Duke survives, Miami continues magical run in ACC Quarterfinals

In the first game, Virginia presented Duke with a much stiffer challenge than they anticipated. The Cavaliers used an inspired defensive effort to contest virtually every Duke shot.

The Blue Devils struggled from the field, shooting nine-for-26 in the first half, which led to the score being tied at 27.

It was not until the second half that Duke committed to scoring inside. Kyle Singler scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half to lead the way.

Virginia hung around for quite awhile. The Cavaliers trailed 46-35 with just under 10 minutes to go, when they scored nine straight points to draw within two.

The run was capped by a three-pointer from Mustapha Farrakhan with 6:24 left, but the Cavaliers did not make another shot from the field again.

Jon Scheyer survived an abysmal shooting performance to score 15 points. His three-point play with 2:30 left put the final dagger in the heart of Virginia.

Sammy Zeglinski could not recapture the magic of Thursday’s first round win. After scoring 21 points against Boston College, Zeglinski was held scoreless by the Blue Devils.

Virginia played the best defense they could against Duke, but simply did not have enough playmakers on offense to keep up in the end.

Apparently nobody told Miami they were the last-place team entering this tournament, because they sure are not playing like it.

The Hurricanes’ zone defense proved to be a bugaboo for ACC leading scorer Malcolm Delaney, who scored only seven points and missed all eight shots behind the arc.

Miami freshman Durand Scott simply took the game over down the stretch. Scott scored 12 of Miami’s final 14 points to finish with 17.

Virginia Tech started off hot, mainly because of Dorenzo Hudson. Despite missing practice all week with a sore foot, Hudson erupted for 13 points in the first seven and a half minutes to send the Hokies to a 22-12 lead.

Miami recovered by halftime, trailing 37-35 at the break.

The Hokies received a boost in the second half from Jeff Allen, who finished with 18 points, 12 of which came in the second half. Allen was too quick on the interior for Miami’s bigs Julian Gamble and Reggie Johnson, making several drop steps and spin moves for easy looks at the rim.

The story of the game was Delaney’s struggles. Against the 2-3 zone of Miami, Delaney hardly ever penetrated the lane, and was ice cold from the field. Whether the Hokies play in the NCAA Tournament or the NIT, their opponents would be wise to take a page out of the Hurricanes’ playbook and show the Hokies a zone defense.

Miami also went deeper into their bench, playing eight guys. Seth Greenberg only played six players significant minutes, and it showed down the stretch. Despite the fact that the Hokies had a bye Thursday and Miami was playing its second game in as many days, it was the Hurricanes that had more energy in the final minutes.

Hudson disappeared after his scorching start, scoring only one point in the second half. The Hokies also shot 11-for-18 (61 percent) from the foul line, well below their season average.

It’s now onto the semifinals for Miami and Duke. The Hurricanes won’t have the same luxury of facing a poor shooting team on Saturday, as Duke shoots the three as well as anyone in America.

Still, Frank Haith’s guys are playing with too much heart this weekend to count them out of any game.

Virginia Tech trounces Miami 81-66

Coming off only its second loss of the season, the Virginia Tech basketball team wasted no time in disposing of the Miami Hurricanes Wednesday night in Blacksburg.

Thanks to a 50-23 lead at halftime, the Hokies (13-2, 1-1) cruised past Miami in Cassell Colisieum, winning by a score of 81-66.

Tech made seven three-pointers in the first half, including three from Terrell Bell. The Hokies shot 62.1 percent from the field in the first half; the first time Miami (15-2, 1-2) had allowed a team to shoot that well in a half since the Hokies shot 61.5 percent in Miami last season.

The early offensive onslaught was somewhat surprising, considering the Hurricanes entered the game with the ACC’s best scoring defense, allowing an average of 58 points per game.

“Miami is a really good basketball team,” Tech coach Seth Greenberg said, “they are going to beat a lot of teams in the ACC.”

As well as the Hokies shot the ball from the floor, Miami shot that poorly. The Hurricanes were 7-of-26 from the field in the first half.

Miami started the game defensively in a 2-3 zone, against which Tech would take a 20-5 lead before coach Frank Haith switched to a man defense.

“Tonight, our defense let us down,” Haith said.

As easy as the Hokies made the game look in the first 20 minutes, Miami gave Tech all it could handle to close the deal. Trailing 62-34 with 14:03 to play, the Hurricanes went on a 15-2 run to come within 15 points with eight minutes to play, their smallest deficit since the 10:48 mark of the first half.

“It’s human nature to get a little passive (with such a big lead),” Greenberg said, “it was probably my fault.”

Following a media timeout with 7:38 remaining, the Hokies inbounded the ball from behind their own basket. Advancing the ball quickly up the floor, Jeff Allen caught a pass just below the foul line and, without hesitation, crafted a perfectly placed behind-the-back pass to an open J.T. Thompson, who finished the play with a two-handed dunk.

