Tech to play Wisconsin in ACC-Big Ten ChallengePosted Apr15, 2008 at 02:14 PMVirginia Tech drew defending Big Ten champ Wisconsin in next season's ACC-Big Ten Challenge. The Hokies will host the Badgers on Monday, Dec. 1. It will be the teams' first meeting. Virginia will visit Tubby Smith and Minnesota the following night. It will be the third time the schools have faced each other in the Challenge. Here's the complete lineup, with times and TV yet to be announced. Monday, Dec. 1 Wisconsin at Virginia Tech Tuesday, Dec. 2 Duke at Purdue Clemson at Illinois Ohio State at Miami Virginia at Minnesota Iowa at Boston College Wednesday, Dec. 3 North Carolina vs. Michigan State (Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan) Indiana at Wake Forest Michigan at Maryland Florida State at Northwestern Penn State at Georgia Tech
Hokies lose in NIT quarterfinalsPosted Mar26, 2008 at 10:37 PMMark Berman back here in Blacksburg, where the Virginia Tech men's basketball team saw its season end with an 81-72 loss to Ole Miss in the NIT quarterfinals Ole Miss, not Tech, will be off to the semifinals in NYC The Hokies were outrebounded a whopping 46-23. Dwayne Curtis had 17 points and 11 boards, and fellow senior Kenny Willliams had 10 points and 11 boards. "We had to get ready for a physical game, and it seemed like we didn't respond," said Deron Washington, who had 23 points. "Those are some real big guys. .... They were pushing us out. It was a little tougher because we're an athletic team. We don't have that much size. When the guy can just push in from underneath the basket, it's pretty tough to get rebounds." "A lot of that has to do with their scheme," coach Seth Greenberg said. "We're stepping out on those ball screens and give those guys angles to get to the offensive glass. "When we stepped out on them, they get penetration. ... The guy that's rotating back has a hard time getting inside to block out and they're just pushing us underneath the basket. And those guys are fourth- and fifth-year seniors. We're rebounding agains them with a sophomore and two freshmen. "We weren't getting the loose balls and we weren't rebounding the basketball. They were just a little quicker and a little more aggressive." Ole Miss had 16 offensive boards. "They were shooting the ball and the big guys or whoever were getting rebounds and scoring," Washington said. "It made it hard for us to get out and run." It was Washington's Tech swan song. "It's pretty tough, knowing my career is over here," he said. "It was a pretty fun journey. ... It's been a fun ride. I'm going to miss it." Ole Miss shot 49.2 percent from the field - the highest percentage by a VT foe since UNC shot 50 percent in Chapel Hill last month Hokies down at halftimePosted Mar26, 2008 at 07:49 PMMark Berman here in Blacksburg, where Virginia Tech trails Ole Miss 33-31 at halftime in the NIT quarterfinals. After 2 straight NIT routs, Tech has itself a game tonight. When Ole Miss took a 16-15 lead with 12:02 left in the half, it was the first time Tech has trailed in this tournament since Morgan State took the lead with 11:55 left in the first-round game. Ole Miss entered the game averaging 7.7 3-pointers and outrebounding its foes by 5 boards per game. The Rebels are living up to their billing, They are 4-of-9 from 3-point range and outrebounding VT a whopping 28-13. AD Vassallo has 10 points but is just 4-of-12 from the field, including 2-of-6 from 3-point range. Ole Miss is shooting 35.5 percent from the field, while VT is shooting 37.1 percent. Tech is 5-of-16 from 3-point range. Chris Warren and David Huertas each has 8 points for Ole Miss. Back with more after the game. Hokies beat UABPosted Mar24, 2008 at 11:52 PMMark Berman back here in Blacksburg, where Virginia Tech cruised to a 75-49 win over UAB in the second round of the NIT. The top-seeded Hokies will play second-seeded Mississippi in the quarterfinals at 7 pm Wednesday in Blacksburg on ESPN2.' It's hard to see Tech losing that game, considering another near-capacity crowd turned out Monday. Tech held UAB to 36.2 percent shoooting from the field, including 3-of-18 from 3-point range. All-Conference USA first-team pick Robert Vaden had just nine points. He was 3-of-17 from the field, including 1-of-12 from 3-point range. Deron Washington had 16 points and guarded Vaden for much of the game. AD Vassallo had 18 points and four of Tech's nine treys. Malcolm Delaney had 17 points and three treys. JT Thompson had eight points and seven boards. He was 4-of-4 from the field. Game story and column in Tuesday's late-edition paper and online Tuesday. Hokies up at halftimePosted Mar24, 2008 at 09:53 PMMark Berman here from Blacksburg, where the Virginia Tech men's basketball team leads UAB 36-21 at halftime in the second round of the NIT. The Hokies, who made their first 15 shots of the second half in last week's first-round win over Morgan State, made seven of their first eight shots tonight, including going 3-of-3 from 3-point range. Tech built a 19-7 lead with 15:39 to go. UAB's top player, All-Conference USA first-team pick Robert Vaden, played only 16 minutes because of foul trouble. He played with 2 fouls for part of the time. He