Video highlights from the first meeting between the Hokies and hoos in Charlottesville.

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Boxscore

Greenberg said it best after the game, “We own overtime.”

The Hokies won for the second time in their last three visits to the port-a-john (both went an extra session) with an amazing 5 point victory in overtime over uva, 76-71. The Hokies trailed 62-52 with less than 3 minutes to play and then went on a 13-0 run to take the lead with 30 seconds to go. Tech played great defense in the final possession, but sammy zeslenski hit a desperation 3 with 1.3 seconds to send the game into overtime.

But the Hokies are money in OT. Led by some clutch free throw shooting by J.T. Thompson, the Hokies won their 6th straight overtime game (according to Niemo – see more below for notes on VT’s OT dominance).

I’m not sure how we won this game thanks to some questionable calls by the refs (I’m being nice here). Jeff Allen was ejected for throwing an elbow in the second half, which for a while seemed like the turning point for the hoos. The ejection seemed ridonkulous from the stands. I could understand a T, but an ejection? But, in both halves, we went on spurts in the final minutes to turn a double digit deficit into leads. The Hokies trailed 22-10 in the first half, but outscored uva 18-5 to lead by one at the intermission.

Malcolm Delaney led the Hokies with 27 points. Dorenzo Hudson scored 18 and J.T. Thompson had 17.

On a personal note, this victory is especially sweet as a resident of Ch-ville. It was great to see so many Hokies at the game tonight, including the entire TechHoops.com team. More analysis later. I am writing this in BW3s and need to finish my beer.

Niemo’s Notes are below…

Niemo’s Notes:

• First thing I did when I got home from ch-ville is re-watch the ejection on Jeff Allen.  Just like I thought, it was complete BS.  Some people have reputations, and in this case, I think Allen’s reputation cost him (he’s been suspended each of his first two years, once by the ACC for bumping a ref, once by VT for flicking off maryland which cost him the uva game last year).  He swung his elbow, yes, but he wasn’t even looking at the guy he hit.  Flagrant foul?  Maybe.  Ejection?  No way.  If he is suspended for the miami game, I’m pooping in an envelope and mailing it to Commish Swafford.
• Let me second Wick’s thoughts that I have no idea how we won this game.  We owned the last 5 minutes of all three periods, while uva dominated the other 30 minutes.
• Chew on this… uva outscored VT in the first 15 minutes of both halves (more or less) by a margin of 55-32.  The Hokies outscored the hoos in the final 5 minutes (more or less) of both halves by a 33-10 margin.
• Chew on this Part II: Tech hit 8 of their final 10 (80%) shots in the first half after making just 5 of their first 19 (26%).  VT hit 4 of their last 5 in the 2nd half (80% again) after hitting just 8 of 22 (36%) to start the half.  And then they hit 3 of 6 in OT.  The Hokies got it done when they had to.
• IF YOU DIDN’T KNOW, THE HOKIES OWN OVERTIME!!!  BELIEVE THAT! Tech has won six straight overtime games and this current junior class has won 9 of their last 10 OT games since losing to butler in 2007, their first ever OT game.  And even that one, xavier, was on a half court shot at the buzzer.
• IF YOU DIDN’T KNOW, THE HOKIES OWN OVERTIME!!!  BELIEVE THAT! Part II: The Hokies have won 9 straight ACC games that went to OVERTIME.  The current junior class is 6-0 in ACC OT games, and half of those were against uva.  IF THE GAME GOES TO OVERTIME, BOOK IT AS A HOKIE WIN!
• I really really really love the Hokie half court trap.  Like, but don’t love, the full court trap-press.  Tech got two turnovers out of the full court trap but both were off the inbound pass.  One thing VT could do is setup the press try to steal the inbounds pass (which worked twice tonight), or trap the first pass.  If the opponent gets out of it, fall back.  As for the half court trap, I haven’t seen Tech burned more than once or twice out of it yet while it has caused a lot of issues for the opponent.  Bell and Thompson with their length and long arms and athleticism really cause problems.
• Didn’t see that coming: Zo Hudson hit all 3 of his 3s tonight, including a huge one to cut the uva lead to 1 late in regulation.  Zo was just 17/65 (26%) on 3s coming into tonight.  I’m not bad-mouthing any three he takes anymore… (promise is not a guarantee).  Where would this team be without him right now?  Especially with Allen’s struggles in ACC play and Delaney’s injury.
• Didn’t see that coming Part II: JT Thompson hit 5/6 from the FT line tonight.  He has hit 8 of his last 9 FTs after hitting a pathetic 9 of 23 (29%) to start the season.  HE WAS SAVING IT UP FOR TONIGHT!!!
• Tech did not shoot a FT until the 9:52 mark of the 2nd half.  Yep, that’s over 30 minutes without a shooting foul/bonus.  Terrible officiating in my opinion.  Amazingly, the Hokies finished with 20 FTAs compared to 22 for uva.  That stat tends to even out unless you are playing unc.
• Wow – swept uva in ch-ville in football and basketball!  That hasn’t happened since…………. the 2008-09 season – the last time we played there in football and basketball.  Yep, we own ch-ville!

