It is finally over.
A season marred by heart-wrenching losses and unfulfilled expectations came to a close early Saturday afternoon in Cassell Coliseum as Virginia Tech fell at the hands of the Baylor Bears, 84-66.
But while the Hokies' 18-point loss may come as a disappointment to the maroon and orange faithful, the second round defeat in the National Invitational Tournament was truly representative of the Heartbreak Hokies' season.
Mistakes, impossible shots, comeback runs and an inability to consistently put points on the scoreboard led the Hokies into the consolation "Not Invited Tournament" and eventually led them out of that prematurely.
From the start, in which guard Malcolm Delaney turned the ball over diving onto the scorer's table to save Cheick Diakite's tip, the Hokies made countless mistakes that led to their demise.
Tech's top shooters struggled from the field. A.D. Vassallo had a slow start, missing all of his seven field-goal attempts in the first half, while Delaney made just one of his seven attempts.
Combined, they were 4-for-21 shooting the three and 8-for-34 from the field.
As a team, the Hokies started the game missing 17 of their first 18 attempts. They finished the game making just 32.4 percent of their field goal attempts compared to 61.7 percent for Baylor.
"The biggest thing with us is that we have to contest shots," said Baylor forward Kevin Rogers, who notched a team-high 16 points. "The biggest thing in the zone is contesting shots, especially on a guy like A.D., especially in his own gym."
Vassallo felt that Tech saw good enough looks, but that the shots simply weren't falling.
"It just didn't want to go our way," Vassallo said. "That demoralized the team."
Essentially, poor shooting ruined the Hokies' chances at victory. They put up a grand total of 71 shots, 24 more than Baylor, and scored 18 fewer points. Transition points were hard to come by, and Tech had little success setting up a half-court offense.
But that's not all. Baylor's 2-3 zone defense was not the only thing that was too much for the Hokies to handle. The Bears were physically overpowering, something that Tech has not had much experience with in Atlantic Coast Conference play that typically houses smaller athletes than the Big 12.
"Our inability to make a shot early really affected our ability to defend," said Tech head coach Seth Greenberg.
Even though Baylor's team is larger than the Hokies', it's important to not overlook how well the Bears handled their size on the court.
While Tech out-rebounded the Bears, at times it seemed like they were genuinely lost under the basket of their home floor with post players jumping over one another to grab rebounds away from their own teammates.
More than a few times, Hokie big men fighting amongst themselves for the ball resulted in turnovers and squandered opportunities.
With the team's leading scorers struggling, no one was able to step up and fill the void. Baylor's lead grew bigger and bigger until it eventually became insurmountable.
Shooting aside, while Delaney and Vassallo were struggling, the third member of the exclusive big three, Jeff Allen, finished with just nine points on 3-for-8 shooting. Allen only managed to pull down three rebounds while being whistled for three fouls in the second half.
All three of Allen's fouls came from laziness. But then again, Allen has essentially followed the same general script all season.
First, he will miss an easy inside shot or get out-muscled under the rim for a rebound. Then, instead of getting back into position and setting up on defense, Allen lazily hacks at the ball or man from behind and gets called for a foul.
Allen has the potential to be great and is a valued player for Tech. But until he can establish consistency and learn to discipline himself, he will never cross the threshold from good to great.
Even though all followers of Hokie basketball have seen their fair share of close defeat, the run that Tech made midway through the second half is still memorable. After all, what basketball event in Blacksburg is complete without the traditional fall behind, comeback and eventually lose aspect?
Down 28, the Hokies came charging back with nine minutes to go, just as they have done all season long. A 13-0 run, capped by a Dorenzo Hudson steal and slam, brought the Hokies to within 15.
The Hokies came as close as 12, but ultimately it was too little, too late. Baylor's mental toughness suddenly reappeared, shots started falling, and Tech was never able to cut the lead to single digits. The Hokies never actually led against Baylor.
Delaney said it the best.
"We need to play like we played the last 11 minutes, every play," he said. "We couldn't get transition and easy buckets. No matter how (much) we are down we are still going to fight."
While Tech was trying to find a way back into the game, Baylor head coach Scott Drew was struggling with the complete opposite.
"It is different to play (with a 25-point advantage), because a lot of games when you get into conference play and the postseason, you don't get to that point," Drew said. "I slowed us down too much. I probably should have been more aggressive and kept us aggressive."
As the Bears from Waco, Texas, move on to face Auburn in the NIT quarterfinals, Tech must now spend another off-season evaluating its shortcomings and preparing for a new year. The team will graduate just two seniors, Vassalo and Diakite.
Vassallo, despite receiving praise from Greenberg, was far from enthused.
"I wanted to leave Tech winning a championship," he said. "I wanted to leave my mark. It just didn't want to go our way."
Such is life for all Tech fans. The ever-so-elusive run at a basketball championship in the NCAA tournament or NIT will have to wait another year.
And if next year's team still cannot complement their defense with a disciplined offense that scores points more frequently, Tech fans could be in for another long season.
"We are not where we want to be, but we sure aren't where we were," Greenberg said. "We have a lot of work to do, but we have a good core group to work with."