Box Score

Behind the best first half of basketball Tech has played this year, the Hokies had to hold on in the second half to outlast f$u 89-80 at the Cassell tonight. Virginia Tech withstood a furious seminole rally in the final few minutes, which had me (and others, I’m sure) thinking of the wake choke in December.

The Hokies held a 16 point lead with 5:42 remaining, only to see it fall to 6 with 1:20 left. The Hokies were 4 of 9 from the line during that stretch, but eventually turned it around from the charity stripe to seal the victory.

The story of the night was the outstanding performance in the first half though. I’m sorry our DC fans missed most of it (wizards game went to OT), but I’m sure Gary will have the game film up soon. The first points scored by the Hokies tonight were by the player of the game, A.D. Vassallo. He drained a three to begin the scoring and went on to finish with 15 in the first half, 22 overall. A.D. was 4 of 8 from behind the arc, 6 of 12 from the field, and 6 of 8 from the line. The Hokies got out to an early lead behind great shooting and solid defense. f$u looked like a deer in headlights in the opening minutes, eventually having more turnovers (11) than field goals (8) in the first half. Check out these other first half stats:

• Tech shot 61% from the floor
• The Hokies out rebounded fsu 16-7
• VT had twice as many assists (10 to 5) as fsu
• Tech outscored the noles 18-8 in the paint.

Complete domination, which resulted in a 42-24 lead at halftime. Sort of reminded me of the second half of the bc game last year when we just opened up a can on the eagles. It was also similar to Saturday’s game at bc as five Hokies scored in double figures again (Vassallo, Thorns, Washington, Delaney, and Thompson). Notice who wasn’t on that list? Jeff Allen. That’s scary. You gotta love it.

Niemo’s Notes:

• The Hokies are 4-3 in ACC play and alone in 4th place!!! Even more amazing, Tech swept fsu in football and basketball! This hadn’t happened since the 1968-69 school year. Do you believe in miracles? Yes!
• With the win, the Hokies moved to 8-1 at home on the season and clinched a winning record at home! Tech has now had a winning record in the Cassell 46 of the 47 seasons they have played there! The lone exception was, of course, under ricky stokes in 2000-01.
• It is really great watching these freshmen grow. Each guy is getting better, with the exception of Allen (who is playing the same) and Hudson, who is playing more tentatively and is seeing his minutes shrink. But Delaney is becoming much more assertive on offense. He has a money pull-up jumper in transition and even had a blow-by to the hoop tonight, along with a clutch three. Bell is finding a niche as a high energy guy, although he draws fouls quicker than raw meat draws flies. Thorns and Thompson, see below.
• A.D. Vassallo broke out of his shooting slump. He was 2/15 on threes in his last 3 games before tonight, but hit 3/4 in the first half from behind the arc and 4/8 for the game. The 6/8 mark from the line was also an improvement of late. However, he was just 1/6 from the field in the 2nd half after going 5/6 in the 1st.
• J.T. Thompson is the new Dorenzo Hudson. When Hudson first joined the Hokies, he was aggressive out there - attacking the rim. Now, J.T. is playing like a beast. He got the start over Allen tonight and reached double digits for the third time in a row (all starts). J.T. is averaging 13 points and 10 rebounds over that stretch.
• Deron got his 3rd double-double of the season and 7th of his career with 14 points and 10 rebounds. But he was just 4/14 from the floor, including missing a left-handed dunk (why was he dunking with his off-hand?) and several layups.
• Jeff Allen looked rusty tonight. He scored 4 quick points after coming off the bench, but just never got into the offensive flow. The noles played some zone, which helped keep him from getting the ball, or collapsing on him when he did. VT just didn’t look for him much. He only played 20 minutes despite not being in foul trouble.
• Hank Thorns had his 2nd solid game in a row. He is Tech’s best ballhandler and is doing a good job of knowing when to penetrate now. Hank was 8/12 on the line down the stretch.
• 40 minutes?  Tech has yet to play two good halves in the same game, especially on offense.  In their first four ACC games, VT had lousy first halves and fell behind at halftime, before picking it up in the 2nd stanza.  In the last 3 games, the Hokies have played solid 1st halves and then struggled in the 2nd.  Tech has not outscored a team in both the 1st and 2nd half yet in ACC play.
• fsu hit 8/11 on threes in the 2nd half which is what got them back in the game. As absteele mentions, this has a lot to do with bad switches on the perimeter. The helper on a screen wasn’t picking up guard and leaving him wide open. Or, VT’s perimeter D was collapsing inside to help (which they should not have been doing since fsu has no inside game), which left perimeter shooters wide open on kick-outs. This is Tech’s biggest flaw on an otherwise terrific defense. Teams with good shooting guards continually kill VT. Luckily, fsu didn’t figure this out until it was too late.
• Tech had 17 turnovers for the game. They have been under 20 in all 4 ACC wins, and over 20 in all 3 losses.
• VT won the rebounding margin: 31-24. The Hokies have won the rebounding margin in EVERY ACC game. This is a huge turnaround from past years. And it isn’t just because of Allen since he didn’t play the last two games before tonight.
• The 56 points that VT allowed in the 2nd half was obviously a season worst. The 47 they scored in the 2nd half tied their high mark for a half on the season (2nd half vs ga tech).  But Tech’s offense was very sloppy in the 2nd half.  Most of those points were on free throws at the end when fsu started fouling with 2:10 to go.
• 89 is a season high for VT. In fact, this is the first time they won in ACC play when scoring more than 69 in regulation.
• Seriously, do NBA teams really need 5 or 6 timeouts per game? So boring (side note).
• Forget your popcorn, get your brooms ready! Here come the hoos on Saturday to get their whoopin’!

Cope-acabana’s Observations:

• The attendance for this game was a joke! It was a worse turnout than the terps game. And with about five minutes left in the second half, about a third of the crowd got up and left. SHAME on those who left early and SHAME on those season ticket holders who didn’t show up or give their tickets away - you people suck. You are all officially on my $h!t list, just under YouTube.
• The fans that were there (about 7,000) were nice and loud most of the time.
• Favorite chant tonight: “Just - like - foot - ball!” (clap clap clap clap clap)
• Some fans are trying to start a new tradition by shouting “Deron Washington” just after DWash releases a free throw attempt … it started catching on a bit toward the end of the game, but not sure it’ll stick.