Deron Washington hangs his head during the men's basketball game against Duke Thursday night.
The Virginia Tech men's basketball team dropped its second straight Atlantic Coast Conference game Thursday, riding a second half slump to an 81-64 defeat at the hands of the Duke Blue Devils.
"I thought we competed at a high level in the first half; I think we played hard in the second half, but didn't compete," said Tech head coach Seth Greenberg. "You're not going to win a game like tonight('s) if you're not a little bit tougher-a little bit more poised."
The Cassell was rockin' early as an A.D. Vassallo three-pointer and Deron Washington side block on Duke's Kyle Singler got the Hokies on Fire crowd to its feet.
But a 6-0 Duke run, that was aided by some Tech turnovers, would douse the blaze for the time being before a Cheick Diakite dunk reignited the Hokie students. But, the Blue Devils pushed the lead to 18-10, prompting Greenberg to call for a timeout.
Poor shot selection would enable the visitors from Durham to grow their lead as large as 11 points before Diakite once again saved the Hokies from the Blue Devil onslaught.
But Tech would waste away many opportunities to close the gap in the game's first 12+ minutes by shooting 31.6-percent from the field and 50-percent from the free-throw line. Further adding to Tech's woes was its 10 turnovers heading into the under-8:00 media timeout at 7:57.
"We had some foolish turnovers," Greenberg said. "It's their defense."
For much of the first half the Blue Devils were able to keep the Hokies down by a few possessions thanks in large part to several key three-pointers when the Hokies were looking to regain the momentum and cut the lead. In fact, the Dukies shot 45.5-percent from downtown during the first half
"It's pretty tough," said freshman forward J.T. Thompson. "It seemed like we were trading baskets. We tried to get stops on defense, but it didn't seem like we could."
A Washington layup off a steal and a Terrell Bell tip-in bucket would each shrink the Duke lead to three points, prompting Mike Krzyweski to call his first timeout of the first half, a use it or lose it timeout, with 1:25 remaining.
The momentum shift late in the first half that saw the Duke lead cut to a single point would be enough for the Hokies to keep the game interesting and only head into the halftime intermission down 42-38 after a three-pointer by freshman Tyler King.
Singler, also a freshman, would help Duke add to its halftime cushion, increasing it to 53-45 by scoring nine of Duke's first 11 second half points before picking up his third personal foul.
"They're playing like upperclassmen," said Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski. "Otherwise we wouldn't have won our first four (conference games)...Tonight (Taylor) hit some big shots for us. And then Kyle-Kyle had a big second half."
Once again, multiple empty possessions kept the Hokies from cutting into the Blue Devil lead. An intentional foul call on Washington would prompt an uproar from the fans that, which would later turn to disgust with the officiating. Subsequent Tech fouls would help the Duke lead grow to 60-47.
It was all downhill from there for the Hokies as the Duke lead would balloon to as many as 21 points en route to a decisive victory-a result that got to some of those in white.
"It was tough," said Washington. "I couldn't get (any) of the calls I usually get...It was just one of those games that you've got to learn from it and get better from it."
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What gives with Deron Washington? I love the Hokies but he is making our school look like the King of Thugs (thank you Vick as well)... Have you seen the clip they're running on sportscenter of all his antics from yesterday's game and then last year's scrape of a Duke player's face?? What gives? This isn't a brawl... its basketball... and how self-centered is he that he decides to all these things even when its obviously being detrimental to the team??? And Seth Greenberg plays right into it, continues to play him and does nothing to punish the behavior. Now the whole nation can watch Sportscenter and see how 'classless' our school looks... THANKS DERON FOR BEING A TALENTED THUG!!!!!
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I concur wholeheartedly. The Hokies fought hard, but was was a pretty good game was marred by all the thuggery. I think Deron was trying to bait the Duke guys into a fight. There's no other reason why a talented player would stoop to such ridiculous antics (and some dirty plays).
