Virginia Tech's Jeff Allen puts up a shot against boston college

Virginia Tech’s six-game home conference winning streak came to an end with a 76-61 loss to boston college. To call this loss disappointing would be a gross understatement.

Coming off an emotional win over the top team in the country three days ago, the Hokies returned to the court for their final home game of the regular season… and promptly laid a big egg. On senior night no less.

The Hokies were badly out-rebounded 38-24. Tech was bad in just about every category. They shot just 42.9 percent from the field (24/56) and a woeful 17 percent (3/17) from three-point range.

Sophomore Erick Green led the Hokies with 21 points. Seniors Malcolm Delaney and Jeff Allen has 17 and 14 points respectively. Allen had just nine offensive touches the entire game, yet still managed 14 points.

The Hokies got off to a promising 4-0 start, but the eagles used a 19-2 run to blow by the Hokies and never looked back. Tech managed just 10 points in the first 11:45 of the game.

boston college, like uva, was money from behind the arc, hitting a dizzying 7/13 three pointers in the first half to help the eagles to an 18-point lead. Tech responded with a short 15-5 run to cut the lead to eight at the half, 27-35.

The Hokies came out in the second half with a pair of three pointers to cut the lead to five, but that’s as close as they would get. Ice cold shooting and inability to play effective defense led to a 20-point deficit – the Hokies’ largest of the season. And when we say “ice cold” shooting, we’re talking multiple air balls. It was bad folks, really bad.

We could talk about the refs and the questionable calls, but give bc credit – they shot the lights out and frustrated the Hokies defensively. They did what they had to do to win.

Green summed it up in the post-game presser. Here’s the quote from the HokieSports.com recap:

“It’s simple,” Green said. “We didn’t come to play. We got embarrassed. I feel bad for the seniors because that’s not how you want to go out. But hands down, we got outplayed. They got ahead too quick, and we tried to ramp it up. But they just beat us.”

Unless Tech can pull off a road win against clemson and win 1-2 games in the ACC tourney, it looks like it’ll be another NIT appearance. Here’s hoping the Hokies can pull off an upset on the road to salvage any hope of an NCAA tourney bid.

Tuesday is Senior Night!  PLEASE come out and support the Senior Class the same way you supported the Hokies all day Saturday.  This article will focus on the game.  Please see the follow up article that honors the senior class.

The good news is, since losing at unc to fall to 1-2 in ACC play, the Hokies have answered every ACC loss with two consecutive conference wins.  The bad news is VT has won two in a row heading in to their game against boston college.  Can the Hokies finally win three ACC games in a row?  Or will they continue their two wins, one loss trend?

It’s Late Night with the Hokies for the second straight game with a 9 PM tip-off.  Perhaps someone should tell ESPN we aren’t a West Coast team.  This is Tech’s fifth or sixth 9 PM game by my count.  Oh, well, at least this one is at home.  The Hokies will look to close out their second straight 7-1 ACC home season with a win, and 12-2 overall at home.

The Hokies will look to avenge their loss at bc a month ago (one of the worst performances of the season by VT) and bury the eagles in the ACC races.  A win eliminates bc from finishing ahead of VT in the standings, while a loss gives the eagles the tiebreaker and just one game behind Tech with VT having a tough road game at clemson to finish.

Good teams can turn it on even when they aren’t playing #1. And since this is a veteran team for the most part, I expect the Hokies to come out and clip the eagles’ wings early.  I think this will be a blowout, but if it isn’t, the Hokies need to keep playing as if their NCAA Tournament lives depended on it.  The duke win gave VT a signature win, something they didn’t have last year when they went 10-6 in the ACC.  But VT needs one more ‘W’ to get to 10 ACC wins and Saturday, at clemson, will be a lot harder to do it.  Plus, a win would all but clinch a First Round bye in the ACC Tournament for the Hokies, so there is still a lot on the line.  Tech desperately needs the bye if they want to win the ACC, given their lack of depth.

