Box Score | Game Film

The 4th seeded Hokies used a 21-4 run during the second half to beat the 5th seeded miami hurricanes 63-49 in the ACC Tournament Quarterfinal. Today’s game was one of the best team efforts I’ve seen out of Virginia Tech this year on both sides of the court. The Hokies won today thanks to an aggressive defensive effort, domination on the boards, and exceptional shot selection, which led to 7 three-pointers.

From the onset, the Hokies were tenacious on D. miami shot only 31.6% from the field. Jack McClinton was just 4 of 17 from the field. Tech’s defense set the tone. If it weren’t for some foul trouble in the first half (Deron Washington picked up 2 fouls in the first 6 minutes) and the beginning of the second half (Jeff Allen picked up his 2nd and 3rd fouls within 10 seconds, early in the half), the Hokies might have broken away from the canes even earlier in the game.

On the offensive end, the Hokies shot 42.6% from the field including 7 of 15 from 3 point land and A.D. Vassallo only made 1 of those threes! Malcolm Delaney, my player of the game, stepped up BIG TIME today with 15 points, 4 boards, and 3 assists. Delaney was 4 of 5 from behind the arc. He nailed a couple daggers during the 21-4 run that virtually sealed the deal for Tech. Hank Thorns and Deron Washington made the other three pointers. Washington finished with 14 points and 12 boards. A.D. had 15 points, 5 boards, and 5 assists. Jeff Allen, who didn’t score his first basket until 11 seconds left in the first half, sparked the Hokies in the first few minutes of the second half, but then had to sit after his 3rd foul at the 16:36 mark. miami used that to their advantage and took a 40-38 lead with 11:11 to go. Coach Greenberg put Allen back in, and the Hokies took off on their 21-4 run to win the game. Allen finished with another double-double, 10 points and 10 boards.

Finally, the rebounding margin was Tech 47 miami 22. That’s insane. Gary Cope-acabana had a great line in our in game after a monster rebound by J.T. Thompson in the second half: “That was a tremendous individual effort by J.T. to stick with that offensive rebound - it’ll only count as one rebound, but it was more like three.” The Hokies crashed the boards, and that has to continue tomorrow in order for Tech to have a snowballs chance in hell to win.

The Hokies are now 2-3 all-time in ACC Tournament play with victories against miami today and wake forest (’07 quarters) and losses against n.c. state (’07 semis), uva (’06 1st round), and ga tech (’05 quarters).