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BLACKSBURG -- Greetings from Virginia Tech, where the Hokies struggled to beat Elon before pulling away for a 76-67 win Wednesday at Cassell Coliseum.

The score was tied at 50 with 6:32 to go.

"I just told our guys, 'The two toughest games to play every year are the game before Thanksgiving and the game after Christmas," Tech coach Seth Greenberg said. "We hung in there and finally got a run.

"They ran their offense hard and well and we didn't do as good a job of eliminating screens. ... We couldn't take them out of their offense. We're not putting enough pressure on the basketball."

SoCon member Elon (1-3) had lost to WVU 92-47 and to Tennessee-Martin 82-65. But the Hokies (4-2) had trouble with Elon, just as they did with Gardner-Webb and Mount St. Mary's.

"They hit us with their big men," said AD Vassallo, who had 16 points. "The big men were scoring real easy, so they kept giving them the ball."

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Before we take a look at the Elon-Tech game, let's take a look around the nation.

Good win for Syracuse over Florida last night (Monday night). Be interesting to see what the Orange do against Kansas tonight (Tuesday). I am also looking forward to the Texas-Notre Dame duel tonight.

Wisconsin did not measure up to UConn; Badgers will likely drop out of the AP poll next Monday afternoon, so they would not be ranked when they tip off in Blacksburg next Monday night.

Bad losses for Oregon State to Yale and Colorado State to a Division II school. These guys are hardly national powers, but still.

Here's the Elon capsule:

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Well, time to cast another ballot for the Associated Press Top 25 poll.

Before I get to my ballot, a quick word about the Hokies' loss to Seton Hall. This time, defense was disappointing, not just the offense. Seth can't be happy about giving up 77 points. And the offense remains a problem beyond the Big Three. Delaney, Vassallo and Allen can't do it by themselves. And the team's shooting from the field and the free-throw line is a concern, as are the turnovers. They won't have trouble with Elon, but Wisconsin looms next week

OK, here's my ballot. Read more »

Well, before I give you the Tech-Seton Hall preview, how about that halfcourt buzzer-beater Friday? Geez, twice in four seasons the Hokies lose on a shot from halfcourt or almost halfcourt at the buzzer. And this was even farther than the Sean Dockery shot! I'm thinking Seth should devote part of every practice on halfcourt defense from now on, huh?

Tough way to lose, although Tech certainly had chances to win the game in regulation. Up by 7 with 5 minutes to go and don't score again in regulation because of turnovers, missed shots and missed free throws? That's bad, folks. We have learned this is a good defensive team again this year but once again an offensively challenged one.

That Xavier game would have really been a quality win that would have looked good on the resume come March. Plus it would have given them the chance to earn another quality win by testing themselves against Memphis on Sunday. Plus they would have been on ESPN2 playing for the title instead of playing another game in ESPNU purgatgory.

 Instead, they will play Seton Hall. Now, Seton Hall might be a good win to have come March, too - after all, they knocked off USC on Thursday -- but it's too early to tell. Unlike most of my AP Top 25 peers, I did not have USC in my Top 25. I'm not sold on how good the Trojans are. Read more »

Well, Virginia Tech beat Fairfield in Puerto Rico, and now they have the chance to pick up a quality win Friday against Xavier. A win would really help Tech's NCAA tournament resume come March. I've even got Xavier in my AP Top 25 ballot, although not everyone agrees; they are only in the "also receiving votes" category right now.

Before I give you a look at Xavier, I want to list the autographed items that Roanoke College coach Page Moir has gathered for  his annual V-Foundation raffle and silent auction. Some of them are really great (autographed items by Bobby Knight and Coach K!) so you may want to head out to the Bast Center on Friday and try to get one. The raffle will be held at halftime of Roanoke's 7 p.m. game against Johnson & Wales in the V-Foundation tournament. The silent auction will also be held at halfitme.

Moir has got so much stuff that he will hold some things, such as a ball autographed by Jim Calhoun, for later in the season.

Here's the list:

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Men's basketball

Thursday

Virginia Tech vs. Fairfield in Puerto Rico Tip-Off

11 a.m. at San Juan, Puerto Rico

TV: ESPNU

Records: Tech 2-0; Fairfield 1-1

Last meeting: Tech won 65-61 in December 2000 at Syracuse.