picked up a foul in the first 30 seconds, causing UAB coach Mike Davis to go livid. Vaden, a 3-point ace, is 1-of-9 from the field, including 0-of-5 from 3-point range. He has just two points. Tech has shot 46.7 percent from the field to the Blazers' 35.7 percent. UAB has 10 turnovers to Tech's three. Deron Washington has 11 points. AD Vsssallo is 2-of-2 from long range but went to the bench with his 2nd foul with 7:45 to go. Malcolm Delaney has nine points and two 3-pointers. Previewing Tech vs. UABPosted Mar24, 2008 at 02:52 PMUAB at Virginia Tech Records: Tech 20-13; UAB 23-10 TV: ESPN Tech probable starters: F Deron Washington (127 ppg), F Jeff Allen (12.1 ppg), C Lewis Witcher (2.6 ppg), G A.D. Vassallo (16.9 ppg), G Malcolm Delaney (9.2 ppg). UAB probable starters: 6-10 F Jeremy Mayfield (4.3 rpg), F Reggie Huffman (7.6 ppg), G-F Robert Vaden (21.4 ppg), G Channing Toney (10.8 ppg), G Aaron Johnson (5.2 ppg). Notes: Tech is the top seed in its eight-team NIT bracket, with UAB seeded fifth. UAB won 80-77 at VCU in the first round. … The Blazers went 12-4 in Conference USA, including a 79-78 loss to Memphis last month. Vaden, who has a school-record 686 points this season, made the all-conference first team. Forward Lawrence Kinnard, who averages 11.2 points and 6.8 rebounds off the bench, was a third-team pick. … The Blazers, who have won 15 of their last 19 games, are steered by former Indiana coach Mike Davis. His son is on the team. … Toney, a Georgia transfer, is the son of former Philadelphia 76ers guard Andrew Toney. … Backup guard Tyler Marsh is the son of UAB assistant Donnie Marsh, who was a Tech assistant under Ricky Stokes. … Tech boosters donated another 3,000 tickets to Tech students for tonight’s game. … If Tech wins, it will face the Nebraska-Mississippi winner at 7 or 9 p.m. Wednesday on ESPN2. Men's Division III basketball final: Washington winsPosted Mar22, 2008 at 04:49 PMUpated: 6:06 p.m. Washington U. center Troy Ruths was too much to handle for Amherst on Saturday at the Salem Civic Center. Ruths scored 33 points and got plenty of outside shooting help from his teammates and Washington won its first national championship 90-68. Amherst (27-4) failed to defend the championship in won in Salem last year. Washington (25-6) saw its 13-point halftime lead shrink to 55-49 with 15:09 left on a basket by Brian Baskauskas. But Washington went on a 14-2 run over the next five minutes to build a 69-51 lead. The lead remained in double digits for the remainder of the game. Aaron Thompson added 19 points and Tyler Nading 13 for Washington. Fletcher Walters led Amherst with 17 points and Andrew Olson had 16 points and six assists. Ruths was named the Most Outstanding Player of the final four. Joining him on the all-tournament team was teammate Thompson and Amherst's Olson and Derek Van Solkema of Hope and John Noonan of Ursinus. 4:45 p.m. Saturday Amherst's quest to win consecutive national championships in Salem is in danger at halftime. The Lord Jeffs trail Washington U. of St. Louis 45-32. It was all Troy Ruths in the low post for much of the first half for the Bears as he wheeled and dealed in the lane for 17 points. He scored in a variety of ways or was able to get to the free-throw line as Amherst used four different players to guard the 6-foot-6 center. The Lord Jeffs opened with 6-10 Kevin Hopkins, then went to 6-7 Brandon Jones, 6-6 Matt Goldsmith off the bench and 6-6 Mike Holsey off the bench. Holsey, probably the best leaper on the floor, didn't play in Friday's semifinal until the final minutes when the outcome was no longer in doubt. Ruths scored 30 in Friday's semifinal win over Hope. The Bears look for Ruths every time down the floor. But when they can't get him the ball, they had plenty of other shooters, led by Aaron Thompson with 11 points and Tyler Nading with seven. Amherst point guard Andrew Olson, who dominated Friday's semifinal win over Ursinus with a triple-double, couldn't find many good open shots. He had only six points but had four important assists, two on backdoor plays. His assists came at a time when the Lord Jeffs were cutting a 25-12 lead to 35-27 with 3:36 to play in the half. From there, Washington closed the half with a 10-5 run. -- Jeff Gilbert Amherst returns to Division III finalPosted Mar21, 2008 at 07:25 PMAmherst will play for it's second straight Division III men's basketball title Saturday at Salem Civic Center. The Lord Jeffs dominated Ursinus on Friday in an 84-58 romp and will play Washington, Mo., on Saturday at 4 p.m. Washington defeated Hope 89-74. Point guard Andrew Olson had what he said was the first triple-double of his life with 21 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds. His previous rebounding high was six. Ursinus star Nick Shattuck was held to 10 points on 3 of 16 shooting. He was playing on two injured ankles and an injured heel. Troy Ruths scored 30 points to lead Washington. -- Jeff Gilbert Tech to play at 9 p.m. MondayPosted Mar21, 2008 at 12:24 PMVirginia Tech will host UAB at 9 p.m. Monday in the second round of the NIT. The game will air on ESPN. If Tech wins, it will host the Nebraska-Ole Miss winner at 7 or 9 Wednesday on ESPN2, with a berth