the inbounds (it actually went off VT but we were due a call). That gave the Hokies the ball out of bounds with 10 seconds to go. VT launched a pass into the backcourt that was nearly picked off. Green ran it up court, drove inside, had his layup blocked, gathered the loose ball, kicked it to Eddie in the corner, but he was off balance so he threw it to Robert Brown at the left wing. Brown had a good look, but he was fading away slightly and was out at NBA range. The shot clanked off the rim and Tech had another devastating defeat.

Hudson paced the Hokies again, with 14 points off the bench. Davila and Eddie each had 12, while Erick Green scored 11 extending his double-digit point streak to 21.

byu had 22 by Hartsock and 17 by Davies (their two main low post players). VT just could not handle their bigs inside. byu started 1/14 from behind the arc (just like uva), but unlike the hoos, they hit 4/9 down the stretch and that helped them win.

Tech, who had 10 offensive rebounds in the 1st half, had just 1 in the 2nd.

Not to pick on Dorian Finney-Smith, but Doe Doe put up another no no. The kid went 0/8 from the field tonight, including a missed dunk. Here are his numbers in 2012:

• wake – 0 (0/1)
• fsu – 9 (4/9)
• bc – 0 (0/4)
• unc – 2 (0/5)
• uva – 0 (0/1)
• byu – 0 (0/8)
• That’s 11 points in 6 games, going 4/28 from the field.

But hats off to Jarell Eddie – he grabbed a career high 14 rebounds to go with his 12 points, his first career double-double. He now has 20 points and 24 rebounds in the last two games.

Well, congrats to all you cougar fans out there. Have a victory Scotch on me… Well, go enjoy whatever it is you do.

Tech heads to maryland for their fourth straight ACC weekend road game (total BS!) on Saturday afternoon.

SCORES AT THE MEDIA TIMEOUTS:

1st Half:

• Under 16: byu 4-0
• U12: byu 11-1
• U8: byu 15-8
• U4: byu 23-15

HALF: byu 29-25

2nd half:

• U16: byu 34-33
• U12: VT 43-39
• U8: byu 50-47
• U4: Tied at 62

Popularity: 17% [?]

Highlights | Boxscore

The Hokies survived their all-too-common 2nd half slump and knocked off the #17 cavs by a soccer-like 47-45 margin in charlottesville, giving VT its first ACC win of the season and first win of 2012. Tech swept the hoos in ch’ville in the two major sports this year, and it marked the third time in five years VT has won at uva in hoops after a 40-year drought. Although at times I wasn’t sure the Hokies hoops team would score more points than the football team did two months ago.

Junior guard Erick Green led the Hokies with 15 points, 12 of which were in the 2nd half. Green played the final 5 minutes with 4 fouls. But Old Man River, Dorenzo Hudson, hit the shots of the game; first a hook with 1:11 to go to put Tech ahead 44-41, then after an Evans jumper to make it 44-43, Zo swished a 3-pointer with 17 seconds left to put VT up 47-43 and all but salt the game away. Zo finished with 12, giving him 28 points in two games since he started coming off the bench.

uva would get the ball back with 0.7 seconds left down 2 at the far end of the court. But the wahoos full court pass deflected off Mike Scott’s hand and went out of bounds, ending any chance for the hoos.

Both teams struggled out of the gates on offense. The Hokies had just 10 points with 6:05 to go in the first half and 13 with less than 3 minutes to go. But Tech finally got going thanks to two 3-pointers in a row by Jarell Eddie. That helped propel the Hokies to a 23-19 halftime lead.

Tech would stretch their lead out to 32-25 with 15:20 to go and they had several chances to make it even more but saw the turnover bug start to bite. The Hokies would go more than 5 minutes without scoring and uva took advantage with an 8-0 run to take the lead 33-32 at the halfway point of the 2nd half. Tech would score just 5 points over the next 11 minutes (VT had 37 with less than 4 minutes to go), committing nine 2nd half turnovers.

Down the stretch the game went back and forth with several lead changes. It looked bleak for the good guys after Mike Scott rocked a one-handed dunk to put uva up 40-37 with 4:22 to go. At that point Tech had gone another 4+ minutes without scoring since leading 37-35 with 8:40 to go. The hoos, who play excellent defense, forced Tech to shoot a lot of fallaways and deep 3s.

