Danny K, Tiki and TomPosted Jan31, 2008 at 04:41 PMA couple of notes on two of Roanoke's finest sports alums: Just got an e-mail from Roanoke Star director Danny Beamer announcing that former soccer standout Danny Karbassiyoon has been named honorary president of Arsenal America, a club for U.S. fans of the famed English Premier League team. Karbassiyoon, a Northside graduate, became the youngest Yank to sign with Arsenal in 2004. He retired last season at age 22 after a series of knee injuries and became a North American scout for the club. One of his new duties will be to manage the Arsenal America team in the Supporters Club tournament, held in London every year. Good to see Danny doing well -- he's always had an impressive attitude, even when injuries were crippling his dreams. As for Tiki Barber, reader Robert Smith sent me a link to an accuscore column breaking down whether the Giants are better off without their former running back. Because they are in the Super Bowl, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the analysis will show that they are. Just a guess. And oh, yeah, Robert's a Tech fan and Tiki's a former Hoo, so take that for what it's worth. And we leave you today with another great piece of fake news from one of my favorite Web sites. --Aaron McFarling UVa-Maryland finalPosted Jan30, 2008 at 10:19 PMMaryland shot 51.9 percent from the field and got every rebound down the stretch in holding off Virginia 85-75 at Comcast Center. The Terps (13-8 overall, 3-3 ACC) led 13-2 to start the game and hit their first six shots from the field. Virginia (11-8, 1-5) ditched its customary man-to-man defense in favor of a 2-3 zone that Maryland riddled for seven 3-pointers in the first half. Virginia, which now has lost six of its last seven games and continues to fall deeper into the ACC cellar, got as close as 76-71 during a late-game rally that was sparked by senior guard Sean Singletary. Singletary, who has a hip pointer and was not cleared to play until 45 minutes before game time, scored 17 of his team-high 23 points in the second half and did not have a turnover for the first time in 75 games. Maryland scored on its last 11 possessions, including four trips when Virginia made a defensive stop, only to see the Terps grab an offensive rebound and either score or go to the free-throw line. The Cavaliers visit Virginia Tech on Saturday for a 1 p.m. tipoff. Hokies beat FSUPosted Jan29, 2008 at 11:58 PMMark Berman back here in Blacksburg, where the Virginia Tech men's basketball team held off Florida State 89-80. Tech is 4-3 in the conference. I am rather surprised to say the least. And Tech still has five home games left out of its nine remaining, so 8-8 in the league is actually realistic. AD Vassallo had 22 points for Tech, with Hank Thorns adding 15 and Malcolm Delaney 13. JT Thompson had 11 points. Deron Washington had 14 points and 10 rebounds. FSU shot 60 percent from the field in the second half, including 8-of-11 (72.7 percent) from 3-point range, to throw a scare into Tech. But the Hokies made enough free throws in the final minutes. Tech was 35-of-47 from the charity stripe. The Hokies led the entire second half even though they shot 38.5 percent from the field in the half, cooling off from the first half. Look for the game story in Wednesday's paper and online Wed., but I will also have a complete follow with plenty of quotes in Thursday's paper. Hokies up big at halftimePosted Jan29, 2008 at 09:59 PMMark Berman here in Blacksburg, where the Virginia Tech men's basketball team is up 42-24 at halftime of its game with Florida State. The Hokies jumped to an 18-4 lead with 11:02 left. AD Vassallo has 15 points and three 3-pointers for Tech, which is shooting 60.9 percent from the field. FSU has 11 turnovers, many unforced, and is shooting 38.1 percent from the field. Deron Washington is just 3-of-7 from the field but has seven points. JT Thompson, who again started, also has seven points. Jeff Allen, back from his two-game suspension, came off the bench. He has five points. RPI likes the winless teamsPosted Jan29, 2008 at 12:07 PMIt’s not too early to start thinking about who will make the field of 64 this year, so I took a look Monday at the RPI. Tennessee is No. 1, but the most interesting tidbit was found all the way at the end of the list. Eastern Illinois is last at No. 341 with a 2-17 record and Jacksonville State is 2-16 and No. 339. Both teams play in the Ohio Valley Conference. Both of them trail a winless team, which doesn’t say much for the OVC. North