Let’s take a look back at the Hokies road win to move to 4-0.

What worked well:

• 3-POINT SHOOTING: 14/22?  64%  Seriously?  That’s incredible, especially considering this was Tech’s first game away from the friendly confines of Cassell.  Your % is supposed to drop on the road, not go through the roof.  Take our Marshall Wood’s 1/5 (stop shooting so much!) and VT was 13/17 (better than 75%).  The Hokies are now #1 in the ACC in 3-point % and 3s-made at 46% and 42 respectively.
• Will Johnston: Dude is 8/13 from behind the arc on the year.  Tip of the cap to the microwave! 3/3 last night.
• Jarell Eddie: He had it all working on a career night.  77% on FGs, 100% on 3s, 90% on FTs.  That’s as close to perfect as you’ll see other than Christian Laettner’s performance in that epic NCAA Tournament game vs kentucky (Laettner was a perfect 20/20 on FGs+FTs that night for 31 points and had he missed one shot, including that shot at the buzzer, duke would have lost).
• Wood’s Rebounding: I dogged his 3-point shooting above (3/16 on the season), but he snagged 11 rebounds last night and now has 6 more rebounds than Barksdale in similar minutes.  That’s why he was in there at the end.
• FT SHOOTING: Tech was #1 in the ACC in FT% last year heading into the final month.  They still managed to finish 2nd, but we saw a huge drop-off down the stretch including a real stinker at fsu that cost VT the game and their first ACC win in Tallahassee.  After missing 3 straight critical FTs with Tech down 2 points and 5 minutes to go, the Hokies were 18/19 after that to close out the game, including 12/12 by EG.  That’s clutch.
• We’re #1: Tech is #1 in Scoring Offense in the ACC!  I know, I know, we’ve played up-tempo cupcakes, and it is only 4 games, but did you ever think you’d see the day?

What Needs Fine Tuning:

• 3-POINT DEFENSE: Tech is #1 in the ACC in 3-Point Defense but that is more because of the first 3 games.  Last night Tech was lazy getting out on open shooters, almost expecting them to miss.  Armstrong who was maybe 6-foot and couldn’t leap over a phonebook was allowed to go 4/11 from deep (if he was any good he’d have hit at least 6).  And Eddie did a decent job getting a hand in Simpson’s face but he needed to be out on him and take the 3 away better at times.  Force him to drive and let the D help.  They didn’t exactly have a lot of options to pass to.
• EASY BUCKETS: VT was 14/22 from behind the arc but just 10/31 inside it.  EG was just 2/11 inside the arc last night, the first time he’s struggled with his pull-up jumper or finishing off the drive this season.   The Hokies missed numerous layups, short runners, and Raines was off last night.  He just looked uncomfortable on his post moves (other than his monster dunk).  One time I think it was because he was afraid he was going to step on this little dude that was laying in the lane.  Tech needs to be better and attacking the tin.  Try and flush it, blocks be damned.  Usually you’ll at least get a foul call out of those.
• KILL MO: When the spartans got rolling, they really got rolling.  In both halves last night Tech blew a 14-point lead and fell behind.  What happened?  On offense, if unc-g took away Tech’s 3-point looks, VT couldn’t score.  Also, 10 turnovers in the first half and some really bad passes were a problem.  The Hokies must find a better midrange game to beat better teams – you can’t expect to hit over half your 3-point shots every night.  And on defense, Tech’s help/transition defense was weak during those runs.  The Hokies have not done a good job of rotating this year to date.
• JvZ looked tentative last night on offense.  Good hands are an attitude and Joey had a serious case of alligator arms last night.  It cost him two critical buckets.

Wow, check out the plus/minus from Monday night’s 9-point win over the spartans.  It will surprise you (or at least it surprised me).

Eddie had a career night, shooting lights out.  He was 7/9 on FGs, 5/5 on 3s, and 9/10 on FTs.  Yet he had a negative plus/minus.  What does that tell you?  Well, there are a couple of possibilities.

1. Eddie didn’t play that great on the defensive end and Simpson for unc-g was more or less matching him on points (25 points); OR
2. Tech wasn’t playing very good defensive when Eddie was in, especially guarding the perimeter and the defensive glass (unc-g had 11 made 3-pointers and 11 offensive rebounds but I don’t have the breakdown of those of when Eddie was in); OR
3. The Hokies would have lost handily if not for Eddie’s scoring.