Erick Green put the Hokies ahead to stay at 42-41 with just under two minutes left. That set the stage for Zo’s hook and game-clinching shot from the left corner. The 3-pointer swished through, sending the Hokie faithful and one idiot in a homemade uva shirt into a frenzy.

The Hokies managed just 4 offensive rebounds while uva snagged 13. This is becoming a concern for Tech who gave up 19 offensive rebounds to unc.

The story of the game was a contrast of 3-point shooting versus free throw shooting. If you know Hokie games (at least ones not involving unc), it is all about 3-point shooting. The Hokies shot a very respectable 5/13 from deep while the hoos hit a pathetic 1/14, including an 0-for the 2nd half. VT shot 45% from the field overall while the hoos finished under 33%.

So how did the wahoos make it close? Easy. Free throws. uva had 22 FT attempts to just 7 for the Hokies. In fact, at one point, the difference was 20-2. Tech had just 2 free throw attempts until 2:20 was left in the game. The hoos only made 14/22 though, as VT hit 4/7.

The Hokies did a fantastic job limited Mike Scott, uva’s star. He had 100 career points against VT coming in, but had just 2 points in the 2nd half and just 10 for the game. Scott, Joe Harris, and Jontel Evans all had 10 to lead the wahoos. Victor Davila deserves a lot of credit for Scott’s struggles, and Barksdale and Raines also did well.

uva played without their starting center, 7-foot Assane Sene, who was out with an ankle injury suffered in their previous game.

Jarell Eddie just missed a double-double. He had 8 points and 10 rebounds. Dorian Finney-Smith put up another goose egg. He’s now scored 2 points or less in 4 of 5 ACC games.

The Hokies return to the Cassell Wednesday to take on byu. The game is at 7 p.m. on ESPN3.

Popularity: 27% [?]

For at least a half, the Virginia Tech Hokies didn’t look like the only winless team in the ACC. The Hokies hosted No. 8 unc at the Cassell Coliseum Thursday night and used some hot three-point shooting to take a surprising 39-34 lead into the half.

But the tar heels, still reeling from their embarrassing road loss to fsu – the worst loss ever by unc under Roy Williams, came out in the second half a much different team than a packed Cassell Coliseum saw in the first half.

The second half started off pretty good for Tech with Victor Davila’s spin move to open the scoring and give the Hokies a 41-34 lead. unc answered but Green’s three from the top of the key gave Tech it’s largest lead of the game, 44-36. And then the wheels came off.

Tech’s hot shooting cooled off, unc’s defense tightened up and it was all downhill from there. The heels used an early 19-0 second-half run and never looked back on their way to the 82-68 win. Harrison Barnes led all scores with 27 points.

On the plus side, junior guard Erick Green extended his ACC-leading streak of scoring at least 10 points to 19 straight games. He had 17 points to lead the Hokies, 10 of which came in the first half. Jarrell Eddie scored 15 while Robert Brown added 12.

Meanwhile, struggling senior guard Dorenzo Hudson came off the bench for the first time all season and he played lights out… in the first half. Zo was a perfect 5/5 from the field in the first half, including 4/4 from three-point range and 2/2 at the free throw line. He led the Hokies with 16 points in the first half, but disappeared in the second posting a big zero.

The Hokies got off to their traditional slow start, but also held unc in check to keep it close. Trailing 4-1 four minutes into the game, Green got the Hokies’ first field goal with a three-pointer that tied the game. The heels pulled ahead slightly and held a 17-12 lead before the Hokies exploded for a quick 8-0 run to take their first lead of the game, 20-17.

From there, the Hokies started raining threes. Brown’s three gave the Hokies a 27-23 lead. Eddie’s trey made it 30-26. Hudson’s triple kept the Hokies in front 33-28. Immediately after that three, Green stole a unc pass, fed Hudson who laid it in at the other end for a 35-28 lead, Tech’s largest of the half.

