In case you like pain and trips to the dentist, here are the highlights of the VT at uva game from TheACC.com:

uva 61 VT 54 Highlights

Give the hoos credit.  They had to do two things to win this game:

1. Knock the bottom out of the net from 3-point range.  (They hit 11/23, including 8 of their first 12 to build up a 15-point lead at 44-29 early in the second half.)
2. Figure out a way to counter the Hokies’ advantage inside.  (They doubled down on Davila and Allen every time they touched it, which was rare, and this led to just 16 combined points for Allen and Davila.)

I felt so good about this game until I woke up Saturday morning and saw that the good people in Las Vegas had us at just a 5.5 point favorite.  That reminded me of how tough it is to win on the road in this league.  The hoos were ready and just burned the Hokies from deep.

I don’t want to say a team was lucky, but the hoos were lucky.  Sammy Zeglinski hit 3 3-pointers with less than 5 seconds left on the shot clock.  Jontel Evans (who I said couldn’t shoot in the preview) hit 2 miraculous jumpers.  Assane Sene (a 7-footer who honest to goodness I hadn’t seen dunk all year) had 7 points and 2 dunks.

I also was drinking a French beer (Kronenbourg 1664 — which is pretty good!) during the game.  Could I have jinxed us more?  But that shouldn’t matter.  Hats off to the hoos.  They outplayed us and swept us for the first time since 2005-06 when they beat us THREE times.  Is it me or are the hoos the 2006-07 nc state team?  A terrible team that beat us three times that year.  Let’s hope, if somehow the Hokies do play uva in the ACC Tournament, this doesn’t turn into a 3-peat.

The Hokies did make a game of it.  After trailing 28-23 at the break, uva came out bombing 3s to go up 44-29.  But then the Hokies went to a full court trap and closed the gap to 45-42 with a 13-1 run with 7:46 to go.  VT immediately forced a turnover that led to a 3-point play by Erick Green and several other turnovers and 3-pointers by Delaney fueled the rally. But then the hoos started hitting shots again, and Tech started forcing things and missing open looks (like a missed 3 by Delaney and missed front end of a 1-and-1 by Delaney) and the hoos retook control.

Malcolm Delaney finished with 22, but 6 of those were garbage 3-pointers.  However, he was the only Hokie to show up offensively today (and that’s not saying much since he was 6/19 from the floor and 4/12 from 3-point range when the game matter– he was 2/3 from deep late).

The supporting cast was terrible tonight.   Jeff Allen was 5/9 from the floor and scored 11 points… but why did he only shoot 9 shots against at team that only has one low post player?  Erick Green was 5/11 and had 12 points… but most of that was thanks to the press.  And Bell and Davila SUCKED today.  They combined for 1 point on 1 shot in the first half, and totaled just 9 points for the game (Bell was 0/2 from the floor after going 5/5 from deep on Tuesday).

For the hoos, it was their 3-point shooting that won the game on offense.  They are the best 3-point shooting team in ACC play and they torched VT from deep tonight.  Farrakhan hit 3 3s (despite missing the final 10 minutes of the first half with 3 fouls and part of the second half with and injury, Harris hit 4/7 from deep to carry the hoos, and Zeglinski hit those 3 3s he pulled out of his rear end to dagger the Hokies.

This loss really stings.  It stings because it was the hoos.  It stings because the Hokies could have really taken command of their ACC Tournament First Round bye.  It stings because it was the hoos (wait, I said that).  But all is not lost.  Assuming bc loses at unc today, the Hokies will still be a game up in 4th place with a trip to 1-11 wake forest looming.  Tech can still finish strong.  Rinse this game… days like this happen… and move on to Tuesday.  Don’t let this game beat you twice.  The Hokies need to Bear Fight pound the deacons on Tuesday and then get ready for three HUGE games to finish – duke, bc (a contender for 4th) and at clemson (a contender for 4th).

Of note: Jeff Allen extended his double-double streak to 7 straight games with 11 points and 15 rebounds, but I think we can all agree this game was a disappointment considering he had a 6’6″ guard guarding him that couldn’t arm-curl Tattoo… maybe I jinxed him, too. (I don’t believe that for a second.)

