Malcolm Delaney takes his shot over the fallen Dwanye Collins. Delaney would finish the game with 17 points, 5 assists, and a steal. Related gallery
ATLANTA - The Hokies commenced matters at the Georgia Dome far differently than they had in losing three of their last four -- and it made all the difference.
Eighth-seeded Tech turned the tables on recent trends by jumping out to a 22-8 lead and riding on top throughout its 65-47 first-round victory over No. 9 seed Miami.
"I can't name too many games where we went into halftime winning," Tech guard Malcolm Delaney said. "Just having a lead and playing like we're playing gave us confidence going into the second half."
The Hokies (18-13) now advance to the quarterfinal round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament against top-seeded and top-ranked North Carolina, the same team that defeated Tech less than two weeks ago.
Unlike Sunday's crushing loss to Florida State, the Hokies were the ones who led from the start by creating and converting open threes early on.
"To see Dorenzo (Hudson) step into that jumper and knock that down, that not only gives us the lead but it gave him confidence," Tech Coach Seth Greenberg said. "And that confidence I think transfers over to how he plays defensively."
In the face of arguably Tech's best defensive effort of the season, Miami's (18-12) Adrian Thomas and Jack McClinton led Miami with a mere nine points each. McClinton leads the ACC in three pointers and averaged 19.7 points per game heading in.
"I didn't play my game at all," McClinton, a senior, said. "I wasn't going to get my shot as much. I played a bad game."
McClinton also doled due credit to the Tech defense, which muzzled the all-ACC first-teamer with a heavy dose of Hudson and Delaney.
"You've got to try to keep a hand on him and get help off passes," Hudson said. "We did a good job chasing him and once he got the pass you had help with that situation."
Hudson nailed a corner three for the game's first score. Delaney hit the team's third trifecta less than six minutes into the game, lifting the lead to 12-2.
The 'Canes punished Tech on the glass early, though, grabbing five offensive rebounds in the first nine minutes. Tech combated this with good shot contention and hitting its open looks, jumping out to an 18-8 lead.
Tech would dominate the post from there on out, outrebounding Miami 35-22 and holding Miami's sizeable frontcourt of Jimmy Graham, Dwayne Collins, and Cyrus McGowan to four points each.
Collins scored 23 when the teams met in January .
Sophomore Jeff Allen notched eight rebounds and three steals while sophomore J.T. Thompson came off the bench to score 12 points and add eight boards.
The level of physical play magnified to ACC Tournament caliber when the two clubs committed five fouls during a 1:45 span in which the score stagnated.
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