The nature of plus/minus tells you that you can rule out #3.  If Eddie was carrying the team, then you’d expect his teammates to have similar plus/minus numbers.  But Green had a +8, Barksdale, who got benched at the end in favor of Marshall Wood (-3) had a +11, and Robert Brown had an insane +21.  So while Eddie was vital to the Tech win and was clutch down the stretch, you have to wonder how much his defense cost the Hokies, though he did draw the spartans’ best player.  You could argue that Brown, van Zegeren, and Barksdale were in when Simpson wasn’t, but I can’t prove that.

And maybe Barksdale isn’t playing as bad as we thought – he had a solid 6 rebounds, 5 points, and 2 blocks in 22 minutes and a +11.  He does appear to be working hard on defense and has a +46 on the season despite playing less than half the game on average.

The Hokies had their hands full but pull out a 96-87 victory to move to 4-0 on the season behind a career high 28 points from Jarell Eddie.  Here are the moving pictures to prove it.

Boxscore

The Hokies held on to win a wild one in their first road test of the season by a 96-87 score at the Greensboro Coliseum (home of this season’s ACC Tournament) against a game unc-greensboro club.  Three Hokies set or tied career highs in points on the night.

The player of the game was a no-brainer – Jarell Eddie. Eddie, in his home state of North Carolina, scored a career-high 28 points (previous high was 24) on 7/9 FGs, 5/5 3s, and 9/10 FTs. He also had 3 blocks by my count and some real nice hustle plays.

Erick Green also tallied a career high 26 points to surpass his average of 23 points, but actually had an off night. He came in shooting almost 60% from the field but hit just 4/15 tonight. He was just 2/11 inside the arc, as he and the Hokies missed a ton of layups and short runners. But… Erick was 16/16 including 10/10 down the stretch to help Tech come from behind.

The spartans were just 1-45 all time against ACC teams but nearly found a way to win this game. The Hokies blew a two touchdown lead in both halves. Tech led 30-16 in the first half but the spartans went on a 17-2 run and took a 33-32 lead. The Hokies rebounded behind insanely hot 3-point shooting and went into the break up 45-41.

Once again the Hokies jumped way out in front in the second half, going ahead 65-51 on a Jarell Eddie 3-pointer. Once again the spartans answered the bell, vaulting to a 26-8 run and taking a 77-75 lead with less than 6 minutes to play.

After that, it was all Erick Green and Jarell Eddie. Eddie hit a critical 3-pointer to put Tech up 83-77 with 2:55 to play and Erick Green was 16/16 (career high in makes and attempts by far) from the stripe to help the Hokies hold on.

Marshall Wood played down the stretch in place of the slumping C.J. Barksdale and had several critical rebounds. Wood snagged 11 rebounds on the night to help the Hokies, although they did allow 11 offensive rebounds to the spartans.

Tech returns home on Friday at 2 p.m., to play appalachian state.

*Erick Green tweaked his ankle late in the game but played through it down the stretch. We’ll let you know if it is serious, but he seemed OK.

SCORE AT THE MEDIA TIMEOUTS:

1st Half:

• Under-16: VT 21-9
• Under-12: VT 23-14
• Under-8: VT 30-20
• Under-4: VT 35-33

HALF: VT 45-41

2nd Half:

• Under-16: VT 61-51
• Under-12: VT 67-59
• Under-8: VT 71-69
• Under-4: VT 78-77

FINAL: VT 96-87

Spread: VT by 6.

The Hokies hit the road for the first time under Coach James Johnson to take on the spartans of unc-g-spot in the Greensboro Coliseum, home of the 2013 ACC Tournament.  And much like a the noon Thursday game of the ACC Tournament, this game will likely only have a smattering of a few thousand people.  It is a common practice of ACC teams to play at unc-g every few years to prep for the ACC Tournament (getting used to the shooting background, etc.).

This game will mark the 8th time the two schools have met, with Tech a perfect 7-0 against the spartan spirit.  And this will mark the 5th time the two schools have played in the last 7 years, with three of those games at the Coliseum for the aforementioned reason.

Tech beat the unc-g at the Coliseum two years ago 92-70.  The spartans started out that season 0-15 on their way to a 7-24 season.  They were 13-19 last year.  This year, unc-g lost at high point, beat winston-salem (not wake) at home, and lost at ecu.