Random note: uva is 3-0 against the T/techs of the ACC this year, 1-8 against the rest of the ACC.

FIRST HALF (uva 28, VT 23):

The first half was extremely frustrating to watch as a Hokie fan.  Tech committed 8 turnovers in the first 10 minutes (3 each by Bell and Davila).  The Hokies cleaned that up and didn’t turn the ball over in the final 10 minutes.  But then the hoos looked like they were playing a game of horse, hitting wild shot after wild shot.  Zeglinski hit a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired that he basically shot off the side of his shoulder.  Jontel Evans hit a 3-pointer (trust me, that’s news in and of itself – it was just his 5th of the season) and then hit a fadeaway just before the half over Davila to give the hoos a 28-23 halftime lead.  Believe it or not, this was actually a lot better than the game in Blacksburg in early December where the hoos led by 12 at the break.

The real story for the hoos was Joe Harris.  The freshman sharpshooter knocked 3 3-pointers and had 9 at the break.  Tech did not do a good job of staying on him, which you have to do against a 3-point shooting team.  The hoos were 6/10 from behind the arc for the half.  And that was without their leading scorer, Mustapha Farrakhan, who was on the bench for the final 10 minutes of the half with 3 fouls.

Malcolm Delaney had 10 to lead the Hokies at the break while Jeff Allen tallied 7.  Erick Green had 5.  Davila and Bell combined for ONE shot and ONE point.  Atkins was the only guy to play off the bench and he didn’t score.

The big story was Tech’s poor decisions.  They rarely fed the ball inside despite the fact uva only plays one big man.  The hoos were doubling down, but that means someone should be wide open.  The Hokies weren’t finding that person.

Tech came out in man defense, which I expected, to counter uva’s 3-point ability.  But it was when they switched to the 2-3 zone that they really stymied the hoos.  That rattled them for a while until they simply couldn’t miss at the end of the half.

Both teams shot 45% from the field but it was uva’s 3-pointers that made the difference.

Spread: VT by 5.5.

Do you like watching 7-footers that can’t dunk?  How about point guards that can’t shoot?  Do you like seeing the shot clock near zero?  Hate fast breaks?  Then this is the team for you!  I’m talking about the hoos, of course.

Normally I wouldn’t mock a team that has already beaten the Hokies this year.  [think Family Guy-style flashback to me mocking georgia tech and Paul Hewitt last week]  OK, never mind.  I’ll mock away…

The hoos are bad.  Real bad.  ["How bad are they???"]  I’m glad you asked, loyal TechHoops.com reader.  They are so bad, Michael Jackson was singing about them (and I’m not talking about Thriller).  They are so bad, mothers across America have formed an organization against them.  [No, I'm not sure what I meant by that, either]  They’re so bad… alright, you get the idea.

The real joke is the wahoo offense.  It smells, offensively bad.  The hoos are last in the league in PPG and FT%, and second worst in FG% in ACC games.  They do shoot the 3-pointer very well though.  They are tops in the league in 3-Pt% at 39% (just ahead of the Hokies) and 5th in makes per game at 7.2.  But take away their 3-point shooting and they have nothing.  Period.  And that’s just what duke did – holding them to just 3/12 from behind the arc – 4 fewer makes and 7 less attempts than normal.

The hoos have put up some memorably bad offensive efforts this year, especially at home.  They totaled just 19 in the second half against unc in their ACC home opener and lost 62-56.  Their best effort at home was the 29 second half points against ga tech in a 72-64 win, but that just points to Paul Hewitt.  uva scored just 42 points against maryland at home and lost by 24 (21 in each half).  They scored just 20 second half points against clemson, but won at home 49-47.  And in their last game against duke, they tallied just 15 second half points and lost 56-41.  Yep, they have not reached the 30 points in the second half of any of their five ACC home games and average just 23 ppg in the half where scoring should go up due to urgency.

Meanwhile, the Hokie offense is riding the gravy train on biscuit wheels.  They’ve scored 193 points in their last two games, an all time high for a Coach Greenberg team while at VT.  They’ve vaulted up the ACC rankings and are now 3rd in the league in PPG, 1st in FG% and FT%, and 2nd in 3-Pt%.  And then there’s Jeff Allen… but you can read all about that and his 19.5 PPG and 12.8 rpg over the last six games in this article: Go Nuts Big Donut.