in the semifinals at Madison Square Garden on the line Hokies beat Morgan State in NITPosted Mar19, 2008 at 10:33 PMMark Berman back here in Blacksburg, where the Virginia Tech men's basketball team beat Morgan State 94-62 in the first round of the NIT in front of more than 9,000 fans. "They shot the cover off the ball, .... great crowd, the NCAA pissed them off, so there was a whole lot of different things," Bears coach Todd Bozeman said. The Hokies will face UAB in the second round on Monday at a time to be determined. UAB won 80-77 at VCU in another first-round game. Tech, left out of the NCAA field, is two wins away from the NIT final four at Madison Square Garden. "We had probably the two best practices we had in awhile," said AD Vassallo, who had 27 points and three treys and was 11-of-14 from the field. "Everybody was focused. Everybody is pulling in the same direction -- going to New York and trying to win this tournament." The Hokies shot 65.4 percent from the field, including a school-record 82.6 percent in the second half. "We came and had two good days of practice and it carried over to the game," said Malcolm Delaney, who had 13 points and three treys. "When we get stops, the offense runs well. We're a good transition team and when we got stops, we got out and ran, and that got the crowd into it. And when the crowd gets into it, I think we pick it up to another level." "We was just making the extra pass, getting open shots," Deron Washington said. "It made the game so much easier. AD was knocking every shot down. We was running on the break, getting rebounds, running on the break and getting layups, getting wide-open shots in the corner." Hokies lead Morgan State at halftimePosted Mar19, 2008 at 07:51 PMMark Berman here in Blacksburg, where the Virginia Tech men's basketball team leads Morgan State 40-25 in the first round of the NIT. The game is being played in front of a near-capacity crowd. AD Vassallo already has 19 points. He and Malcolm Delaney each have three 3-pointers. The Hokies are shooting 51.7 percrent from the field to Morgan State's 37.9 percent. Cal transfer Marquise Kately has 11 points for the Bears. MEAC Player of the Year Jamar Smith, who missed the team's MEAC title game loss Saturday with a bruised foot, has scored four points off the bench. Down 16-14 with 11:55 to go, the Hokies went on an 18-5 run to build a 32-21 cushion with 6:25 to go. The Hokies have six 3-pointers, one more than their season average. Back with more after the game. Tech to host Morgan State in NITPosted Mar16, 2008 at 09:09 PMMark Berman back in Blacksburg with NIT news. Virginia Tech will host Morgan State at 7 p.m. Wednesday on ESPN Classic. Morgan State got an automatic NIT bid as the MEAC regular-season champ. Tech is the top seed in its bracket, with Morgan State the 8 seed. There are 32 teams in the entire field. If VT wins, it will face the VCU-UAB winner in the second round. VCU is the 4 seed and UAB the 5 seed. The other teams in Tech's bracket are No. 3 Nebraska vs. No. 6 Charlotte, and No. 2 Ole Miss vs. No. 7 UC Santa Barbara Hokies DONT MAKE NCAAsPosted Mar16, 2008 at 06:41 PMMark Berman here from Blacksburg, home to an unhappy Virginia Tech team. The Hokies DID NOT make the NCAAs. Last 5 teams in were No. 12 Villanova and No. 11s Kentucky, St. Joe's, Kansas State and Baylor. Kind of a surprise that Kansas State only got a No. 11. No one really looked at them as a bubble team, but committee thought less of them than No. 9 Oregon, No. 10 Arizona and No. No 10 South Alabama Other teams whose bubbles were burst besides the Hokies: Ohio State, Arizona State, Illinois State, UMass, Ole Miss, VCU, Dayton. Lunardi: VT last one INPosted Mar16, 2008 at 03:41 PMMark Berman here with more bubble talk. ESPN's Joe Lunardi has changed his mind! Now he has Virginia Tech as last one IN instead of last one OUT. He had a new version on ESPN today from what he had on espn.com Bubble Math last night. Last four IN: Oregon, Arizona, Villanova and VT, says Lunardi Last four OUT: Ill. State, Ohio State, New Mexico and Ariz. State, predicts Lunardi. He moved Nova and VT in and put Ill State and OSU out WDRL to air RU women's game livePosted Mar16, 2008 at 10:41 AMWDRL will air the Big South women's final between Radford and Liberty live at 2 pm today (Sunday). WDRL was supposed to air the SEC men's final, which was originally scheduled for 1 pm, but when that game got switched to 3:30 pm on ESPN2, WDRL was able to add the Big South women's final. Lunardi: VT 1st one outPosted Mar16, 2008 at 01:49 AMMark Berman here with the latest bubble talk. Joe Lunardi of espn.com has his latest Bubble Math, updated at 9 pm Sat. He has Ohio State as last one in and VT as first one out. If that proves true, boy will Seth Greenberg be steamed. Now, if Ga wins the SEC or Illinois wins the BIg Ten, obviously there will be one or two more bubble teams left out and VT will drop down even more, but this is how it stands according to him, assuming they don't win Sunday. Here's how Lunardi sees it on espn.com's Bubble Math: "BUBBLE" (12 teams for 6 spots)
