Much like the Cavalier supporters who retreated to the exits of John Paul Jones Arena in the final moments of the Hokies’ overtime win over Virginia Thursday night, so did the plethora of questions surrounding Seth Greenberg’s team.
The Hokies’ resilient, persistent play Thursday night was the definition of scrappy. Every time the Cavaliers pinned the visitors, Tech was able to kick out.
Up until this season, the Greenberg era has been marred by last-minute comebacks and half-court buzzer-beaters. You have yet to see that this season.
There is a certain sense of composure that has not been felt or witnessed for years now. This team is able to exert self-control and get the job done in late-game situations.
The win at Virginia marked the second straight game in which the Hokies pulled a win out of the fire in the final minutes of the game.
But this is not a trend that commenced with one-point win over Boston College at home a week and a half ago. See Penn State. See Seton Hall. See Delaware (although many would choose to ignore that one). All three wins for the Hokies either went down to the wire in regulation or were decided in overtime.
Tech has yet to lose a game by less than five points and that defeat, which came at the hands of Florida State in Tallahassee two and a half weeks ago, saw the Hokies trail by double-digits for most of the contest.
But the win in Charlottesville was by far the most important of any of the Hokies’ nail-biting victories this season merely because it was a conference victory that came on the road, something that is never taken for granted by any coach of a power conference program.
If I had been told to guess the outcome of Thursday night’s game after watching the first 15 minutes of play, I would have bet my soul that Virginia would go to win comfortably.
Then, straight out of a Tech thirty-second timeout, freshman Erick Green hit a three-point shot on which he was heavily guarded.
It all seemed to come together for the Hokies during the final five minutes of the first half. Everything thrown up seemed to fall for the visiting team. After Green’s shot cut the Cavaliers lead to nine, the Hokies went on a 15-5 run with Dorenzo Hudson and garnered a one-point lead heading into halftime.
If I was then given a chance to redeem myself and predict the end result following Jeff Allen’s ejection over a flagrant foul, which came early in the second half amidst a Cavalier 7-0 run, I still wouldn’t have given Tech the benefit of the doubt.
Virginia knew exactly where to hit Tech the moment that Allen began to head for the locker room too — down low.
The Hokies had immense trouble defending the Cavaliers’ low-post threat Mike Scott before Allen’s departure. But following the ejection, the 6’8” Scott and senior center Jerome Meyinsse were fed continually and both ended up producing ACC career-high scoring efforts.
Despite exiting at the 13:41 mark in the second half, Allen still ended up leading the Hokies in rebounds with seven on the night.
Malcolm Delaney continued his periodic acting jobs and panhandling for foul calls. Victor Davila continued to bobble the basketball in the key at crucial points in the game. Hudson continued to take too many shots, many of which seemed almost completely unguided.
At times, the defense was less than stellar and Virginia was left with several chances for open threes, many of which, luckily for Tech, did not fall.
The Hokies still managed to stay in the game and found a way to prevail, thanks in large part to the 17-point, eight rebound performance by J.T. Thompson, who came off the bench and notched seven of Tech’s 11 overtime points.
“The more plays we make for each other, the more trust that develops,” Greenberg said following Thursday night’s game. “It’s a process. We haven’t gotten it fixed. We were very, very fortunate.”
Don’t let the loss to Miami deter you from believing this Tech team is anything less than above-average in the ACC.
Every result must be perceived in terms of ability. The Hokies never had a chance to win Sunday’s game.
In fact, the game almost seemed like a rerun of the Florida State game when the Hokies trailed by double-digits for much of the game. They then slowly crept back into the contest with some clutch shooting, only to see the clock expire before they could catch up to the opponent. Too little too late.
But even though the two losses in Florida were anticlimactic in nature and everybody watching either game could sense right away that it was going to be a long day for the Hokies, nobody on the floor ever quit for the maroon and orange.
When Miami comes out and shoots over 60 percent from the field and 50 percent from beyond the arc, it’s going to be a long day for any team. Hurricane guards James Dews and Malcolm Grant seemed nothing short of automatic; that’s all there is to it.
You watch Duke effortlessly lose to Georgetown. You watch North Carolina’s at-large berth jeopardized. And you watch almost the entire conference play musical chairs week after week for spots in the backend of the top 25 poll.
And you realize there is no dominance.
There is not one matchup between any two of the 12 teams in the ACC right now in which a clear-cut favorite could be deemed.
The upcoming week is perhaps the most pivotal of any this season for Tech. The Hokies host North Carolina and Clemson, both of which have struggled of late and defeated Tech at Cassell last season
Seth Greenberg will be the first to tell you that an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament, especially one earned in the ACC, hinges on whether or not a team can win its conference home games.
The Tar Heels have lost four of their last five including a 15-point thrashing by that same Virginia team in Chapel Hill two nights ago. Clemson ended a three-game skid Sunday night with a big win over Maryland.
It is not a huge stretch of the imagination to picture this Tech team with 18 wins under its belt, come Saturday, February 6th — a whole month and eight games before the end of the regular season.
Two wins away from the magic conference number of 20 in early February would put this team well on pace to produce an overall record that would evoke memories of 1995-96 and 1972-73. These are two of Tech’s most successful campaigns, both in terms of regular and postseason play, in school history.