Highlights courtesy of Raycom Sports…

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!!!

This is a big game for the Hokies.  While a hangover from Thursday’s emotional win over unc is a possibility, the Hokies cannot afford to let that happen.  This is a big game for Tech’s NCAA Tournament chances, probably bigger than Thursday’s game.  clemson is sitting 32nd in the RPI, well ahead of unc’s 77th ranking.  So this is a Top 50 opponent, which the tournament committee looks at.  VT is at 67, if you were wondering, so there is work left to be done.

The ACC does not have a strong RPI resume to date.  duke sits at #4 but then there is a drop-off until georgia tech at #25 and clemson at #32.  maryland is at #44 and fsu sits at #45.  That is it for the Top 50.  And Tech is done with florida state, having lost to them last month, so no chance to beat them in the regular season.  The Hokies have just one game against clemson, georgia tech, duke, and maryland, with just this game today and the twerps game at home.  So if the Hokies are going to pad their NCAA resume, today is one of their best opportunities.

Today’s game reminds me a lot of the game against miami back on 2/19/05.  Tech had defeated duke at home less than 48 hours earlier in a program changing win.  After losing by 34 to unc, and 35 at duke, the Hokies showed they belonged in the ACC and could battle with the top teams.  But less than 48 hours later they had to take on a good canes team.  Tech responded, winning 71-58 at home.  The similarities are immense in this game – an emotional win against the defending national champs on Thursday night, followed by a Saturday game against a good team.  In that game five years ago, the crowd was good but not great.  Didn’t matter, as the Hokies were playing lights out.  With a questionable crowd today due to the weather, we’ll see what that is like.  If it is anything like the “Ice Bowl” a couple of years ago when the students packed the house for an overtime win over maryland, it actually could be a great crowd today.  Hopefully the Hokies will respond as they did five years ago, coming out with confidence and swagger.

Whether or not Demontez Stitt plays, clemson’s talented point guard and second leading scorer, could have a big impact today, too.  And let’s hope Trevor Booker has a rare off day.  Hopefully the whistles won’t be as common as they were against Tech on Thursday, if Allen gets in foul trouble against Booker, then Davila and Raines will really have to step up defending him.

And as always against clemson, handling their press is key.  Lots of turnovers are what clemson wants.  Whomever wins the turnover battle will go a long way to deciding this game, as both teams rank at the bottom of the ACC in shooting percentage, but top the turnover margin category.