Tech falls in ACC Semis; NIT bound
With the win, the Hokies gained their first quality RPI win of the 2007-08 season and kept their tournament run alive.
Malcolm Delaney got off to a hot start for Tech. The freshman point guard scored eight of his team's first 10 points.
"I think I helped the team out more than any other game," said Delaney who finished with 15 points. "It's probably the best game I've played."
It wasn't just Delaney who was on his game in the early going; the Hokie defense made it difficult for the Hurricanes. Tech drew offensive fouls and forced several Miami turnovers in the first half.
"We can't defend the way we defended tonight if we don't trust each other," Greenberg said. "You can't help off the passer. You can't extend the screen. You can't chase guys … without knowing that someone's got your back."
A 7-0 Hokie run saw the Virginia Tech lead grow as large as eight points, at 21-13, little more than 10 minutes into the first half.
Making the run somewhat more impressive is that it was done without Tech's Deron Washington who went to the bench at the 13:59 mark for the remainder of the first half with two personal fouls.
It was at that point that Greenberg's team went from being red-hot to ice-cold offensively. The Hurricanes capitalized on a 7:14 Hokie scoring drought by going on a 10-0 run to gain a 23-21 lead.
The run was aided and abetted by terrible Tech shooting and several Hokie turnovers.
But Tech would come back and score the half's remaining six points securing a 27-23 lead at the break.
While the Hokies as a whole had their fair share of problems in the first half, Jeff Allen had well more than his fair share of problems of his own. The freshman forward was 1-6 from the field in the first half and committed four turnovers.
Allen's saving grace was his six offensive rebounds.
"He was a little bit frustrated, but he was getting good looks," Greenberg said of the man who finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds. "He was really defending hard and he was rebounding the ball. I just said 'Keep on playing. Something good's going to happen.'"
Tech's Lewis Witcher and Allen each picked up their third personal fouls and each was relegated to the bench less than 3:30 into the second half.
Although the Hokies would pick it up, they wouldn't do so immediately. From that point, the Hokies and Hurricanes were involved in a one-possession game until an A.D. Vassallo jumper in the paint gave the Hokies a 46-42 lead at the 7:46 mark.
Baskets by Washington and Vassallo got the Hokies into rhythm offensively. They were followed up by a Washington rainmaking three-pointer, making the score 58-44.
"(When) everybody's getting relaxed it makes the game so much easier -- even the big shots that people were making," said Washington who finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
A Delaney free throw would give the Hokies their largest lead of the game -- 15 points.
Despite the scoring, it wasn't just the points that made the difference this time around against the 'Canes -- it was the boards.
Miami owned a 15 rebound advantage in its 74-71 victory Feb. 9 in Blacksburg, but the tables were turned this time around. The Hokies owned a 26 rebounding margin Friday.
Although they carried high hopes going into their semifinal matchup with North Carolina, a Tyler Hansbrough jumper from the baseline with 0.8 seconds remaining cost Tech a shot at the NCAA Tournament.
"I told Seth (Greenberg) after the game -- and I meant it -- that I thought they really out-played us," said North Carolina head coach Roy Williams. "We were very fortunate and made a couple of plays at the end."
The Hokies fell to the ACC Tournament's top seed, and nation's No. 1 team, 68-66 in the first semifinal game Saturday afternoon.
"We basically controlled the game for 39:59 seconds," Greenberg said. "If anyone watching that game that knows anything about basketball -- if you don't think this team is one of the top 65 teams in the country, you're certifiably insane. Because I don't know who else could come into this environment, basically play a road game -- whoever else is on the bubble, and play those guys the way we just played them."
In fact, the Hokies managed to score the first four points coming out of the timeout en route to an 11-7 lead less than five minutes into the game.
"We came out … and we were playing with them," said Washington. "I think that boosted our confidence."
It showed. Tech didn't just continue to outplay North Carolina coming out of the first media timeout, heading into the third such break in the action. The Hokies found themselves up on the Heels 29-21 thanks to a 9-0 Tech run that ended in a second momentous three-pointer by Deron Washington in as many games.
The Tar Heels didn't draw even with the Hokies again until ACC Player of the Year Tyler Hansbrough sank two free throws at the 3:15 mark in the first half.
"The game had to do with Hansbrough and that's why he's player of the year," Greenberg said.
North Carolina's Ty Lawson sank two free-throws with 9.7 seconds remaining in the half to bring the scored to a tie at 38 heading into the intermission. The score may have favored the Hokies if not for a few 50-50 calls that went against Tech.
"It's frustrating," said Washington who fouled out with 14 points. "(But) two seconds later we put it behind us and we were ready to play."
Carrying the Hokies in the first half was the play of Malcolm Delaney and A.D. Vassallo. Delaney scored 10 in the first frame while Vassallo scored 11. The only other Tech player in double figures by halftime was Jeff Allen who snagged 10 rebounds.
Tech started the second half in better fashion than it did the first. It outscored North Carolina 10-4 in the first 4:45 of the half, which was good for a 48-42 lead going into the frame's first media timeout.
Tech got out to a 50-42 lead before a Hansbrough dunk ended a North Carolina scoring drought that lasted 3:34. The Hokies could've gone up by more, but Washington and Dorenzo Hudson each missed an open look at a three-pointer.
The Tar Heels cut the Tech lead to only two, and gained momentum, before a Washington drive that resulted in an old-fashioned three-point play and a Delaney floater each helped the Hokie cushion reach five points.
The Hokie fans erupted when, out of a timeout, Washington threw down a one-handed alley-oop over Carolina's Danny Green.
"It was a set play," said Washington. "Green was just sitting under the basket and Malcolm threw the ball up high enough where Green couldn't get it, but he knew I could get to it."
That Washington highlight reel dunk was followed by a 3:32 scoring drought that saw the Tar Heels tie the game at 59 on a Wayne Ellington three-pointer with 3:14 remaining in regulation.
A Delaney three-pointer was matched by another by Ellington on the ensuing possession and the Tar Heels took their first the lead since the 16:51 mark of the first half. Ellington was fouled on a three-pointer by Washington, who fouled out on the play, and sank two of three free throws to give his team a 66-64 lead.
"Basically, I just got in a rhythm," said Ellington who finished with 15 points. "I felt good. I just feel really confident in situations that I'm going to make shots when the game's on the line and we've got to step up and get some buckets."
A blocking foul on the ensuing possession gave Vassallo a chance to tie the ballgame at the charity stripe, which he did.
A Hank Thorns steal gave the Hokies the ball with 0:50 remaining. A missed jumper by North Carolina native J.T. Thompson gave the Tar Heels the ball and the opportunity to convert on the game's final shot.
"I thought we had it," said Thorns. "I thought we sealed the deal … I guess they had the luck of the draw this time."
The Hokies didn't seal the deal and were one of a handful of teams competing for one of the final at-large spots in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. Greenberg tried to sell his team's March Madness stock after the game, but it just didn't do enough to get his team into the Big Dance.
Tech was left on the outside looking in, and was not selected by the NCAA Tournament committee. As a consolation, the Hokies received a No. 1 seed in the National Invitational Tournament, where they will take on Morgan State at Cassell Coliseum at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