Hokies lose to Tar HeelsPosted Mar15, 2008 at 08:08 PMMark Berman back here in Charlotte, where Virginia Tech lost to top-ranked North Carolina 68-66 in the ACC semifinals on a 15-foot baseline jumper by Tyler Hansbrough with 0.8 seconds to play. "Very heartbreaking because I think we outplayed them," Malcolm Delaney said. "It really hurts bad because we felt that we had this game," Hank Thorns said. The shot likely ruined Tech's hopes of an NCAA at-large bid. It also left the Hokies stunned. "We had it in our hands, but we just let it slip in the last second," JT Thompson said. "It's heartbreaking, but I'm very proud. It shows that we we can play with anybody if we play our hardest. We made them adjust to us." UNC blew out Tech 92-53 last month in Chapel Hill, but the Hokies played with great effort today. UNC shot just 40 percent from the field. A team that entered the tournament averaging 94 points was held below 70 for the first time since November. "I couldn't be more proud of our basketball team," coach Seth Greenberg said. "We wanted to get the game in the 60s; we got it in the 60s. ... We had the game exaclty at the tempo we wanted. .. That game was about our guys competing, defending, executing, trusting. ... They played as hard as humanly possible. ... That game had to do with our kids, their passion, their energy, their trust, their growth." "We let them trick us into taking some quick shots when we were at North Carolina. We just took our time (today)," Jeff Allen said. "We played the No. 1 team in the nation our hardest." Hokies, UNC tied at halftimePosted Mar15, 2008 at 02:28 PMMark Berman here in Charlotte, where Virginia Tech and North Carolina are tied at halftime at 38. That's right. No typo. 38-38. The team that lost to UNC by 39 points last month is giving the Tar Heels all they could want in this ACC semifinal. Tyler Hansbrough picked up an offensive foul in the first 15 seconds, a sign that this could be interesting despite all the blue-clad fans in the stands. Tech led 11-17 with 15:05 to go. Down 21-20 with 9:21 left, Tech went on a 9-0 run to build a 29-21lead with 7:28 to go. UNC tied the score at 34 with 3:15 left. Tech has shot 40 percent from the field to UNC's 41.9 percent. The rebounding battle is tied at 20. Tech has just 4 turnovers. Malcolm Delaney has 10 points. He went to the bench after getting his 2nd foul with 5:06 to go. AD Vassallo has 11 points. Jeff Allen has 6 points and 10 rebounds. Deron Washington has 7 points. Tyler Hansbrough has 16 points for UNC. Deon Thompson, Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington are a combined 3-of-13. Lunardi: VT one of last 4 outPosted Mar15, 2008 at 12:18 PMMark Berman here in Charlotte, awaiting tipoff of the Hokies and Heels and thinking bubble. Here's what ESPN "bracketologist" Joe Lunardi says on ESPN.com today when it comes to last 4 in and last 4 out. Hokies in latter category: Clemson, Duke, VT and UNC reach semisPosted Mar14, 2008 at 11:53 PMMark Berman back here in Charlotte, where Clemson concluded Friday's quarterfinal action by thumping Boston College 82-48. So your semis Saturday will be No. 1 North Carolina vs. fourth-seeded Virginia Tech at 1:30 p.m. Second-seeded Duke, which beat Georgia Tech 82-70, will face third-seeded Clemson at 4 p.m. This is the first time since 2002 that the top four seeds all made the ACC semifinals. In the regular season, Duke beat Clemson, while UNC beat Tech. BC had 22 turnovers and shot 36.7 percent from the field. The 34-point margin of victory for Clemson made this the most lopsided ACC tourney game in nine years. This is Clemson's first trip to the semis in 10 years. Hokies beat MiamiPosted Mar14, 2008 at 07:55 PMMark Berman back here in Charlotte, where Virginia Tech has beaten Miami 63-49 in the ACC quarterfinals to give the NCAA selection committee something to think about. "Whether we get invited, I don't know. But I feel in my heart of our hearts that we're an NCAA tournament team," coach Seth Greenberg said. "But what I feel doesn't count." Tech improved to 1-6 against teams in the top 50 of the RPI. A lot of bubble teams have lost this week, but has Tech done enough with this win to impress the committee? I think Tech still needs to beat top-ranked UNC tomorrow to be bound for the NCAAs instead of the NIT. "We did a good job playing today," AD Vassallo said. "We're ready for a good game tomorrow. I think we're going to open a lot of people's eyes. "If we've got to win the next game tomorrow [to make the NCAAs], we've just got to go out there and win. We've just go to make sure we go out playing as hard as we can and make a good impression." UNC, which beat VT by 39 last month, beat FSU in the 1st game of the day to make the semis. "You've got to take them out of transition," Greenberg said. "You've got to obviously rebound the ball. You've got to guard (Wayne) Ellington off screens. You've got to guard (Tyler) Hansbrough on the block. You've got to at least slow them down; I'm not sure that's possible. "We've come a long way since that game, and they've come a long way since that game, quite honesty. They've got Ty (Lawson) back and he gives them obviously a spurt. ... We've got to be more alert defensively. We've got to do a better job in transition. We've got to be tougher." "There's too