SERIES:

• All-Time: bc 12-7
• In ACC Play: bc 6-5
• At VT in ACC Play: VT 1-4

FIRST MEETING:

bc 58, VT 56 (Recap) – The Hokies played one of their worst games of the year and fell for the fifth time in six tries at bc since boston college joined the ACC.  Tech fell behind by 10 early thanks to 3/15 shooting to start the game, but fought back and took the lead a couple of times in the second half.  But Malcolm Delaney missed the front end of a 1-and-1 that could have tied the game with 24 seconds left, and then Erick Green missed a 3-pointer that would have given the Hokies the lead with under 5 seconds to play.  Jeff Allen was a monster in this game (stop the presses), scoring 25 and snagging 19 rebounds.  VT shot just 35% for the game and were just 3/14 from behind the arc.  No one for bc had a huge game.  Trapani had 14 and Reggie Jackson had a late 10.  Delaney had 19 for the Hokies.  Erick Green was 0/8 from the floor.

STARTERS:

STATS (ACC Rank):

Note: Team stats are from ACC games only, player stats include all games

Career Numbers vs bc:

• Allen: 18.3 ppg (6 games) and 9.2 rpg
• Delaney: 15.9 ppg (7 games)
• Bell: 4.0 ppg (6 games)
• Davila: 2.8 ppg (5 games)

HO-KEYS TO WINNING:

• No Hangover: Saturday was great, it really was, and while a loss Tuesday wouldn’t wipe out the positive NCAA Tournament effect of Saturday, it would tarnish it a tad.  Refocus, take care of business on your home floor Tuesday and then the Hokies are at 20 wins overall and 10 in ACC play.  I think there’d be no doubt the Hokies would be in with that.
• Zeroed In: Jeff Allen has arguably been the best player in the ACC over the last month.  He’s averaged 18.1 ppg and 15.0 rpg over his last nine games, including 8 double-doubles.  Jeff had 25/19 in the first meeting against the eagles, and that was no fluke.  bc simply has no one that can guard him – Southern is too slow and Trapani is too weak (and slow).  Expect another big one from the Big Donut.  He started off his Cassell career with an ACC Player of the Week performance and I expect another great effort Tuesday.
• Feeling Green: Erick Green has started 18 consecutive games and scored in double digits in 16 of those games.  But he was 0/8 at Boston and tallied just 1 point, while also missing a 3-pointer at the end that would have won the game.  Look for him to play inspired ball Tuesday, even though he’s not a senior.  He’ll have a chip on his shoulder.  The key is him attacking with penetration, especially in transition.  He had three ‘and-1′ opportunities against duke with his aggressive play.
• Big Shot Bell:  When Bell is ringing them from the outside, the Hokies are tough to beat.  Tech is 7-1 when he reaches double digits this year and 6-1 when he hits at least two 3-pointers.  While he’s a complimentary player who specializes on the defensive end, it’s his offense that really puts the Hokies over the top.  Terrell needs to be aggressive with his shot on Tuesday.
• Don’t Let Mr. October be Mr. March:  Reggie Jackson is a real talent.  He only had 10 in the first meeting, but he was killing the Hokies off the dribble in the second half.  Tech will have to work hard to force him to give the ball up and prevent him from driving.  The problem is if Tech comes over to help, it frees up one of the many good 3-point shooters for bc.
• Defend Deep: bc leads the ACC, averaging 8.8 made 3-pointers per ACC game.  Trapani, Jackson, Raji, Paris, and Rubin all stroke it well from 3-point range, and often.
• Dialed in Delaney: This is it (we hope) for Malcolm in the Cassell.  By no means did he have a good game against duke Saturday, but that huge, late 3-pointer had to give him confidence.  You know he wants to go out in a big way and I think he’ll be hotter than a pistol Tuesday.

BORING FACTS ABOUT boston college:

• Established in 1863
• Type: Private – Jesuit
• Undergrad: 9k
• Postgrad: 4.5k
• Location: Chestnut Hill (just west of downtown Boston)
• Mascot: Baldwin the eagle (get it? Bald eagle… win games… Baldwin)
• bc participates in the Beanpot Tournament – a hocket tourney of bc, bu, northeastern, and harvard at the Boston Bruins (and Celtics) arena.
• Their football stadium seats just 44.5k (and they still don’t sell it out for big games)
• ACC Football and Basketball Titles: 0 (lost to VT in the 2007 and 2008 ACC Football Championship Game)

Famous Alums:

• Ed McMahon (Yes!)
• Chris O’Donnell
• Leonard Nimoy (no relation)
• Amy Poehler
• Elisabeth Hasselbeck
• Tip O’Neill
• John Kerry
• Mike Lupica
• John McLaughlin
• Bob Ryan
• Lesley Visser
• Jared Dudley
• Bruce Pearl
• Matt Ryan
• and of course, Doug Flutie – Flutie Hail Mary against miami