Brown added a baseline floater and Green buried his second three of the half to cap VT’s first-half scoring. In all, the Hokies hit 8/16 three pointers in the first half and that was the difference. The tar heels did steal the momentum going into the break with an inbound pass and dunk with .9 seconds left.

As we said, the second half was all tar heels.

With the loss, Tech’s fourth straight, the Hokies fall to 0-4 in the ACC and 11-7 overall. They play at No. 16 uva on Sunday at 6 p.m.

SCORES AT THE MEDIA TIMEOUTS:

1st Half:

• U16: unc 8-4
• U12: unc 15-12
• U8: VT 24-23
• U4: VT 35-30

HALF: VT 39-34

2nd Half:

• U16: unc 53-44
• U12: unc 58-46
• U8: unc 67-49
• U4: unc 78-61

FINAL unc 82-68

Popularity: 16% [?]

Boxscore

Welcome to 2006, only this time we cannot blame a string of off-the-court tragedies.  The Hokies fell to 0-3 in ACC play with an absolutely horrendous loss to a boston college team that would be lucky to win half their games at the local Y.  The Hokies are now 1-10 at bc all time.  Yes, Tech didn’t have Erick Green, who was out with a LCL sprain, but that’s excuses.  And excuses are exactly what we’ve been listening to for 5 years now — “We got jobbed!”  ”They are certifiably insane!” “Clearly they have something against VT!”

The simple fact is the Hokies lost to an absolutely awful team that starts 5 freshmen and finished just 5-9 out of conference, losing to holy cross by 22, umass by 36, new mexico by 28, penn state by 8, bu by 14, harvard by 21, and 3-13 uri by 6.  I think it is time to admit VT is awful… wake forest lost by 36 today at home to nc state.

The Hokies started ice cold for the 3rd ACC game in a row, falling behind early.  Tech did take their first, First Half lead in 3 ACC games with 7:08 to play in the first half at 17-16.  But thanks to some real errors in judgment at the end of the half (not milking the clock for a last shot), the Hokies went into the break down 29-27, the 3rd straight game they’ve trailed at half.

Victor Davila paced the Hokies with 10 in the first half. Dorenzo Hudson added 9, so the seniors were in full force.  Raines added 5 and Barksdale had 2, meaning the Hokies had their 3 bigs score 17 of their 17 first half points.

boston college, meanwhile, shot 48% in the first half.  They killed the Hokies with dribble-drives and post feeds.

Tech led 25-20 late in the first half, but bc used a 15-4 run between the end of the half and early in the second half to take control of the game at 35-29.

The second half was even worse for the Hokies.  Tech made just 2 field goals in the first 13:30 of the 2nd half, 3 FGs in the first 17 minutes of the 2nd half, and then FINALLY made their first 3-pointer with 2:53 to go.  So yes, the stat is safe – 3-Point % has decided 19 straight ACC games.  Tech started 0/9 from deep and while bc hit 4/12 (which actually was well below their average of 7.5 makes per game).  The Hokies hit 4 3-pointers in the final 3 minutes but it didn’t matter, the damage was done.

The key was Virginia Tech’s lack of defense, allowing the eagles to easily drive and score around the basket.  Dennis Clifford, another 7-footer, worked the Hokies for 15 points (shocker), well above his average (shocker).  Matt Humphrey added 14 and Ryan Anderson scored 12.  bc shot 45% for the game and hit 19/28 FTs.

Tech was led by their two seniors, Davila with 14 (tying his ACC career high) and Hudson with 13, but they scored just 8 in the 2nd half.  And Hudson had SEVEN turnovers.

OVER-RATED!!! Dorian Finney-Smith put up another goose egg.  Brown had a whopping 1 point until he hit two late 3-pointers.  Jarell Eddie had 2 points until he hit two meaningless 3-pointers in the final 10 seconds.

Tech has now been held to less than 60 points in all 3 ACC games.  I’ll have more on this later, but I have to run right now and meet up with my buddy Jack (Daniels), Jim (Beam), and Wild (Turkey).

SCORES AT THE MEDIA TIMEOUTS:

First Half:

• U16: bc 7-5
• U12: bc 8-7
• U8: 15-14
• U4: VT 22-20!!!

