The Hokies impressed me tonight in defeat. It’s rare I feel this way after a loss, but if butler is as good as they were last year (a Sweet 16 team), then the Hokies put together a hell of an effort. Considering the youth, and the tournament location a billion miles away (as opposed to a million for butler - they are in indiana), that Tech was down 11 in the second half, AND its the third friggin’ game of the year, the Hokies looked very impressive in taking the 23rd ranked bulldogs to overtime after having a chance to win the game at the line in the final seconds.

Player of the Game - Jeff Allen
He continues to impress, and this time in front of ESPN (360, I know, but Hubie Davis was one of the commentators). Allen played 39 minutes, scored 21 points on 10 of 18 shooting, and grabbed 9 boards. Allen’s last bucket was his biggest, tying the game at 68 with 7 seconds remaining in regulation. Allen was fouled on the play, and had a chance to give the Hokies their first lead since 33-32 early in the second half. The free throw hit the back of the iron. butler rebounded the ball and raced it up the court, only to miss a baseline jumper at the buzzer.

To get to that point, the Hokies had to overcome an 11 point deficit in the second half. Allen and A.D. Vassallo sparked the comeback. Vassallo had 19 points tonight on 7 of 16 shooting, including 3 of 6 from behind the arc.

Despite the fantastic effort, the Hokies lost this game behind the arc. butler scored an amazing 42 points from three point land compared to the Hokies’ 18. Pete Campbell lead the bulldogs with 7 three pointers. Both teams shot the ball well - Tech at 52% and butler at 46%, but the bulldogs got some kind iron and a lot of string music from three point land, which helped propel them to victory.

A look at the other stats portray a pretty evenly matched game. The Hokies won the battle of the boards 35 to 31, but had three more turnovers than butler (13 to 10). The Hokies had 5 blocks, including a sweet one by Allen late in the game during the Hokies’ comeback (screen shot from the ESPN360 feed below). Unfortunately, the Hokies once again shot below 70% (8 of 12) from the line while butler was 14 of 18.

I have to believe that a loss like tonight is only going to help this team in the long run. Yes, a win would have been better, but when your expectations are somewhere between ACC cellar dweller and NIT, a performance like tonight makes you think that the latter is definitely in reach.

The Hokies close out their Alaska trip tomorrow night at 10:00 eastern time against gonzaga on ESPN360.