Florida is No. 338 and 0-18. New Jersey Institute of Technology is No. 340 and 0-21. Higher strength of schedule ratings saved these winless teams from being at the bottom. It sure seems like winning two games ought to count for something. When the NCAA dissects these numbers for tournament-worthy teams in March, it will be good to know that they rely on more than the RPI when you see things like this. — Jeff Gilbert In search of Tyrod's backup in 2009Posted Jan29, 2008 at 12:06 PMTyrod Taylor’s presence in Blacksburg sure is making it hard for Virginia Tech to recruit quarterbacks. The Hokies got a commitment from Ju-Ju Clayton on Wednesday, a quarterback from Richmond. The other schools at the top of his list were Army, William and Mary, Norfolk State and Youngstown State. Maybe the Tech staff knows something nobody else does, but after this year Clayton is the only backup to Taylor and he might not join the team until 2009 spring practice. A top quarterback for the class of 2009 is certainly a must in case Taylor is injured and Clayton is overmatched. — Jeff Gilbert Those tricky driving testsPosted Jan29, 2008 at 12:04 PMStarting this summer, a law goes into effect that will require most boaters in Virginia to eventually take and pass a boating education course. Tuesday the board of directors of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries was listening to a presentation about proposed testing requirements when one of the directors spoke up. “Is this going to be like the driver’s test?” he wondered. “Because I remember on that test they try to trick you. I had to take it twice to pass.” Everyone in the room burst into laughter. The concerned board member was professional stock car driver Ward Burton. — Mark Taylor UVa-Ga. Tech finalPosted Jan27, 2008 at 08:40 PMUVa has now lost five of six games after dropping a 90-82 overtime affair Sunday against visiting Georgia Tech. In its last three losses, Virginia has squandered leads of nine, 10 and 13 points, including a 48-35 advantage late in the first half Sunday. The Cavaliers went nine-of-18 on 3-pointers in the first half, then went 2-of-14 in the second half. Two-time first-team All-ACC selection Sean Singletary missed all six of his 3-point shots and was 5-of-19 from the field. Singletary is 9-of-30 from the field in his last two games, including a 69-67 loss Wednesday at Florida State. After going 24-2 in its first 26 games at John Paul Jones Arena, Virginia has lost two of its last three games, both in overtime to a pair of Techs, including Virginia Tech (70-69). The Cavaliers (11-7, 1-4) dropped deep into the ACC cellar, of which they already had sole possession. Georgia Tech is 10-9, 3-3 after its second ACC road victory in five days. UVa-GT halftimePosted Jan27, 2008 at 05:28 PMThe loser in four of its last five games, Virginia has hit nine of 18 3-point attempts to take a 48-38 lead over Georgia Tech after the first half at John Paul Jones Arena. Sophomore guard Calvin Baker leads all scorers with 13 points in 13 minutes. Five different UVa players have made 3-pointers but Sean Singletary is 0-for-2 from beyond the arc. Freshman center Mike Scott has seven points and six rebounds for UVa in his best outing of late. Hokies win at BCPosted Jan26, 2008 at 06:59 PMMark Berman back here at Boston College, where Virginia Tech beat BC 81-73 in OT. I did not see this one coming. Tech was without Jeff Allen, had never won here and was coming off back-to-back double-digit losses. Tech was playing for 2nd time in less than 48 hours while BC had not played since last Saturday. "Get a road win, that's a great thing," said JT Thompson, who had 14 points and 12 boards and a big steal while starting in Allen's place. "We had a great practice yesterday. We went an hour and 15 minutes hard," coach Seth Greenberg said. "The second game in 3 days, if we wanted to make it an issue, it would've been an issue. But I told you guys after the Duke game it wasn't an issue. We were not going to build that in, just like we're not building that we're young in for the reason we're turning it over or we're going to lose game. "We're not going to build in reasons why not. We're going to build in reasons why. From the second that Duke game ended, I didn't want to hear 36 hours. I didn't want to hear we don't have Jeff Allen." Deron Washington (19 points) made a layup to give Tech a 63-61 lead with 4:27 left in regulation, but Tech left the door open for BC by making no baskets and making just three of six free throws the rest of regulation. Tech