HALF: bc 29-27

Second Half:

• U16: bc 35-31
• U12: bc 42-38
• U8: bc 50-42
• U4: bc 56-47

FINAL bc 61, 59

FYI: I promised in the Preview I’d wear uva gear at uva next Sunday if we lost this game… ugh.  I’ll be a man and do it, but I’m sick to my stomach.

Popularity: 24% [?]

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: 20% [?]

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: 12% [?]

Highlights are up | Boxscore

The Hokies went to Stillwater, OK and beat the cowboys for the 2nd time in a month and 3rd time in 13 months, prevailing 67-61. History was made as Dorenzo Hudson reached the 1,000 point mark and Tech snapped osu’s 37 game home winning streak against non-conference opponents.

In a game that was all but an exact duplicate of the first meeting a month ago in Madison Square Garden, Tech once again couldn’t score from the field down the stretch but just barely hung on to win. In the 59-57 win a month ago, VT didn’t hit a field goal in the final 6:50. Today they didn’t knock down a field goal in the final 5:30 and blew a 61-51 lead with 5 minutes to play. oklahoma state tied the game on a Williams 3-pointer at 61 with 2 minutes to play, but the Hokies scored the final 6 points of the game, all from the line, all by the seniors. Victor Davila calmly drained 2 FTs to put VT up 63-61 with 90 seconds to go (VD is 16 for his last 21 from the line!), and Dorenzo Hudson iced the game with 4 late free throws.

Tech, who had 20 offensive rebounds in the first meeting, dominated on the glass again. They outscored osu 24-4 (by my count) on 2nd chance points. They once again had 10+ more offensive rebounds than the cowboys (18-6 today, 20-10 last time). Doe Doe had 10 rebounds, while surprisingly Green and Eddie chipped in 7 boards each. Dorian had 24 total rebounds in the 2 games against okie state. This marked the first time he reached 10 boards since the last osu game.

The problem for the Hokies, and why they didn’t win by more, was 16 turnovers, including 10 in the first half. But Tech used their FT skills, hitting 15/17 from the line, including 13/15 in the 2nd half.

Zo was the man for the Hokies today, 5/10 from the field, 2/4 from deep, and 6/6 from the line to lead the Hokies with 18 points. Dorenzo reached 1,000 points for his career with a 3-pointer that put VT ahead 50-47 with 8:30 to go. Erick Green added 16 as the only other Hokie in double digits. Robert Brown did have a big 8 off the bench for Tech. Jarell Eddie had 9 for VT, all in the first half, and Victor Davila tallied 8. Doe Doe was held to 2 points but once again played terrific defense on 5-star osu recruit Le’Bryan Nash.

Speaking of Nash, he was held scoreless in the first meeting, put up a goose egg in the first half today, and finished with just 4 points and 1 FG. Great defense by Dorian and C.J. Barksdale gave him fits.

Keiton Page was another story. The senior, who looks like Ollie’s twin from Hoosiers, started 2/10 from the field but went ape after hitting a Hail Mary 3-pointer at the end of the first half. That gave him 7 at the break but he’d go on to score 14 in the 2nd half (and that’s despite missing most of the final 5 minutes with 4 fouls) on 5 3-pointers. Tech did an awful job of help defense on the perimeter in the 2nd half. In fact, Page outscored VT 11-9 all by himself during a stretch to end the 1st half and start the 2nd.

This was a game of runs. After okie state hit a 3 to go up 3-0, VT ran off 11 straight to take an 11-3 lead. The cowboys got within 1 at 21-20, but Tech scored 7 straight, culminating with a Jarell Eddie 3-pointer to go up 28-20 with 30 seconds to go in the half. Page’s ‘pull the horseshoe out of his rear’ 3 to close the half made the margin 28-23 Hokies at the break. Tech has lead at the half in every game this year.

Starting with the 3 by osu to end the half, the cowboys went on a 13-2 run to go ahead 33-30 with 16 minutes to go in the game. Green tied the game with a 3 to make it 33-all, but okie state pushed out to a 44-37 lead on a Williams dunk after a great pass from Page with 13 minutes to go. But everything changed at that moment…

Jean-Paul Olukemi, who had earlier hurt his knee on a non-contact play, blew his knee out inbounding the ball that led to the Williams dunk. With Olukemi out, Virginia Tech stormed to a 19-3 run to go up 56-47 with 6:18 to go.