THE SETUP:

Hearts will be heavy as the Hokies and the hoos do battle on Thursday.  Tomorrow will be tough to deal with for many people with the news that the body found on Tuesday near Charlottesville was that of 20-year-old Morgan Harrington, a Virginia Tech student that went missing after attending a Metallica concert at John Paul Jones Arena, the place where Thursday’s game will be played.  In many ways, it is too soon, but perhaps while the game is going on it can be a temporary distraction for the fans of both schools.  For me, personally, the harsh reality of it all won’t be lost on me as I walk into JPJ to cheer on my Hokies.

That said, this is a big game for both teams, especially the Hokies.  Tech is going to have to steal two road games in my estimation to get to 8-8 in conference and likely earn a NCAA Tournament bid.  While uva is sitting at 3-1, they are one of the weaker teams in the league in my opinion.  This is the first of four road games VT has against the teams picked 9-12 in the conference before the season (uva, miami, bc, and nc state).  If they are going to win two road games, it likely has to come from those four as opposed to at duke or georgia tech, the other remaining road games.

For uva, a win would match their ACC win total from last year at four.  It would also put them back in first place in the ACC, tied with maryland at 4-1.

SERIES:

• All time: uva 79-50
• At uva: uva 31-11
• In ACC play: uva 6-5

Winning at uva has not been a common occurrence for the Hokies.  Tech has won just once at uva since 1968.  That stat is a tad misleading, though, since the teams played at neutral sites (mostly Roanoke and Richmond) from 1977-2000.  But they are just 1-10 over that stretch, still pretty rough.

Tech did defeat the wahoos at uva two years ago, 70-69 in overtime on a Deron Washington acrobatic layup at the buzzer.  Check it out!

The two teams split last year with Tech controlling the game in Blacksburg until the hoos made it close with a furious late rally and uva winning in Ch-ville (the Hokies didn’t have a suspended Jeff Allen for that game): at VT 78, uva 75 – Recap and at uva 75, VT 61

THE OPPONENT:

While the hoos certainly aren’t the most talented team in the league, they did return almost their entire squad from a year ago.  And they got rid of Head Coach Dave Leitao in favor of defensive specialist Tony Bennett.  Only Mamadi Diane, a mercurial role player who graduated, and Jamil Tucker, another role player who was dismissed from the team a month ago, are gone.   Back are leading scorer and reigning ACC Rookie of the Year, Sylven Landesberg, and big man Mike Scott.

Landesberg still is not a three-point threat.  He hit just 16 last year and has made 9 to date this season.  Sylven earns his points off the dribble.  He is tremendous at penetrating, drawing contact, and finishing (the Hokies could really use that latter).  Landesberg hit close to 150 free throws last year and has hit 83 of his 100 FTs this year, so he is deadly from the line.  Sylven is averaging 17.5 ppg, just up from last year.  His scoring in ACC play has been much better than it was last year when teams really focused on shutting him down.  Tech has to cut him off and not allow to get anywhere near the rim, especially in transition.  Help defense will be key.

uva’s other main threat on offense is 6’8″ junior Mike Scott.  Scott is a bit of an enigma – some nights he can dominate, others he is invisible.  Heck, he can be that way in the same game.  He’ll get two dunks and drain a fall-away, then not do a thing for 15 minutes.  He has been on a tear though.  Mike had reached double digits in eight straight games before wake held him to 6 points on Saturday.  He was just 3/10 from the floor.  He is averaging just under 13 ppg and 7.2 rebounds per game (the latter leads uva).  Scott does not get to the line very much, he has just 31 attempts on the season.  That tells you he isn’t going hard at the rack when covered.  His game is open midrange jumpers or fall-aways, or wide open putbacks or dunks.  Tech does have to respect his jumper from about 16-feet in and must get a body on him on the glass.