also had two of its 8 turnovers in that stretch. BC's Rakim Sanders hit his only trey of the game to tie the score at 66 with 3.6 seconds left in regulation. But Hank Thorns hit a trey to give Tech a 71-68 lead with 3:37 left in OT. Thorns added a layup and Washington scored to extend the lead to 73-68 with 1:36 left and the Hokies led the rest of the way. BC's standout point guard, Tyrese Rice, had 27 points and four treys. But after making a 3 with 9:29 left in regulation, he had no baskets and made just two free throws the rest of the way. He had a big turnover late in regulation and missed two free throws during Tech's 7-0 run in OT. "We were switching on the ball screens," Greenberg said. "We were switching on the chase cuts and we were trying to make it harder for him to get [the ball] back." "Late in the second half they started leaving guys around the basket, so it made the lanes to the basket a lot harder to get to," Rice said. "We weren't running down the court as hard because we was a little tired. That played a part." "I tried my best to deny him and not let him get the ball back because without him they don't really run offense as well," Thorns said. "I started to learn in the second half. I studied him his first half." Hokies up at halftimePosted Jan26, 2008 at 04:57 PMMark Berman here in the city of champions, where the Virginia Tech men's basketball team surprisingly leads Boston College 41-33 at halfitme. Tech is 0-6 at Conte Forum, is playing its 2nd game in 3 days against a team that hasn't played since last Saturday and is minus suspended forward Jeff Allen. Deron Washington has 12 points for Tech, while Malcolm Delaney and JT Thompson each have eight points. BC took a 31-29 lead on back-to-back treys by Tyrese Rice, but the Hokies finished the half on a 12-3 run. Rice has 16 points for BC. The Eagles are shooting 41.9 percent from the field to Tech's 48.6 percent and Tech is leading the battle of the boards 22-20. Back with more after the game. Timesland basketball top 10sPosted Jan25, 2008 at 02:21 PMTimesland top 10 GIRLS Hokies fall to DukePosted Jan24, 2008 at 10:42 PMMark Berman back here in Blacksburg, where Duke beat the Virginia Tech men's basketball team 81-64. Duke led just 42-38 at halftime and just 42-41 early in the second half but built a 67-50 lead with 9:44 left. So, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, do you feel your team did certain things better in the second half, I asked. "Obviously," he said. "What do you think we did?" "What certain things did you like better?" I say. "What did you like?" he replied. "Well, I'm not getting paid the money you're [paid], so I want to hear you," I said. "I'm not getting paid money to answer your question, so then we're both just friends talking, right? Unless you're going to give me a few bucks," he said. "No, for free," I say. "For free? Just me and you? OK. "Well, obviously we played better defense. And we were strong. I thought our offensive execution was really good. And we rebounded the ball defensively where they didn't get multiple opportunities in the second half." Hokies trail Duke at halftimePosted Jan24, 2008 at 07:57 PMMark Berman here in snowy Blacksburg, where the Virginia Tech men's basketball team trails fourth-ranked Duke 42-38 at halftime. Turnovers, missed layups and missed free throws have hurt the Hokies. Virginia Tech is playing without suspended power forward Jeff Allen, who averages 12.8 points and 8.1 rebounds. Duke scored seven straight points to build a 21-10 lead with 10:52 left in the first half. Down 34-24 with 4:56 to go in the half, Tech went on a 14-5 run to cut the lead to 39-38 with 52 seconds left. But Duke's Taylor King buried a 3-pointer with 34 seconds left. Duke has shot 53.6 percent from the field and is 5-of-11 from 3-point range. Tech has shot 42.4 percent from the field and is 1-of-5 from 3-point range. Tech is 9-of-13 from the free-throw line. The Hokies have committed 10 turnovers. DeMarcus Nelson has nine points and Greg Paulus eight for Duke. AD Vassallo has nine points for Tech, with Deron Washington and JT Thompson adding seven points each. Tech went with a small starting lineup. Thompson and Dorenzo Hudson started in place of center Cheick Diakite and the suspended Allen. Malcolm Delaney went to the bench with two fouls with 17:46 left in the half, but after a Hank Thorns turnover, coach Seth Greenberg put Delaney back in with 14:52 left. Delaney played nine minutes in the half. Back with more after the game. UVa-Florida StatePosted Jan23, 2008 