many people you've got to guard," Vassallo said. Tech beats Miami; faces UNC nextPosted Mar14, 2008 at 05:53 PMVirginia Tech defeated Miami 63-49 in the ACC quarterfinals Friday. The Hokies will play top-seeded and No. 1-ranked North Carolina in the semifinals Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Check back today for more postgame information. Hokies lead Miami at halftimePosted Mar14, 2008 at 03:17 PMMark Berman here from Charlotte, where Virginia Tech leads Miami 27-23 in the ACC quarterfinals. The Hokies are outrebounding UM 22-13. They are holding Miami to one-shot-and-done; UM has just 3 offensive rebounds. That's a big change from last game, when Miami outrebounded Tech by 15 and won the game. Deron Washington went to the bench with his 2nd foul with 13:59 left in the half, but Tech did fine without him. There was a seven-minute offensive drought by VT, though. Down 21-13 with 9:55 left, UM went on a 10-0 run to build a 23-21 lead with 3:11 to go. AD Vassallo finally scored with 2:41 left to end the Tech drought and tie the score. Tech scored the final six points of the half. Tech is shooting 36.7 percent from the field, including 1-of-6 by Jeff Allen, whose only bucket came with 3 seconds left. Allen was much better on offense in the first meeting, but he does have six rebounds. AD Vassallo is 5-of-10 from the field for 11 points. Malcolm Delaney is 3-of-5 from the field, including 2-of-2 from 3-point range, for eight points. UM is shooting just 33.3 percent from the field. Tech is hurting itself with 10 turnovers, though. Back with more after the game. Tech is either 30 minutes from getting back on the NCAA bubble -- or heading to the NIT. BC upsets Maryland to end 1st roundPosted Mar13, 2008 at 11:48 PMMark Berman here in Charlotte, where 11th-seeded Boston College beat sixth-seeded Maryland in the final first-round game of the ACC Tournament. The loss means Maryland, which has lost five of its last six, is definitely headed for the NIT and no longer has any NCAA dreams. Maryland blew an 11-point second half lead and committed 21 turnovers. BC outrebounded the Terps 41-31. BC plays Clemson at 9:30 Friday. Va Tech faces Miami at 2:30. UNC faces FSU at noon. Duke faces Ga. Tech at 7 p.m. So what did we learn today? Miami beat N.C. State in an ugly, ugly game to lock up an NCAA bid. But Miami did not shoot well, so Va Tech has reason to believe it can win. But even if VT beats Miami, the Hokies still probably need to beat UNC on Saturday as well to earn an NCAA bid, which isn't going to happen State went in the tank. The Wolfpack ended the year on a 9-game skid. Maryland also has finished the season horribly. Anthony Morrow showed in GT's win over UVa that I was right to put him on the All-ACC 3rd team, even though he didn't make it because I was in the minority. Wake ran out of gas late in the year with all its youth. It's looking like a 4-bid year for the ACC. Back with more tomorrow. ACC tournament updatePosted Mar13, 2008 at 06:17 PMAaron McFarling here from Charlotte, where we've hit the halfway point of Day 1 of the ACC men's basketball tournament. Sunshine State schools everywhere you look. No. 9 seed Florida State knocked off No. 8 seed Wake Forest 70-60 in the day's first game, followed by No. 5 Miami topping No. 12 N.C. State 63-50. So I suppose Virginia Tech has been spared having to face its nemesis in the quarterfinals. Although the Wolfpack that showed up here doesn't look like the same one that beat the Hokies for the sixth straight time earlier this season. In fact, today's loss completed a spectacular collapse by the 'Pack, which has dropped nine straight since beating Tech in Raleigh on Feb. 5. Today's performance was particularly lousy, as State shot 34 percent and turned it over 17 times. The one bright spot was freshman J.J. Hickson, who had 27 points and 14 rebounds. He's going to be a good one, no doubt. Miami advancing is good news for the Hokies in another way, too. Beating the Hurricanes (22-9) on Thursday would give Tech its first win over a team ranked in the top-50 of the RPI. As Mark Berman has repeatedly told you in print, Tech's 0-6 so far in such spots and desperately needs that kind of resume-padding victory (and probably a win in the semis, too) if it has any hopes of making the NCAA tournament. The quarterfinal matchup will also pit the top two coaches in the ACC coach of the year voting against each other. Tech's Seth Greenberg edged Miami's Frank Haith by two votes in the balloting released Tuesday. Getting ready for No. 10 seed UVa against No. 7 Georgia Tech here in about 30 minutes, followed by fading Maryland against fading Boston College. Something tells me there will be a little better atmosphere here at Charlotte Bobcats Arena tomorrow, when not every team seems to have "fading" in front of its name. That's all for now. Fade to black... Hokies lose to ClemsonPosted Mar09, 2008 at 06:39 PMMark Berman here at Clemson, where Virginia Tech may have cost itself a trip to the NCAA tournament with a 70-69 loss to the Tigers. Tech fell to 18-12, 9-7 in the ACC. Tech failed to get the marquee win that would have impressed the NCAA selection committee, instead falling to 0-6 against