As you’d expect, the spartans don’t have much size inside (only one starter over 6’6″).  And like vmi, they like to push the ball and play up-tempo.  They don’t shoot nearly as many 3s as vmi, though.  Parker is a solid PG with a better than 3-to-1 assist to turnover ratio (that’s outstanding).

Boxscore

The Hokies struggled out of the gates in Greensboro, but were hotter than a pistol for most of the final 30 minutes and blew out unc greensboro 92-70 to improve to 2-1.

The Big 3 for VT all had big days Sunday. Malcolm Delaney led the Hokies with 23, including 11 of Tech’s first 19 points. Jeff Allen and Dorenzo Hudson added 17. Allen started out 0/4 from the field but made his final 6 shots.

VT shot 53% from the field for the game after finishing under 40% in the first two games. Tech was just 4/16 on threes and it looks like they will continue to struggle from deep this year in terms of quantity. The Hokies shot 41 free throws in the game and made 30. They would take almost 75% from the line any day.

The VT defense forced 29 spartan turnovers, leading to 37 Hokie points. That had been missing in the first two games after being a staple of last year’s Tech squad. Tech did allow unc-g to shoot over 50% from the field, but with the turnovers, the spartans didn’t have a chance. They did lead 11-4 early, but then Malcolm went nuts to put VT ahead to stay.

All in all, this was the perfect tonic as VT heads to the 76 Classic starting this Thursday in Anaheim.

Perhaps no one has benefited more from the ACC’s decision to make Greensboro the (mostly) annual home of the ACC Tournament than unc greensboro (aka: unc-g-spot).  The spartans hosted four ACC teams last year at home and play three more in the Greensboro Coliseum this year.  Teams like to get used to their environment, and therefore like to get a game in the Coliseum to get adjusted to the shooting background and such.  How much does it really matter?  I’m not sure, especially considering the Tournament is more than three months away.  In fact, three of the four teams that played at unc-g-spot last year got bounced in their first ACC Tournament game.

On Sunday it will be the Hokies turn to tour the Coliseum and take on the spartans.  Tech will try and erase their painful memories from their first round exit against miami in the same Coliseum in last year’s ACC Tournament.  But this spartan club is not exactly ACC material, having lost by 15 to vcu and 24 to florida state (in the Coliseum) to open the season.  unc-g gave up 198 points in those two games, so if you like defense, you probably just threw up in your mouth a little bit.

Before you get all hot and bothered thinking the Hokies are also going to put up a lot of points, please think back to last year.  In Tech’s second game of the season the Hokies hung up just 59 on the spartans (luckily the spartans only scored 46).  unc-g-spot confused the Hokies with a 2-3 zone.  How do you beat a zone?  Hit outside shots.  Tech was just 1/13 on three-pointers, shot just 38% from the field overall, and just 56% from the line.  It was bad. 

In addition to avenging their loss in the ACC Tourney, VT will also try to get that bad taste out of their mouth from Tuesday.  The Hokies ran out of gas (and players) in the second half and lost to #3 kansas state by a 73-57 score.  This will be the Hokies’ final tune-up game before they start the 76 Classic in Anaheim, CA next Thursday against cal state northridge [Note: I will be really winging that preview - I have no idea about them or even who, or where, they are].

SERIES:

• All-Time: VT 6-0 (they’ve played in 4 of 5 seasons now)
• Last Meeting: VT 59, unc-g 46 (RECAP)

HO-KEYS TO THE GAME:

1. Stop Whistling While You Work: Here’s hoping the refs don’t call games as tightly as they did Tuesday at kansas state.  They called a lot of fouls on both teams, but it had a much bigger effect on VT with their lack of depth inside.
2. Turn the Tide of Turnovers: Malcolm Delaney has 7 assists and 12 turnovers so far on the season (including 9 turnovers against the wildcats).  A 2-to-1 assist to turnover ratio is very solid for a guard, but under 1-to-1 is terrible.  This would be acceptable for a freshman, but not a senior.  Better decisions will lead to more points.  And guys need to finish when Malcolm does distribute the ball well, which they haven’t so far.  Note: Malcolm had 147 assists and 99 TOs last year – averaging just 3 turnovers per game.
3. Go Deep: Tech has hit five three-pointers in both their games.  They reached that mark in just 5 of their final 17 games last season.
4. Movin’ on Up: Malcolm Delaney moved into 4th place on VT’s all-time assist list.  He has 413, passing Dell Curry’s 407.
5. Movin’ on Up, Part 2: Jeff Allen, who has 19 rebounds this season, is now 8th on the all-time VT list with 800 boards.  He passed Bobby Beecher’s 797 against kansas state.
6. ED-DIE!  ED-DIE!  How about Jarell Eddie?  We knew the kid could play, but he has really been impressive so far.  He has no fear on the court and gives the Hokies a much needed jump-shooter.  Jarell is just 1/5 on threes, but has a good mid-range game and is 4/7 inside the arc.