at 10:28 PMThe Virginia men's basketball team has now lost three games by either one or two points after dropping a 69-67 decision Wednesday night at Florida State. Virginia (11-6 overall, 1-3 ACC) led 60-53 before Florida State's Ryan Reid hit a pair of free throws with 5:28 left and ignited a 9-0 FSU run. Senior guard Toney Douglas had a team-high 19 points for the Seminoles (13-7, 2-3) and shut down two-time All-ACC guard Sean Singletary, who had 11 points for the Cavaliers. Singletary needed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to extend his double-figure scoring streak to 39 games and he had five turnovers, two coming in the final 2:40. Mamadi Diane had a season-high 21 points for the Cavaliers, who are now tied for last in the conference. "Sean wasn't Sean today," UVa coach Dave Leitao said. UVa-Boston CollegePosted Jan19, 2008 at 10:48 PMVirginia got a command performance from senior point guard Sean Singletary on Saturday night and avoided a four-game losing streak with an 84-66 victory over Boston College at John Paul Jones Arena. Singletary had 19 points and tied career highs with 10 assists and six steals. It was the fourth double-double of his college career and the second in succession. Junior Mamadi Diane had a season-high 20 points for UVa (11-5 overall, 1-2 ACC) and senior Adrian Joseph had 17 points, all in the second half. It was the first conference loss for the Eagles (12-5, 3-1). Boston College was hurt by its 11-for-24 performance at the free-throw line. The Eagles got 20 points from Richmond product Tyrese Rice, but Rice was only 6-for-16 from the field. Hokies fall to Georgia TechPosted Jan19, 2008 at 05:51 PMMark Berman back here in Atlanta, where the Virginia Tech men's basketball team lost to Georgia Tech 81-70. The Hokies had 24 turnovers, incluidng seven by AD Vassallo and four by Hank Thorns. They also missed 12 of their 36 free throws. Ga. Tech shot 47.3 percent from the field. "Our immaturity really showed," Hokies coach Seth Greenberg said. "We just made some really bad decisions. We weren't strong with the ball. . . To win a game on the road you've got to execute for 40 minutes. You can't execute for about 15 or 17. "I told them exactly what was going to transpire today and we did not understand that. The message was sent. I'm not sure the message was received. I told them this was going to be a physical game. I told them we had to be strong with the ball, that we had to be able to compete on the defensive end containing the basketball and we had to take care of the ball. I don't think we were as attentive to what we had to do as we needed to be. I told them a 1 o'clock game is a different game and you've got to be ready when the ball goes up." Matt Causey, a reserve point guard who had not scored more than 11 points in a game this season and was averaging 4.9 ppg, had 30 points and seven 3-pointers for the Jackets. "He kept on getting wide-open shots," Deron Washington said. "Their focus on [Anthony Morrow and Lewis Clinch] opened up shots for me," Causey said. Causey was 9-of-14 from the field, including 7-of-12 from 3-point range. "The kid's got a lot of courage," Jackets coach Paul Hewitt said with a laugh. "Matt just made huge plays." The Hokies could be headed for a 3-game skid, with Duke coming to town Thursday, followed by a visit to Boston College two days later. "Are you Kreskin?" Greenberg said. "I didn't know you were Kreskin. You can predict the future? I'm not worried about predicting the future. ... You must be really smart because you must know the future. What's going to happen to the stock market on Monday?" The turnovers included one on a shot-clock violation and two when the Hokies couldn't inbound the ball in time. "We weren't strong with the ball. We didn't meet passes. We hung guys out to dry a little," Greenberg said. "We played too fast." Timesland high school basketball Top 10sPosted Jan19, 2008 at 03:15 PMBOYS Hokies down at halftimePosted Jan19, 2008 at 01:58 PMMark Berman here in snowy Atlanta, where the Virginia Tech men's basketball team trails Georgia Tech 37-23 at halftime. The Hokies have looked brutal on offense, even though the Yellow Jackets are the only ACC team with a losing overall record and rank last in the league in scoring defense and field-goal-percentage defense. The Yellow Jackets, who threw a scare into North Carolina on Wednesday before falling 83-82, have led for most of the first half. They are shooting 50 percent from the field, making up for being 4-of-12 from the free-throw line. The