One of the big keys for the hoos has been the play of sophomore point guard Sammy Zeglinski.  The Chicago auto part king has upped his average from 7.8 ppg to 10.1 ppg.  Not a huge jump, but the key has been shot selection.  Sammy shot just 31% on threes last year but is hitting 47% this season.  He hit at least two 3s in 11 straight games before wake held him scoreless from the field, limiting him to 1 point.  Sammy will not force threes, he looks for open looks.  Play out on him and force him to pass or drive.  If he drives, he is looking to dish to Landesberg or Scott so be ready to release and help rotate.

Jontel Evans, a freshman, also starts and is a defensive specialist.  The hoos will play three guards most of the game.

Mustapha Farrakhan and Jeff Jones have both improved this year, too, averaging just over 7 ppg each.  Both are shooting over 40% on threes to match Zeglinski.

The cavs will try and burn the Hokies with threes on offense.  uva is 11th in the league in FG% (VT is last) at 45% but  1st in the league in 3-Point FG% at 40%.  In other words, they shoot almost as well from behind the arc as inside.  uva is third in the league in 3s made per game at 6.3.  While Scott and Landesberg do their damage inside the arc, everyone else is almost exclusively looking to sit behind it.  Tech will have to choose their poison – collapse inside and limit Landesberg and Scott, or assume they will get theirs, make their men play good one-on-one defense, and stay out on the perimeter players to defend the three.  I’m betting it is the former of those two options.  Focus on uva’s strength and just hope they aren’t hot from outside.

The hoos are also second in the league in FT%, mostly due to Landesberg.

Inside the hoos are weak except for Scott.  Jerome Meyinsse has decent size at 6’9″ and Assane Sene is 7′, but neither is a scorer.  They combine for 7 ppg and 8 rpg in about 30 minutes.  Sene is a good shot blocker though.

SIX PACK OF KEYS TO WINNING:

• Malcolm in the Middle: Delaney has to do a better job of scoring in ways other than on threes and free throws.  He is missing that runner off penetration he’s shot at times in past years, and has had trouble finishing in the lane, too often worried about drawing contact.  He’s also seemed hesitant to drive at times.  Malcolm must be aggressive and try and force things at times, especially with how offensively challenged the team has been lately.  Delaney had 24 in the home win last year but just 11 at uva.
• Revenge of the Big Donut: Jeff Allen had a big donut last year against uva, going 0/7 from the field in the win in Blacksburg and sitting out the game after giving maryland fans the bird a few days before.  I’d like to see him come out and really take it to the hoos in this one.  They don’t have anyone that can really match up with his post skills.  On defense, he will be key to limiting Mike Scott.
• Make Landesberg a long distance call: Don’t let Sylven drive, pure and simple.  When he does, he either finishes, gets fouled, or finishes and gets fouled.  If he does drive, instantly double and either look to draw a charge or cut him off.
• Help Noah: The arc will be key in this game.  If uva’s supporting cast can hit their 6+ threes, VT is in trouble.  You have to stop Sylven and Scott, but that will free up perimeter players.  Everyone must slide and run out to help when uva does kick it out along the perimeter.
• Finish strong: VT has been terrible in ACC play in second halves.  They have scored 36 more points in the first half than the second half on the season (usually teams are the opposite due to late fouls).  Tech must find a way to make adjustments at the half and be able to score for 40 minutes.
• Do it for Morgan: Let’s win this game, and temporarily forget the sadness we feel for a life ended way too soon.

STARTERS:

As you can see, Tech will have some height advantages at guard.  The Hokie perimeter players should be able to shoot over uva with no issue.  And on defense, Bell and Hudson have the size to match up with Landesberg, who usually has a mismatch with his height but won’t here.

SCORING:

Tickers for the Virginia Tech at uva basketball game on Thursday, January 28th are on sale now to the public.  Come on, Hokies, let’s make this a neutral site game just like the football game will be.

Here’s the link: VT at uva Tickets