With 5 minutes to go, Page fouled Erick Green on a 3-point attempt (Page’s 4th foul) and Green hit all 3 go put VT up 61-51, setting up osu’s run with Page on the bench.

After the cowpokes tied things at 61 and VD put VT up 63-61, Nash and Page would miss 3-pointers and Zo got fouled with 22 seconds left. His 2 FTs gave VT a 65-61 lead. Page missed another 3, Zo hit 2 more FTs, and Page bricked a 3 at the buzzer and Tech wins 67-61.

The win by Virginia Tech snapped oklahoma state’s 37 game winning streak at home versus non-conference foes. How’s that for the baby Hokies 3G?! Tech could have rolled over and quit after blowing the big lead, but showed grit in winning.

The Hokies have off until next Saturday when they open ACC play at wake forest at noon. Tech has 2 winnable ACC road games upcoming: @wake, home vs fsu (who is 0-2 vs Ivy League teams), and @bc who is AWFUL. Tech has just 1 out of conference game left, home vs. byu in late January. 11-3 is pretty darn good for this largely young team! Have a Hokie New Year!

Scores at the Media Timeouts:

• Under-16: VT 9-3
• Under-12: VT 15-11
• Under-8: VT 19-17
• Under-4: VT 23-20
• HALF: VT 28-23
• Under-16: okla st 37-35
• Under-12: okla st 44-39
• Under-8: VT 52-47
• Under-4: VT 61-58
• FINAL: VT 67-61

Popularity: 15% [?]

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: 17% [?]

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: 16% [?]

Highlights Coming Soon…  / Boxscore

For the second game in a row it was the Jarell Eddie and Cadarian Raines show as the Hokies took down a pesky norfolk state team in the Cassell Sunday by a 73-60 score in the first ever meeting between Tech and norfolk state from the MEAC.

Eddie, who had 15 points and 6 rebounds Wednesday against rhode island, exploded for a career high 24 points (including 5/6 from behind the arc and 7/7 from the line).  He also chipped in 7 rebounds, tying his season high.

Raines, who went for a career high 12 points against rhodey, hit double digits again with 10 off the bench.  He also snagged 7 rebounds.  The big man is flat out playing great right now and giving the Hokies a much needed presence inside while Davila continues to struggle (6 points but 0 rebounds today).

Don’t let the final score fool you, this game was very much in doubt until Jarell Eddie buried his 5th 3-pointer of the game with 1:09 to go to put VT up 69-59.  The Hokies controlled the game after the first few minutes, but just couldn’t put things away until that last minute.

The spartans jumped out to a 5-0 lead right out of the gates.  Early on for nsu it was all Pendarvis Williams.  He had 12 points in the first 12 1/2 minutes of the game, and the spartans led 20-18 after his 3-point play.  Then, Jarell Eddie went ape, scoring 12 points in the final 6 minutes of the first half and the Hokies took a 29-24 lead to the break.  Eddie even converted a 4-point play to turn a 26-23 deficit into a 27-26 lead with 4:10 to go in the first half.  That fueled a 10-0 VT run that put the Hokies up 33-26.  They never trailed (or were tied) after that.

In the second half, norfolk state’s star, big man Kyle O’Quinn who averages a double-double, had 4 quick points to keep the spartans close.  Those 4 points game him 14 for the game but he would not score in the final 18 minutes, and fouled out with just over 4 minutes to go.

The big story in the second half for the spartans was Chris Mceachin.  He scored 16 of his 18 points in the final 20 (and had 16 of nsu’s 26 points after the break).  But nsu could not get closer than 4 points in the second half.

Tech, meanwhile, was hot to start the second half.  They jumped to their first double digit lead, a 55-45 advantage, with 13:08 to go on a (you guessed it) Jarell Eddie 3-pointer.  But Tech would make just ONE field goal over the next 10 minutes and just 4 FGs total in the final 13:08.