Hokies' shooting woes continue; they are shooting 33.3 percent from the field. Virginia Tech ranks next to last in the ACC in scoring offense and field-goal percentage. Anthony Morrow has 12 points for the Yellow Jackets, as does backup Matt Causey. They have combined for 7 3-pointers. Deron Washington is 1-of-5 from the field. The Hpkies have turned the ball over eight times. Seth Greenberg has picked up his second technical foul in ACC play this season. The Hokies have won three straight games and the Yellow Jackets have lost three straight. Back with more on the likely loss a few hours after the game. High school basketball postponementsPosted Jan18, 2008 at 02:55 PMPOSTPONEMENTS Porcha firedPosted Jan17, 2008 at 07:13 PMVirginia Tech fired assistant women's basketball coach George Porcha on Wednesday. The official reason is “philosophical differences" with the coach who was expected to use his ties with AAU and the Boo Williams Summer camp to improve the quality of Tech’s recruiting. --Katrina Waugh Top Timesland Swim Times (through Jan. 16)Posted Jan17, 2008 at 04:14 PMGIRLS 200 FREE 1:57.44 – Ali Horn (Cave Spring) GIRLS 200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY 2:10.28 – Susanna White (Jefferson Forest) Continue reading "Top Timesland Swim Times (through Jan. 16)" » UVa postgame notesPosted Jan16, 2008 at 10:25 PMVIRGINIA BASKETBALL Team Notes Player Career Highs Arena Records Hokies beat Virginia in OTPosted Jan16, 2008 at 09:18 PMDeron Washington's driving layup as time expired gave Virginia Tech a 70-69 overtime victory Wednesday night at John Paul Jones Arena and the Hokies' first triumph in Charlottesville in 40 years. The Hokies (11-6 overall, 2-0) rallied from a nine-point deficit in the last 9:47 minute of regulation and a five-point deficit in the overtime to spoil a 34-point night by Virginia senior Sean Singletary. It was the third straight loss for the Cavaliers (10-5, 0-2). It was only the third loss for the Cavaliers in 27 games at JPJ. "Part of it is not learning the proper lessons every day in practice and part of it is the fact that we don't play with enough swagger and confidence," UVa coach Dave Leitao said. "We rely on things that other teams can and do take away. So, when that happens, you get down to the final stages of games and you hope that things will happen as opposed to expecting things will happen." Until Washington's game-winning shot, the Hokies had not made a field goal since a 3-pointer by Washington with 4:12 remaining in regulation. "There's nothing special that we did," Tech coach Seth Greenberg said. "It's one stop, one rebound, one roll of the ball. That's the difference between having a good ride home and questioning everything that you're doing." Junior A.D. Vassallo had 22 points to lead the Hokies, who had lost nine straight games in Charlottesville dating back to the 1969-70 season. Tech shot 35.7 percent from the floor but outrebounded the Cavaliers 47-39. UVa shot 38.1 percent. Cavs lead Hokies at halftimePosted Jan16, 2008 at 07:49 PMMark Berman here from Charlottesville, where the Virginia men's basketball team leads Virginia Tech 38-34 at halftime. UVa-Duke quotesPosted Jan14, 2008 at 11:01 AMQuotes: Duke 87, Virginia 65 Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski On defending the Cavaliers, led by guard Sean Singletary: On what he thought of the play of Lance Thomas, who was questionable entering the game: On matching up with Virginia’s rebounding ability: On starting off ACC play with tonight’s performance:
On the first game of the ACC regular season: On defending Sean Singletary: “Rebounding was a key. We knew that they were a three-point-shooting team, especially in transition. So we knew that they were going to take a lot of threes, and our job was to rebound those long misses when they did occur and then push it. We knew that their defensive balance was going to bad when they were taking perimeter shots. That was our key emphasis – just to rebound and then run.”
On the start to his second ACC regular season:
“We were really active on defense. Guys were in the passing lanes, pressuring the ball, and really imposing our will on them. We didn’t shoot the ball crazy well tonight. We hit shots at times but our defense was really what pushed us throughout the game.” “This is the way we need to play. We’re not going to play every game like we did tonight, but we’re going to go out and try to. We’re going to make more shots – that’s going to happen – but our defense is something that can be constant.”