teams currently in the RPI Top 50. A win also would have made Tech a much more impressive 10-6 in the league, and would have landed them in third place in the final ACC standings instead of fourth place. "What I think doesn't count," Tech coach Seth Greenberg said. "I'm not one to sit here and politic. We're the No. 1 RPI league in the country. We're the 4th place team in that league. If they think we're good enough to get in, then we'll get in. If they don't think we're good enough to get in, then we won't get in. .... I'm not going to sit here on a soapbox because ... what I say doesn't mean anything. What Digger Phelps says doesn't mean anything, what Hubert Davis says doesn't mean anything cause they're not in that room. It's all speculation. I'm not Kreskin. I can't predict the future." "Hopefully they see our schedule and see what we did and they recognize it," Vassallo said. The problem is, other than a sweep of Maryland, what has Tech done? Unlike last year, they lost to Duke and UNC. They also lost to Clemson and Miami. Out of conference, they lost to Butler and Gonzaga, and have troubling losses to Penn State, Richmond and ODU. Tech will be the 4th seed in the ACC tournament and will play the winner of Thursday's 5-12 game at 2:30 p.m. Friday. The 12 seed will be NC State, which has beaten Tech six straight times, including once this year. The 5 seed will either be Maryland, which is 0-2 vs. Tech, or Miami, which is 1-0. Maryland gets the 5 seed if it beats UVa tonight. If Maryland loses, UM is the 5 seed. Tech might impress the committee if it beats Miami for a Top 50 RPI win, or if it beats Maryland to go 3-0 against fellow bubble team Maryland. But that might not be enough because that's not as impressive as a road win at Clemson. And a 2nd tourney win is unlikely cause Tech would no doubt play UNC in the semis. Hokies trail Clemson at halftimePosted Mar09, 2008 at 12:41 PMMark Berman here from Clemson, where Virginia Tech trails 40-33 at halftime in the biggest game of its season. Tech needs to win this game to punch its ticket for the NCAA tournament. Down 24-23 with 5:37 to go in the half, Clemson went on an 11-0 run to build a 34-24 cushion with 3:12 left. Clemson freshman Terrence Oglesby had two of his four treys in the run. He is 4-of-5 from long range for 12 points. Two of Tech's best players were not on the court during the run. Deron Washington went to the bench after picking up his 2nd foul with 9:02 to go. Jeff Allen went to the bench after getting his 2nd foul with 8:05 left. Malcolm Delaney picked up his 2nd foul at the end of the run, going to the bench with 3:12 to go. The Hokies have 10 turnovers against Clemson's fullcourt pressure defense, and are having trouble getting the ball inbounds and up the court. Hank Thorns has three turnovers. Clemson is up even though one of its best players, KC Rivers, is 0-of-5 from the field with no points. But no-name reserves Demontez Stitt, Raymond Sykes and David Potter have combined for 15 points. Tech is shooting 37.9 percent from the field to Clemson's 50 percent. AD Vassallo has 12 points. Back with more after the game. MASN to air RU women's game tonightPosted Mar07, 2008 at 02:47 PMMASN has made a change to tonight's programming and will air live the Radford-Liberty women's basketball game at 7 pm (Friday). Hokies beat Wake, clinch winning ACC recordPosted Mar04, 2008 at 10:54 PMAaron McFarling here from Blacksburg, where Virginia Tech has just defeated Wake Forest 80-58 to clinch no worse than a 9-7 record in the ACC and set up a huge game Sunday at Clemson. Senior night was good to both departing Hokies, as Deron Washington had 22 points and 13 rebounds, finishing two points shy of a career high. "Out of this world," Tech coach Seth Greenberg called Washington's performance. Little-used Marcus Travis (Blacksburg High School) also played well. Given the start by Greenberg, Travis scored the first basket of the game on a wide-open layup, igniting a 17-3 run to start the game. Travis said the play was not designed for anyone in particular. It was just the normal motion offense and his defender made the wrong move, so he took it hard to the basket. Travis, a guard who hadn't played more than 3 minutes in any games this year, played 12 minutes, had two points, a rebound, three assists and two steals. “I love basketball," Travis said. "Any day I can come in the gym and play for free – I can come in here any time I want to. It’s definitely worth it…It wasn’t even a matter of playing time. Just coming in here and being around everybody in the whole program has been really special.” The Hokies took a 47-26 halftime lead and led by as many as 30 points in the second half. They had 15 assists in the first half -- more than two better than their season average per game. “We’re just having fun now," freshman point guard Hank Thorns said. "We’re just playing. We’re not worrying about the ACC tournament or the NCAA tournament and stuff like that. We’re just having fun out there, and that’s what we’ve got to do to keep winning.” Tech (18-11, 9-6) now has a four-game winning streak heading into the regular-season finale at Clemson. A win over the Tigers -- or a loss by Miami on