SERIES:

• All Time: 52-80
• In ACC Play: 7-7
• At uva in ACC Play: 2-4 (but VT has won 2/3)

LAST MEETING:

Eh, let’s just not talk about the 57-54 loss at VT (RECAP).  That was a totally different game due to three things:

1. uva had Mike Scott who scored 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds (he has owned the Hokies).  He’s out for the year but will likely be back for a fifth year next year.
2. uva shot 56% in the first half, yet are a 40% team normally.  The Hokies defense gave them open looks, but they were hotter than they’ve been at any other time this year.
3. The Hokies hadn’t found themselves yet with an injured Zo Hudson battling it out there, Green mostly on the bench, and Allen still being a foul machine.  This is a much different VT team over two months later.  They are 6-2 in their last 8 ACC games, uva has lost 8 of 10.

STARTERS:

The hoos play four guards almost exclusively.  Believe it or not, they are even more thin inside than the Hokies with Mike Scott, their best player, out for the year and Will Sherrill, a 6-9 forward that would lose to Kyle Singler in an arm-wrestling match, also out with an injury (though he’s day-to-day and could possibly play Saturday).  If Sherrill is out, the hoos will just go two deep on their bench.  K.T. Harrell is a solid freshman guard with a great pull-up mid-range jumper, and Akil Mitchell will sub in for Sene inside, but he’s just 6-8 and 221, and they clearly don’t think much of him since he plays just 10-18 minutes a game despite their lack of post players.

STATS:

HO-KEYS TO WINNING:

• Feed the Donut, or Count Dunk-ila: The hoos can either put 7’0″ Assane Sene on Victor Davila and limit him, but put a 6’6″ unathletic guard (Harris) on Allen, or put Sene on Allen and Harris or Mitchell on Davila and let him outmuscle them inside.  It’s a no win situation for the hoos.  Allen will destroy the puny Harris inside, and if Sene comes over to help Jeff has shown a great ability to pass in tight to Victor.  If Sene is on him, Jeff can pop out and either shoot his midrange jumper, or if Sene comes out, take him off the dribble.  They need to feed the bigs, the hoos have nothing to stop them with.
• Man Up: Expect man defense from the Hokies.  The hoos shoot so many threes Tech will have to get out on them.  This means Allen will likely have to guard someone smaller than him.  If he’s on Harris, this will limit his rebounding ability as Harris plays away from the hoop.
• Guard the Guards: Jontel Evans is very quick and a decent finisher near the rim.  And Mustapha Farrakhan has improved greatly with his pump fake and drive.  Delaney and Green have to limit this.  The good news is Evans averages just 5.8 ppg and 40% from the field, and has shot just 8 3-pointers, so you can play off him.  But Stoglin beat VT up the court on Tuesday.  That can’t happen.  Farrakhan you have to respect and come out on, so help defense will be the key.
• Watch the Pump: The Hokies cannot foul 3-point shooters [cough, T-Bell, cough].  On the pump fake, get a hand in the shooters face, but don’t run out at them and into them like they have at times lately.  duke shut them down from deep by fighting over picks and forcing them to pass the ball well behind the arc.  Tech will need to, too.
• Deadly Delaney: Malcolm was 2/18 from the field against purdue.  He followed that up with 10/15 against uva.  MD was 3/10 vs fsu, then 8/18 against unc.  Malcolm doesn’t have two bad games in a row, and I don’t expect him to here.
• Rivalry: The hoos would love to sweep the Hokies, especially at home where they have been awful most of the year.  Tech cannot look a week ahead to duke.  The Hokies need to have some vinegar in their piss and come out and smack the hoos, and gain some revenge for December.

Random Thought: That uva arena sure is pretty.  Pretty empty and pretty quiet most of this year.  I love the Cassell.  Sure it is a barn, but it is a LOUD barn.  Us ‘farm boys’ (that are from the same well to do counties the hoos are) have it right.  It’s not about the architecture, it’s about the fans, the coach, and the team.  Yep, 3 for 3.