STARTERS:

spartan SPIRIT:

The spartans basically return no starters off a squad that went 8-23 and finished 246th in the RPI.  In other words, their 0-2 start with two blow-outs isn’t a surprise.  And it should go to 0-3 with yet another woodshed beating Sunday unless the Hokies play down to their opponent. 

Kyle Randall started some and was their second leading scorer last season (with just 9.5 ppg), but missed the first game and came off the bench in the fsu game.  Randall did start against the Hokies last year and had 10 points, tied for tops on the spartans that day.  Darrius Sellers also started some last year but averaged just 1.1 ppg.

The spartans have been scoring a lot more so far this year, averaging 80 points through two games – including 73 against the usually very stingy seminoles.  But as I said above, they are also getting scored on more than wake forest’s football team.  vcu put 101 on them and fsu tallied 97. 

unc-g has a balanced scoring attack (read: no one is that good).  Brandon Evans, Kory Van Dussen, Aloysius Henry, and David Williams are all averaging double digit points between 11.5 and 15.5 ppg.  But even with that they have been inconsistent.  Evans had 26 against vcu, including 13 FTs, but just 5 against fsu.  He is their best three-point shooter (4/6 – only Van Dussen also has more than one made three-pointer and he has just 2).  Aloysius Henry is the only guy that has reached double digits in both games. 

David Williams is a tall wing player at 6’6″.  That would be a problem for most teams, but not VT who has 6’7″ Bell on the wing and can also bring in the 6’7″ Jarell Eddie.

CONCLUSION:

This should be just what the Hokies needed – after two games where Tech struggled on offense, they are facing a porous defense.  Tech needs to come out, push the ball like vcu and fsu did (and VT should be doing), and blow this thing out early.  This should help VT gain some confidence before heading to California.

BORING FACTS ABOUT unc-g-spot:

• Founded in 1891
• Public
• 15,000 undergrads and 4,000 grad students
• Colors are gold, white, and navy
• Established a women’s college, admitting men in 1963
• Won three straight NCAA soccer titles (D-2) in the late 1980s
• Moved to Division 1 in 1991
• They have a giant boulder, the Rawk, they paint over almost daily
• Famous alums: no one I’ve ever heard of

Boxscore

Recap: For the first 29 minutes of this game, if there had been a barn inside Cassell Coliseum, Virginia Tech would not have been able to hit the broad side of it.  If there had been water in the Cassell and the Hokies had been in a boat and fallen out, they wouldn’t have hit said H2O.  What am I trying to say?  The Hokies could not hit a jumper, or free throw, to save their life for the first 75% of this game.  The Hokies missed their first 12 three-point attempts and finished just 1 of 13.   And although Tech was confused and stagnant at times against the 2-3 zone the spartans ran approximately half the time, VT almost missed some very open looks after hitting 7 of 17 threes in the first game.  If you break down the stats, Tech hit just two shots outside the paint all night – 44 points in the paint + 10 free throws = just five points left, a three by Delaney and another jumper by Malcolm from the left side.  From the charity stripe they weren’t much better, hitting 10 of 18 (56%) for the second game in a row.

Then, a big time player stepped up.  I’m talking about Mr. Malcolm Delaney, of course.  Delaney scored nine points and had another key assist as the Hokies went on an 11-0 run from the 10:48 mark of the second half until the 5:12 mark.  Going into that run, the game was tied (yes, you read that correctly, VT was tied at 38 against a 20 point underdog that just lost to duke by 34).  After that run, unc-g-spot never got closer than nine points and Tech cruised to victory, although early in the game it looked like the Hokie-wagon might be completely broken down.

In addition to the tight score for much of the night, Tech had an even bigger scare earlier in the game.  Malcolm Delaney suffered a left ankle injury at the 12-minute mark of the first half after scoring on a runner and collapsed in front of the VT bench after hobbling up the court.  He left the game for a few minutes while the trainers taped the ankle up and Delaney managed to play 28 of the final 29 minutes of the game.  He finished the game with 17 points and five assists, both team highs.  And once again, when the Hokies needed him, he was clutch despite starting out the game 3 of 12 from the floor.