Wednesday or Saturday -- would give the Hokies a first-round bye in the ACC tournament. More importantly, a win over the Tigers would give the NCAA selection committee a marquee victory to consider. As of now, Tech's got a strong conference mark and two wins against fading Maryland, but not much else to impress the committee. You might recall last year's senior night was against Clemson. The Hokies lost that one by one point, denying themselves the top seed in the ACC tournament. Standout point guard Zabian Dowdell struggled mightily with turnovers early in that one -- and later admitted he was very nervous about his last home game -- but neither Washington nor Travis had that problem. "I told the guys when before the game, when you talk about these seniors, Deron Washington, he came to Virginia Tech on a pipe dream," Greenberg said. "We hadn't had a winning season in the Big East. We were an 'if.' We were selling a vision. That's all for tonight. As usual, the intrepid Mark Berman will have his game story on this one in the paper and online bright and early Wednesday morning. I'll have a column centered on Marcus Travis, and what his performance showed about the the Tech program. I really need a fancy sign-off line. Let's try this: Until they tip it again, this is Aaron McFarling, saying ... don't eat raw fish after midnight. Naw, scrap that. Good night everyone. Hokies up big at halftimePosted Mar04, 2008 at 07:54 PMMark Berman here in Blacksburg where the Virginia Tech men's basketball team leads Wake Forest 47-26 at halftime. The 47 points are the most Tech has scored in the first half this season. Tech is shooting 50 percent from the field; Wake is shooting 27.6 percent from the field. Tech is outrebounding Wake 27-16. Deron Washington is having a splendid senior day. He has scored 12 points, meeting his season average for a game, and has seven rebounds, topping his season average for a game. Tech jumped to a 17-3 lead with 14:09 to go in the half. Washington had six points in the run. Tech built a 33-13 cushion with 7:08 to go. Jeff Allen has nine points and AD Vassallo eight points. Wake freshman guard Jeff Teague has 14 points. Hokies-Wake Forest previewPosted Mar04, 2008 at 11:17 AMMark Berman here with a look at what the coaches have to say about tonight's game between Wake Forest and Virginia Tech at Cassell Coliseum. Wake beat Tech 77-75 in December when the Hokies blew an eight-point lead with 82 seconds to go. Wake scored the final 10 points. "They've gotten better and hopefully we've gotten better," Tech coach Seth Greenberg said. "You should be better now than you were in December. You have a better feeling for who you are, your identity, what it takes to win, yoiur substitution patterns, what your guys do well." Wake features two great freshmen averaging double figures in scoring, forward James Johnson and guard Jeff Teague. Chas McFarland at center and guards Harvey Hale, LD Williams and Ishmael Smith each average about 8 points. "You've got to contain the ball off the bounce," Greenberg said. "You've got to do a good job, obviously, guarding all their ball screens and different angles off their ball screens. You've got to keep them off the glass. You've got to contain Johnson on his isolations at the 4 spot, which is a tough matchup, and McFarland's playing at a very high level, so they've got a lot of things they can do well. But it all starts with defending the basketball." Teague had been starting for Wake but did not in the last game, an OT loss at Georgia Tech, because his defense has not been up to coach Dino Gaudio's standards. Wake has followed a three-game winning streak with a three-game skid, including a loss to UNC, a close loss to Maryland and the OT loss to GT "I would like to shore upr our defense a little bit more," Gaudio said. "We were creating more offense off of our defense when we were successful. It started a little bit when we played at Carolina; our defense started to break down because the Tar Heels just put tremendous pressure on your conversion defense, as Virginia Tech will. "The other thing that's really hurting us is we're sending teams to the foul line way too much. .... We've got to guard without fouling." Gaudio is worried about his defense against the Hokies. "We have to get back and take away their transition game a little bit," he said. "We want to push the ball. We have very quick guards and we like to play uptempo. And continue to try to establish, it's no big secret, that inside game. "Now, AD (Vassallo) kills us every time we play. He's a terrific shooter. We can't lose him. ... We've got to do a good job on him as well as Jeff (Allen) inside." Tech is on a three-game winning streak and needs to keep winning to stay on the NCAA bubble. Tourney talk and TechPosted Feb27, 2008 at 02:48 PMYou want your email inbox to fill up as a columnist? Write an NCAA tournament bubble column. Presto. Filled. Simple as that. My take that Virginia Tech still needs three wins to get in generated a variety of responses this morning. From Jason in McLean, Va.: "First of all-if we go 10-6, we're in, win or lose in the ACC tourney. Just no way to dispute that. Leave a 9-7 ACC team behind, yes, it has