“I told the guys in the huddle (during the timeout) to attack and be confident. I didn’t draw up the behind the back pass though,” Greenberg said, hinting at a grin.

After that play, which brought the Tech faithful to their feet again, Miami never came within less than 14 points of the lead.

For the first time in over a month, the Hokies played in front of a nearly packed home crowd. The energy created by the electric crowd aided the Hokies in shutting down a Miami team that entered the game ranked 72^nd in the country according to realtimerpi.com.

Malcolm Delaney lit up the Miami defense for 28 points. It was the eighth time this season he has topped 20 points in a game.

The Hokies shooting percentage dropped to 29.2 percent in the second half, and they failed to make another three-point shot.

It was the second straight game where Tech struggled to make shots in the second half. On Sunday, the Hokies surrendered a 38-34 halftime lead to 13^th-ranked North Carolina on the road, losing 78-64.

The 27-point lead at the break over a conference foe was the largest in the Hokies six seasons as a member of the ACC.

Miami freshman guard Durand Scott finished the game with eight points and two assists. Scott entered the game leading all ACC freshmen with 4.4 assists per game. He made several plays in the second half that the crowd, and Greenberg, argued that he committed a traveling violation.

Instead of contemplating the situation with the officials, he turned to an unusual source for advice. His wife, unable to attend the game due to illness, gave her husband a troll doll to keep in his pocket during the game.

After a particularly questionable call in the coach’s eyes, he took the troll out of his pocket. He even named the purple-haired doll.

“I asked ‘Mike’ if he could tell me why there was no foul,” Greenberg said.

While the three-inch tall cartoon figure may not be able to help Greenberg get more calls, maybe he has found a new good luck charm?

“It’s a little big for my pocket,” he said.

Hokies take huge step forward, beat Seton Hall in OT

Over a three-game homestand the Virginia Tech basketball team enjoyed leading up to its game with Seton Hall Saturday night, coach Seth Greenberg spoke very highly of his team’s “approach” after every game.

He had no idea how much better the approach could get.

With its best player and leading scorer Malcolm Delaney sidelined with a sprained left ankle, Saturday night was a huge challenge for the rest of the team.

Following the Hokies’ win over Longwood, the game in which Delaney went down a minute in, Dorenzo Hudson said the team needed to “just play ball”.

Easy, right?

Hudson made it looked easy enough; scoring 41 points in a 103-94 overtime win.

Erick Green, while not spectacular, handled the pressure of his first career start in a tough environment with seven points and only three turnovers.

Green battled foul trouble the entire game. He played the final 12 minutes of regulation with four fouls, and made it four minutes into overtime before fouling out.

Jeff Allen, whom coach Greenberg has made it no secret to be the key to how far this team can go in the postseason, turned in his best game of the season. He scored 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.

The biggest play of the game for Allen came early on in overtime, when Allen stole the ball from Robert Mitchell at halfcourt and proceeded to finish on the other end with a rim-rattling two-handed slam.

No matter where the Hokies finish this season, they will look back at this game as their proverbial turning of the corner.

All of the odds were against them: no Delaney, freshman point guard, proven foe from the most powerful conference in the country. Had Seton Hall taken control of this game early and cruised to victory, nobody would have blamed the Hokies.

Instead, Tech seized control of the game early, and though the Pirates continued to fight back and even take the lead on several occasions, the Hokies never lost their composure.

Coach Greenberg can remember this game as the night Malcolm’s sidekicks revealed themselves. Hudson emerged with the best game of his career at the most important time. Clearly, the Hokies can look to someone besides Delaney for guidance when the game matters most.

Tech discovered an important aspect of its team tonight: they can win when Delaney is off the floor. There will be times during the next two months when he may be in foul trouble or, god forbid, be injured again.

This game gives the team confidence that they can step up if that happens.

Manny Atkins had a breakthrough moment, too. Leading by two with a minute to go in overtime, Atkins drained a three-point shot from the left wing. Seton Hall took the ball back down the court, and Jordan Theodore responded with a three of his own.

Immediately after the ball went through the net, Atkins sprinted towards the Hokies’ basket, catching a pass that Tyrod Taylor could not have thrown better, and finished with a right-handed slam that all but sealed the win.

As much as twenty-point runaway wins are nice, the game Saturday was exactly what coach Greenberg needed for his team. Facing the pressure of an overtime game against a team that nearly knocked off fifth-ranked Syracuse earlier in the week, Tech held its own against the experienced foe.

After last season, where they lost seven games in the final seconds, the Hokies are leaving no doubt this season as to who owns the floor.

The first 11 wins of the season for the Hokies were against suspect opponents, and that’s with the generosity of a Salvation Army volunteer. Finally, the Hokies have validated themselves against a worthy opponent, and secured an out-of-conference win that will impress the NCAA Tournament selection committee in March.

How’s that for an approach?