On the team needing more of Calvin Baker’s having success taking the ball to the basket when he was pressured outside: On calling a timeout only two possessions into the game and if he saw some of the same problems that his team had at the beginning of their game with Xavier: On the thought process starting Calvin Baker over Jeff Jones and whether that’s a permanent thing: Hokies beat TerrapinsPosted Jan12, 2008 at 06:23 PMMark Berman back here in Blacksburg, where the Virginia Tech men's basketball team rallied to beat Maryland 67-66. "It's going to be a big confidence booster for us, and also a lesson that we can learn from, how hard we have to play to come out on top and win games at the end," Deron Washington said. The Terps led 66-61 with 1:46 left, but Hank Thorns hit a jumper with 1:28 to go and Malcolm Delaney sank a 3-pointer to tie the score with 52 seconds left. After Washington stole the ball from James Gist, Jeff Allen hit one of two free throws with 12.4 seconds left for Tech's first lead of the second half. Greivis Vasquez, with Washington putting a hand in his face, missed a 3-pointer with two seconds left and AD Vassallo got the rebound. "He was trying to flop, so I tried to just get a hand up and tried not to touch him," Washington said. "I just contested his shot because I saw he was off-balance." "We just made one more play," Tech coach Seth Greenberg said. "We had two freshmen make back-to-back tough shots and one freshman make one of two free throws. "It came down to getting stops and doing a good job of keeping Greivis in front of us." Tech had been 2-5 in games decided by six or fewer points this season. A loss today would have crushed the Hokies, said Greenberg. "Brad [Greenberg, Seth's' brother and former assistant}, the philosopher of the family, would always say that it's one play, the difference between actually tasting your food tonight and wanting to throw it up," Greenberg said. "You get a stop at the end and life is good. He makes that shot and you're sick. There's nothing that can get you of that funk." Hokies down at halftimePosted Jan12, 2008 at 02:58 PMMark Berman here in Blacksburg, where the Va. Tech men's basketball team trails Maryland 33-27 at halftime. Timesland swim times (through Jan. 10)Posted Jan11, 2008 at 10:51 AM
GIRLS 200 FREE 1:57.50 – Lauren Hines (Hidden Valley) GIRLS 200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY 2:10.28 – Susanna White (Jefferson Forest) Hokies win bigPosted Jan07, 2008 at 10:08 PMMark Berman back here in Blacksburg, where the Virginia Tech men's basketball team cruised to a 79-49 win over Charleston Southern. The 9-6 Hokies had their fast break clicking. "We saw (in practice) how we had to run and push the ball up the court and get wide-open shots, and how that's going to help us win games" Deron Washington said. "We learned from that because we got the ball up the court and got some wide-open shots." "We've got to try to run to score easy baskets," coach Seth Greenberg said. "It's hard to score, especially with a young team, so if we can some easy baskets, that'd be great. The easiest way to do that to me is run." Next up for Tech is ACC action Saturday against Maryland. Is Tech, which is already 0-1 in league play, ready for the ACC? "I was born ready. I'm from Vegas," freshman point guard Hank Thorns said. "Hopefully this is a confidence booster for (the freshmen)," said AD Vassallo, who had 21 points. "We're making progress," Greenberg said. Deron Washington and Hank Thorns had 10 points apiece. Jeff Allen had 10 points and 10 rebounds. Tech had 12 steals, 25 assists and just 10 turnovers. Cheick Diakite had eight points and seven rebounds off the bench, earning the praise of Greenberg. Hokies up big at halftimePosted Jan07, 2008 at 07:50 PMMark Berman here at Cassell Coliseum, where the Virginia Tech men's basketball team leads Charleston Southern 40-24 at halftime. Odd losing streak for OSUPosted Jan05, 2008 at 09:43 PMOhio State is on the verge of extending an unusual losing streak. The Ohio State football team lost to Florida in the BCS national championship game last season. The OSU men’s basketball team fell to Florida in the NCAA tournament title game last spring. The OSU men’s soccer team lost to Wake Forest in the NCAA men’s soccer title game last month (hey, at least the ACC is good in one fall sport). On Monday, the OSU football team could lose in the BCS title game yet again, this time to LSU. The streak is unfortunate, although it's a skid many schools wouldn't mind having. — Mark Berman More on Tech basketball lossPosted Jan03, 2008 at 09:33 PMMark Berman back here from Richmond, where the Tech men's basketball team lost to the Spiders 52-49. "Very disappointed," Tech coach Seth Greenberg said. "We didn't run as well as I would've liked, obviously didn't offensive rebound as well as we would've liked. "We didn't play as well as we were capable of playing. ... We're not going to use our youth as an excuse. ... It's not like our veterans did a great job." Tech had 24 turnovers. The UR defense "caught us by surprise," AD Vassalllo said. "It's something we haven't seen the whole year. The defense they were playing it was incredible.It was just like Coach said, they'll be all over the place, they'll be running in gaps. They did a great job. They disrupted us the whole night." Richmond, which has lost to the likes of Norfolk State and Marist this season, had 13 steals. Deron Washington and Jeff Allen had six turnovers apiece. "We talked to the guys about pressure in the timeout, and we were just immature, plain and simple," Greenberg said. "They jump out in those passing lanes. You've got to be strong with the ball. They're kind of sneaky with that. ... Jeff had some balls knocked out of his hands in the beginning of the second half. We got the ball inside pretty good and really didn't get a lot out of it. "We're just not being good with the ball. We have certain guys on the team that are turning it over multiple times." Orange Bowl updatesPosted Jan03, 2008 at 08:09 PMSCORING SUMMARY Well, Tech will have to eat another cake without icing this year. For the fourth time in five years, the Hokies lose in a bowl game. This time it's a 24-21 defeat to upstart Kansas in the Orange Bowl. |