Jeff Allen also had a monster night for the Hokies.  He recorded the 20th double-double of his VT career, scoring 14 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.  If that wasn’t enough, he also had six steals and three blocks.  The six steals tied his career high and he now has 138 robberies for his career, just 13 away from 10th place on the all-time Hokie steal list.  Allen also had the highlight of the night: midway through the first half he stole the ball out of a trap by the half court line, dribbled up the left side with his left hand, palmed the ball left-handed and flushed it with his off-hand.  It reminded me of an old Dr. J “rock the baby to sleep” dunk.

On defense, the Hokies were fantastic in the second half.  They held the spartans to just 29% shooting (7/24) and uncg hit just 35% of their shots for the game.  That was a big improvement over the 45% brown shot on Sunday.  Tech also forced the spartans into 23 turnovers for the game including 10 steals.  Imagine what the score might have been after 29 minutes if VT hadn’t created so many turnovers.  The Hokies used those steals to get out and run some, though they did not get a ton of easy buckets.

Tech limited uncg’s star, Ben Stywall, to just six points on 3 of 9 shooting.  He had 19 against duke.  And last year’s leading scorer, Mikko Koivisto – the Finnish Fury, had 10 points in the first half but did not score in the second half.  In fact, Mikko didn’t even get a shot off as ‘Zo Hudson and Terrell Bell took him out of the game.  T-Bell looks very good defending one-on-one.

You certainly aren’t going to hit the panic button after two games but Virginia Tech has not looked good after two games.  And this was at home against two teams that went a combined 14-44 last year.  On Sunday, the Hokies were not impressive on defense and seemed to lack a flow on offense.  Delaney was forcing too much at times.  Today, the defense was better but the offense was abysmal.  There are some real concerns on offense for this team.  After two games, Tech is just 20/36 (56%) from the foul line.  But if you take out Delaney’s 10/12 from the line, they are just 10/24 (42%).  As bad as they were from long range tonight, they were good from outside on Sunday so let’s not make a huge deal other than to say they were colder than a January night in the ‘Burg tonight.

Of Note:

• Tech has 48 points off turnovers through two games.  Their opponents have just 12.
• An amazing 44 of Tech’s 59 points were in the paint tonight.  That’s what happens when you are 1/13 from downtown.  If you add the 10 free throws the Hokies made, that means they hit just TWO baskets outside the paint.
• Gene Swindle and Manny Atkins made their Hokie debuts in the final minute of the game.
• The other freshmen, Ben Boggs and Erick Green, each saw time in both halves.  Ben continues to see the most minutes of the freshmen playing the 2 or the 3 for Hudson or Bell.  He had two points in this game but got caught inside out of control a couple of times and lost possession or had his shot blocked.  Boggs was just 1 of 4 from the floor.  He needs to pick his spots to drive better or dish earlier.
• Victor Davila still is not aggressive enough inside.  On one offensive rebound he brough the ball down and promptly had it stolen.  Other times he was out-muscled for boards by smaller guys.  Also, he is getting caught too far under the basket at times.  When he goes up to shoot, he has to jump back into play and he got blocked a couple of times.  But he did have six big second half points for the Hokies and eight overall for the second game in a row.
• Terrell Bell has played well through two games.  He’s replacing A.D. Vassallo but in a very different way – lots of defense.  He had career highs tonight with eight rebounds, three blocks, and two steals, and he has averaged 7 ppg through two games.
• JT Thompson looked more like himself tonight in the second half.  He went hard at the rim and picked up six points.  But he has zero confidence in his jump shot right now (join the club on this team).
• Tech’s bench scored just eight points tonight in 37 minutes.  They now have just 15 points through two games.  The Hokie starters (Bell, Hudson, Delaney, Allen, and Davila) have accounted for 88% of VT’s points, and Allen and Delaney have scored 54% of the Hokie points so far.
• The Hokies are averaging 64 ppg this year through the two games.  That’s 9 ppg lower than last year, or put another way, half the points A.D. Vassallo used to score.  They have not even come close to picking up his lost offense so far.
• Tech has outscored their opponents 23-4 in fast break points through two games.
• unc-g-spot has scored just 85 points in their last two games against Tech.  Tonight was the closest margin of victory in the six games they’ve lost to VT all-time.
• Cope’s good buddy Ted Valentine was a referee in this game!

