Box Score

Deron Washington scored a season-high 22 points. Marcus Travis made his first ever start and played the game of his career. Jeff Allen broke Dell Curry’s freshman record for steals in a single season. And the Hokies crushed wake forest 80-58 to secure a winning record in conference play and guarantee at least a tie for fourth place. Today, my Hokie friends, was a great day!

You just could not have scripted Senior Night any better for Deron and Marcus. The opening possession saw Marcus, a much beloved, but seldom used fan favorite, come off a couple of beautiful screens to have Jeff Allen feed him the ball en route to an uncontested layup. Meanwhile, Deron closed out his regular season career at the Cassell Coliseum by leading the Hokies with 22 points and 13 rebounds, including two more highlight-reel dunks and a pair of big-time three-pointers. The Hokies dominated the demon deacons from Marcus’ opening basket until Dorenzon Hudson’s three-pointer with :19 seconds left in the game that sealed the deal.

The game was a complete blowout from the opening tip as the Hokies raced out to a 17-3 lead and never looked back. They went on to play their best first half of the season, scoring a season-high 47 points on 50 percent shooting from the field. Deron led the way with a couple of nasty dunks that inspired both his teammates and the crowd.

Surprisingly, Marcus played more than just a token minute or two, probably in large part to the energy with which he was playing, and the fact that the Hokies were flat out dominating wake - if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Marcus played the first 4:30 of the half and had the layup, a beautiful no-look assist to Jeff and even fought hard for a rebound that ended up going the Hokies’ way. Not to mention his lock-down defense. When he came out of the game, I actually thought to myself, “Maybe Seth [Greenberg] should have played him a little more this season?”

The second half saw the Hokies stretched their lead to as many as 32, and also let wake creep back to within 19, before sealing the 22-point win. To wake’s credit, they never quit … it just wasn’t their night. Even their 7-footer Chas McFarland couldn’t do anything inside against Allen, despite a 5-inch height advantage. Chas was righteous from the free throw line where he scored six of his 10 points, but outside of that, he was essentially a non-factor thanks to Allen’s physical prowess in the paint.

Tech was not to be denied this critical win on its home floor. The fans were treated to Deron’s top 10 dunks of all time just before the game, which just added to the electricity in the Cassell. Talk about whipped up into a frenzy. As soon as I walked into the Cassell tonight, I literally got chills because it had that kind of energy that you generally only experience at a playoff game. The fans were hyped up and were the louder than any other game I’ve been to this year. I was especially proud of the students, who showed up en mass despite being off this week for spring break.

The crew here at TechHoops.com wants to thank Deron and Marcus for their contributions to Virginia Tech’s basketball program. Great job, guys!

Other Notes:

• Marcus Travis’ final stats: 2 pts, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 reb, 12 minutes
• Nine Hokies played at least 10 minutes (all nine scored)
• Deron was 2/3 from three-point land
• Tech committed just 10 turnovers
• Tech shot 75.6 percent from the free throw line

Niemo’s Notes:

• Wow. Honestly, wow. That’s all you can say. What a great effort, great win, great tribute to both seniors. It is a shame last year’s seniors couldn’t have gone out on a similar note, and won an ACC regular season title. But let’s focus on tonight. Tonight was simply awesome…
• The Hokies clinched a winning record in the ACC. Amazing. Picked to finish 10th preseason, they all but locked up a first round bye in the ACC Tourney. Unbelievable. Give Seth the ACC COY. Dino Gaudio was considered a top contender, but VT is now 3 games ahead of wake in the ACC standings. Frank Haith of miami (picked 11th preseason) still has a shot at it.
• Marcus Travis, who had only played 13 minutes coming into tonight, started the game, played 12 minutes, and scored Tech’s first two points. He also had a spectacular no-look assist to Jeff Allen later in the first half.
• This was the first time all season Deron reached 20 points. This was the first time all season he hit multiple threes in a game, coming in shooting just 20% from behind the arc. He also had 13 rebounds, good for his fifth double-double of the season. Jeff Allen leads the team with 8.
• THE HOKIES THREW AN ALLEY-OOP!!! And guess what, it worked. Deron had a big flush, which was followed by a putback flush by Lewis Witcher, who continues to play out of his mind of late. Where has this play been for Deron’s four years???
• Tech continues to be very unselfish on the break, a switch from earlier in the year. The result is a lot of easy buckets.
• The Hokies dominated the glass early on, playing like absolute beasts. They got every offensive rebound, every defensive rebound. They had a 27-16 margin on the glass at the half and finished by winning the board margin 47-27.
• Tech won the rebounding margin, but lost the FT attempt margin and turnover margin (by just 1). This is the first time in ACC play the Hokies won a game when losing 2 of 3 of those.
• The Hokies hit 9 threes for the game, including 6/11 in the first half. Tech only averaged 5 per game. This is the 2nd most threes VT has made in one game this season, behind their 10/20 performance against eastern washington in Alaska in Game #2.
• The attendance was awesome. Great job by our fans to show up and support the team while most of the students were on Spring Break.
• Bear fights for everyone! Before the game, we set +20 points at the “Bear Fight” margin. It got close, but with Dorenzo Hudson’s three with 12 seconds to go, Tech locked up a Bear Fight for the Partyboys/man.

For the record; Cope’s beautiful wife, Donna, has watched the last four games, all Hokie wins. She was also at Sunday’s women’s game against wake forest, which the Hokies dominated. The women’s team has only won two ACC games all season. I’m not sayin’ that she’s the reason we’re winning, but I’m gonna make damn sure she’s watching the Clemson game on March 9 … just in case.