Luckily, VT was in the bonus most of those final 13 minutes and did a great job from the line, hitting 16/20 (80%).  Tech shot 42% from the field, but were a scorching hot 47% (7/15) from 3-point range, largely due to Eddie.

The big key for the Hokies was offensive rebounds.  Tech grabbed 16 offensive boards leading to 17 second chance points (nsu had 9).  They also had just 9 turnovers, the first time all year they’ve managed to keep that in single digits.  The spartans had 13 turnovers and the Hokies outscored nsu 15-8 in points off turnovers.

norfolk state shot 49% from the field as again VT did not do a good job defending on the ball.  This appears to now be Tech’s most glaring weakness, as they’ve improved at rebounding and protecting the ball (VT also still stinks in transition).

Erick Green had a relatively quiet game for him.  He scored 12 points, but never took over the game like he normally does.  He scored 5 early points but went almost 20 minutes before scoring again.

Tech gets a much needed break to finish up finals.  They return to action next Saturday against the campbell camels at 4 PM in the Cassell.

By the way, I’m never one to gloat, but I have to laugh… I predicted VT would win by 11-15 in the preview.  I’m now 3-0 in getting the final margin right this season.  Maybe I should be betting on this stuff.

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: 22% [?]

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: 20% [?]

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.

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Highlights up by 10 PM  |  Boxscore

It wasn’t pretty for the first 20 minutes, in fact, it was down-right ugly, but the Hokies exploded for 48 second half points and won 73-64 at the Cassell over a solid st. bonaventure club.  And don’t let the name fool you, the bonnies are a solid club in the A-10 and this likely will wind up as a top 100 win for the Hokies.

The first half set basketball back about 30 years.  Virginia Tech committed 10 turnovers while st. bonaventure started out just 5/26 from the field and were at 27% for the half.  Tech, after jumping to a 9-2 lead in the first 3 minutes, would go over 5 minutes without scoring after that (luckily the bonnies only scored 3 during that stretch so VT was still up 9-5), would only score 4 points over 12 minutes, and just 6 points over 14 minutes.  The Hokies were a turnover machine during this stretch, turning it over on 5 consecutive possessions at one point.  Yet Virginia Tech never trailed in the first half or the game thanks to the bonnies cold shooting.  The bonnies tied the game at 15 with 3:30 left in the first half, but VT used triples by Robert Brown and Dorian Finney-Smith in the final minute to take a 25-21 lead to the break.  Green paced the Hokies with 7.

Virginia Tech got it going on offense in the second half.  Tech shot better than 50% from the field and 3-point range, and hit 18/23 from the line.

The Hokies jumped up 11 early in the second half, up 36-25, but watched the bonnies battle back within 3 at 48-45 with 7:30 to go.  But Tech took advantage of Andrew Nicholson’s 4 fouls inside and started attacking the tin.  Plus, some clutch 3-point shooting helped Tech put this game away.  An Eddie 3-pointer put VT up 53-45 with 6:49 to go, and Davila’s ‘and-1′ fouled out Nicholson and put VT up 65-54 with 2:30 to go.  That was ballgame.

We saw a couple of familiar themes in this win:

• GOOD: The Hokies continue to have balanced scoring: 4 Hokies reached double digits for the game with Green scoring 19, Davila 13, Finney-Smith and Eddie with 11, and Hudson with 8.
• BAD: VT couldn’t rebound on defense, or free throws, to save their life: st. bonaventure had 11 offensive rebounds in the first half and 17 for the game.
• GOOD: Virginia Tech shot the lights out from deep: Tech was 3/8 from behind the arc in the first half and 4/7 in the second half.   Tech hit 47% for the game and are now over 40% for the season.  I did NOT expect that.
• BAD: The Hokies love to turn the ball over in first half: 10 turnovers.
• GOOD: Tech cleaned it up in the second half: 0 turnovers and that led to 48 points.
• BAD: Tech let an 11-point lead nearly slip away, with st. bonnie getting within 3 (though the good side to this is once again VT held on.
• GOOD: Doe Doe is not extinct on the stat sheet: He had 11 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists, just missing his 4th double-double of the year.

The Hokies return to action on Wednesday night late with a huge match-up at minnesota (Tubby Smith) in the ACC/Big(12) Challenge.

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