THE SETUP:

The Hokies return to action less than 50 hours after the conclusion of their opener, a 69-55 victory over brown.  Tech definitely has some areas for improvement going into game #2.  VT is favored by 20, the same amount they were favored by against brown, which they obviously cover.  I’m actually predicting the Hokies cover tonight, though I don’t bet on sports and you certainly shouldn’t go by me.

Here’s a SIX PACK of things to look for:

1. Dehydrated Delaney?: Malcolm played 38 minutes in the opener.  Not a good sign considering he wore down over the course of last season and saw his shooting numbers drop dramatically in the final month of the season.  Freshman Erick Green was supposed to see time at point guard but played just three minutes on Sunday and did not enter the game in the second half.
2. Ghosts in the Post: Tech really struggled to guard talented big men in the post last year, allowing opponents to catch the ball close to the basket and score easily.  Plus, the Hokies gave up a lot of offensive rebounds.  Tech did a decent job in the first half on Sunday but struggled in the second half, giving up 22 points in the paint, 14 of which were second chance points.  And most of brown’s eight offensive rebounds came in the second half.
3. Back to the Future: When the Hokies had Zabian Dowdell and Jamon Gordon they won in part because of the turnover advantage they often enjoyed.  On Sunday, Tech committed just eight turnovers while causing 17.  And they outscored brown 21-3 on points off turnovers.  However, VT collected just five steals which means many of the turnovers were unforced errors.  We shall see if Tech can make a big turnover margin a trend.
4. Bench the Bench: The Hokies’ bench scored just seven points in 44 minutes Sunday.  The starters accounted for 90% of Tech’s points.  The bench needs to contribute more offensively to fill the void left by A.D. Vassallo’s departure.
5. Bud Light Golden Wheat: Have you tried this beer yet?  I’m telling you it is solid (hey, I said this was a six pack segment).
6. WIN: Again, this will be in every preview – Tech has a weak out of conference schedule.  All you can do when that is the case is keep racking up wins and build momentum, similar to what clemson does every year.

THE OPPONENT:

And you thought brown was a lousy team!  Well, I have a worse team for you – the unc greensboro (unc-g-spot) spartans.  And there is not much spartan spirit in the air after going 5-25 last year and finishing dead last in the Southern Conference.  And so far, no good this year – duke woodsheded the spartans by a 96-62 in unc-g’s opener.   This game will be a good measuring stick to see how the Hokies compare.  I have duke winning the ACC regular season title.  I don’t expect VT to win by 34, but we can at least start to see if the Hokies can blow them out early like the blue devils did.

Last year unc-g-spot was last (of 12) in the Southern Conference in field percentage, 11th in 3-point percentage, and 10th in free throw percentage.  Needless to say, they are offensively challenged.  They aren’t great on the boards either and don’t get many steals.  Combine those, add flour, bake at 375 and you get a 5-25 record.

The spartans’ best player is 6’5″ senior forward Ben Stywall.  He’s the only guy that showed up for the duke game, scoring 19 and collecting eight rebounds.  No one else reached double digits or had more than four rebounds.  Stywall scored six against the Hokies two years ago (that’s actually a lot considering they only scored 39) and was held scoreless his freshman year in 2006-07.  But he is a four year starter.

Mikko Koivisto (the Finnish Fury) is also a senior at the guard spot.  He has experience and loves to shoot the three, but was ice cold against duke.  He has made more than 200 threes in his career so Tech must guard him on the perimeter.  Expect Hudson to draw the assignment or Bell at times.

SERIES:

VT leads the series 5-0

• 2007-08: VT 67-39 (@ VT) | Recap
• 2006-07: VT 74-51 (@ unc-g)
• 1996-97: VT 66-50 (@ VT)
• 1995-96: VT 74-48 (@ VT)
• 1993-94: VT 86-59 (@ VT)

PROJECTED STARTERS:

STATS:

BORING FACTS:

• Founded in 1891
• Public
• 15,000 undergrads and 4,000 grad students
• Colors are gold, white, and navy
• Established a women’s college, admitting men in 1963
• Won three straight NCAA soccer titles (D-2) in the late 1980s
• Moved to Division 1 in 1991
• They have a giant boulder, the Rawk, they paint over almost daily
• Famous alums: no one I’ve ever heard of