happened before, but not 10-6 and that's not going to happen this year either. Not to mention, our RPI would be in the mid-40s (RPI factors in win-streak and we would've beat a top 25 RPI Clemson team). You should check out realtimerpi.com so you can get more up-to-date info than citing "Sunday's RPI" for a Wednesday article (even if it was written last night)." More on this a bit later. From Brett in Washington, D.C.: "I think it's time to give VT a new nickname attributed to success in all sports: 'Defense U.' Think about it....football, nuff said. Basketball? We wouldn't have won like we have this year or the past 2 years if the defense wasn't nasty. Soccer? I hear a very stingy defense as well. Don't know about baseball. Nonetheless, it's just funny how Greenberg has taken the 'business model,' if you will, of the football team, and applied it directly to basketball. Awesome coaching. Defense U. We take pride in defense." I have no doubt Brett -- a devoted Tech fan and frequent emailer, particularly during football season -- makes good money as a financial analyst in the big city, but I think he'd do all right for himself in this business, too. And even my own colleague threw in his two cents. Mark Berman, our Virginia Tech men's basketball beat writer, sent me this in reference to the column: "So what if no ACC team has been left out at 10-6? Sure, back when ACC had 9 teams and everyone played Duke and UNC twice, a 10-6 record meant something. But in the watered down 12-team ACC we have now, a 10-6 mark does not mean the same thing as it used to because teams' schedules aren't the same." That's the main reason I think Tech needs at least one win in the tournament, too. Although I stand by my assertion that leaving them out at 10-6 would be historic. Probably not unfair. But by definition, historic. Here is ESPN's updated take on the bubble situation. And, as usual, here is a fresh piece of fake news for all to enjoy. -- Aaron McFarling Hokies beat BCPosted Feb26, 2008 at 10:34 PMMark Berman back here in Blacksburg, where the Virginia Tech men's basketball team beat Boston College 67-48 for its 3rd straight win. The Hokies led by as many as 26 points in the second half. "The 2nd half was the best balance we've had between our offense and our defense," coach Seth Greenberg said. "We were very efficient defensively and we really executed offensively. We made the extra pass. We waited on screens. We cut harder. We were efficient in transition. "We've got some guys, the light bulb's starting to go on. ... They start to buy in to playing harder defensively, being more alert and using their quickness and athleticism and trusting each other." Tech improved to 8-6 in the ACC, grabbing sole possession of fourth place. "I'm excited -- not surprised," JT Thompson said. "In the media's eyes and whoever picked us, I think we exceeded (expectations), but in our own eyes .. this is where we thought we could be," Malcolm Delaney said. Tech went on a 14-0 run to build a 44-25 lead with 14:46 to go. "The defensive pressure (improved) - we pushed up on them a little," Jeff Allen said. Vassallo had all 12 of his points in the second half. "I got better looks (in the 2nd half)," he said. "They weren't denying as hard as they were in the 1st half. ... The guys did a good job finding me." Hokies up at halftimePosted Feb26, 2008 at 07:45 PMMark Berman here in Blacksburg, where for all of you who can't see this game on ESPNU, the Virginia Tech men's basketball team leads Boston College 25-20 at halftime. BC is shooting just 32.1 percent from the field to Tech's 40.7 percent. Tech has outrebounded BC 21-15, but Tech has 10 turnovers. JT Thompson has eight points off the bench for Tech. AD Vassallo is 0-of-3 from the field. Rakim Sanders has eight points for BC, while Tyrese Rice has six points. Deron Washington and Lewis Witcher scored back-to-back baskets to give Tech a 19-15 lead with 3:51 to go in the half. Tech has led ever since. Back with more after the game. Hokies beat Georgia TechPosted Feb23, 2008 at 06:08 PMMark Berman back here in Blacksburg, where the Virginia Tech men's basketball team beat Georgia Tech 92-84. The Hokies led the entire second half en route to clinching their fourth winning season in coach Seth Greenberg's five years at the helm. The Hokies improved to 7-6 in the ACC. Not bad for a team picked to finish 10th in the ACC's preseason media poll. They have won 2 straight after a 3 game skid. "We weren't going to use our youth as an excuse," Greenberg said. "Two weeks ago we were Cinderella. And then a week ago we weren't so brilliant - 'we ran into the wall.' All I said to our gguys was, 'It's none of those things. Let's get better today. Let's play the next 40 minutes. Where do we need to improve? That's all we're trying to do. We're just trying to get better." Leading 70-63 with 7:24 left, the Hokies went on an 8-0 run to build a 78-67 cushion with 4:53 to go. AD Vassallo had 27 points for the Hokies. Malcolm Delaney had 16 points. Deron Washington had 10 points and nine rebounds for the Hokies, who outrebounded GT 42-27. "We had a lot of heroes," Greenberg said. "Lewis Witcher (8 points) ... really good energy and really good |