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Two of my children are Virginia Tech alumni and I believe Tech is one of the finest -- and fastest improving universities in the nation. With this said, however, the deplorable thuggishness with with Tech played last night -- and the overall tolerance of athletes' (the Vicks, Washington, and so forth) unacceptable conduct -- sullies VPI's reputation and degrades the progress Tech has made in the last decades. One day, a thuggish act will inadvertently result in a real calamity, with permanent injury to a young man with near-limitless potential. When that happens, the "go easy" attitude of university administrators, athletic officials, coaches such as Greenburg, and the ACC will be a fundamental cause of the tragedy. Talent and zeal means nothing without a sportsmanlike attitude and self-discipline. The Vicks numerous arrests, convictions and incarcerations prove this; Washington would be wise to assimilate this lesson now, before it is too late.
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Deron Washington embarrassed our school last night. Pathetic. He could have ended that Duke players career on that undercut. Deron Washington is a great athlete, but a total thug. Between him and Jeff Allen, our basketball program is a complete joke.
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Deron Washington is an absolute embarrassment to your entire program! He clearly had an intention to start conflict from the very outset of the game. Last night's display, coupled with his actions in previous years against Duke (remember when he kicked Lee Melchionni in the face in 2006?), shows exactly what kind of thuggish attitude Greenberg supports in Blacksburg. Greenberg and Washington both need to be reprimanded. Get some class Va Tech!
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If you actually watched the game last night you would have seen that the Duke players played VERY dirty. Deron's flagrant foul was unintentional, and hence, NOT a flagrant foul. Deron should NOT be taking this kind of heat. Duke played filthy last night. Nelson is an ABSOLUTE embarrassment to your program is more like it Duke Alum.
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VT = violent thugs. Va. Tech is an embarrassment to the ACC. The violent thugs received their time on TV and really showed that they should not be part of a conference like the ACC. I really feel sorry for A.D. Vassallo, who seems like the only mature MAN on the violent thug basketball team. A.D. Vassallo is really talented and due to the remainder of the violent thugs, his talent goes unnoticed and unheralded. He would be a tremendous addition to any other team in the conference or the country for that matter. Seth Greenberg, aka uncle fester, should be dismissed for allowing that type of behavior from his players. I am proud of Duke and what they represent whether in a blow out victory like last night or in a loss. The players as well as the coaches are all gentlemen and play/coach the great game of basketball with class and sportsmanship. I predict that Washington will end up in prison once basketball season is over and he leaves VT. I hope this young man can turn his life around and accomplish something in life. Being a troublemaker is no way to live life.
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I guess I agree with the Duke fans that posted below. Tech needs to learn how to play dirty without being caught, like Duke has for so long. But we're a young team, so we'll have it down in a few years!
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Duke Alum '06. This is in response to "Get some class Va Tech!" I sincerely hope you mean that in regards to how the basetball team played. I am not saying that the game Tech played was something to be proud of, but please don't judge how school as a whole. I think 4/16 proved that Tech does have some class, sports aside.
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blue devil forever...There are good people and bad people at every game and at every school. Just like there are bad fans at Tech, there are also good fans at Tech. Duke is no exception.
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Are you guys crzy, Are you watching the same game I watched. Deron Washington started from the tip off trying to bait Duke players into trouble. They only thing I regret is DeMarcus did not knock him out. Seth Greenburg has to be held responsible. It a shame VT has allowed this to happen.You noticed Coach K took DeMarcus out after incident earlier. Seth did not.
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You guys show no hokie respect. Deron is not a Thug, Duke is full of gays. Racists all you Duke fans out there.
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why you guys, Nice try. Thugs are thugs no matter what color.
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I'm a Duke fan, but I do like VT. Academically, you can compete with anyone in the ACC, and I have nothing but respect for the VT alums I know. I also respect your basketball team... except for Deron Washington. Would I like him if he were a Dukie? Hard to say. Bias is a powerful tool. But I *CAN* compare him to other non-Duke players. In my opinion, he is the dirtiest player in the ACC, and he is doing you guys a disservice. Seth Greenberg also rubs me the wrong way, but that probably is just the bias talking =P. Oh, and the Duke fans here need to cool down. Don't judge an entire school by their worst representative.
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