Tech probable starters: F AD Vassallo (17 ppg), F Jeff Allen (16 ppg), C Cheick Diakite (3.5 ppg), G Dorenzo Hudson (2 ppg), G Malcolm Delaney (16.5 ppg).

Fairfield probable starters: F Warren Edney (19 ppg), F Anthony Johnson (9.5 ppg), F Greg Nero (11.5 ppg), G Herbie Allen (4 ppg), G Graham Han (14.5 ppg).

Notes: Fairfield of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opened with a lopsided loss at Memphis. .... Today is the first day of the three-day Puerto Rico Tip-Off, which marks the third time Tech has played in a tournament in Puerto RIco. Today's winner will meet the Missouri-Xavier winner on Friday, while the losers of those two games will also square off Friday. The tournament will be a homecoming for Vassallo, who grew up about 20 minutes from San Juan, and freshman Victor Davila, who grew up about 40 minutes from San Juan.

BLACKSBURG -- Virginia Tech fans have reason to worry.

Tech has won two games, but the offense has not looked good in either game.

Tech rallied to beat Mount St. Mary's 62-57 on Monday after trailing for most of the second half.

"We hung in there. Sometimes you're going to have to do that this early in the season," coach Seth Greenberg said. "To be able to hang in there and stay the course and grind and grind and then get stops when we needed to get stops, it's a credit to our guys."

Tech will fly today to Puerto Rico, where it will play Fairfield in a tournament Thursday. Tougher foes loom, though. The Hokies might play Xavier on Friday and could face Memphis or Southern Cal on Saturday.

Is Tech ready for such tough competition?

"I'm not Kreskin. We'll find out," Greenberg said. "I'm worried if we're ready to face Fairfield. .... We're going to be OK. We're not going to panic."

"We're going to have to prepare a lot better in Puerto Rico," Malcolm Delaney said.

This tourney in San Juan will be a homecoming for AD Vassallo and fellow Puerto Rico native Victor Davila. They will get to play in front of family and friends. Both played high school ball in America, last playing scholastic ball in Puerto Rico when they were 14. Vassallo grew up about 20 minutes from San Juan, and Davila grew up about 40 minutes from there.

"It's going to be fun," Vassallo said. "Going out there like a Senior Night, that's how I'm going to look at it. ...  Maybe my grandmother may cook something. It all depends if we win games and how happy Coach is. ... I've got to try to play my heart out, .... make sure people see the development I've had since I left eight years ago."

"I love it," Davila said of the homecoming.

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As an AP Top 25 voter for the second straight year and third time in four years, it is time for my first ballot of the regular season.

I would have included VMI thanks to that big win at Kentucky, but the loss at UVa today kept the Keydets out. But let the record show that in the office I predicted VMI would win one of those two games. Yes, I did say that BEFORE the Kentucky game. I did think VMI could beat the Wildcats.

As I prepared my ballot tonight, I also considered Butler, which had a noteworthy win at Drake. I also looked at Holy Cross, which beat St. Joe's. I took a hard look at Portland, which beat Washington. I also took a long look at Creighton, which defeated New Mexico.

In the end, none of those four cracked my ballot. But I'll keep an eye on all of them for sure. I was on the verge of adding Creighton but just didn't have room yet.

Clemson had a win of note, beating Temple, a team I had in my preseason Top 25. So Temple is out and Clemson is in.

I also added Mercer. Yes, Mercer is No. 25 in my ballot. Mercer won at Alabama, which was picked to win the SEC West in the SEC preseason poll. And while I did not have Alabama in my preseason Top 25, the Crimson Tide did get some votes. Attention must be paid, so Mercer goes in.  To make room, I took out Siena, which was in my preseason Top 25. Siena has not played yet, and I hate to drop a team that is 0-0, but I had to leave out someone to give Mercer its due. 

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Greetings from Blacksburg, where Virginia Tech held off Gardner-Webb 65-62.

The Bulldogs were trying to become the second Big South team to pull off an upset tonight. Let's hear it for VMI, which stunned Kentucky 111-103 at Rupp Arena.

Gardner-Webb almost knocked off Tech. The Bulldogs were down by 18 with 11:34 but went on a 13-3 run to cut the lead to 59-51 with 7:25 left. They trailed 63-53 with 5:34 to go, but thanks in part to 3 Tech turnovers, they cut the lead to 63-62 with 24.3 seconds left.

"We lost our defensive principles and focus," Tech coach Seth Greenberg said. "If we don't get better, we're going to have a lot of nights like this. ... I overreacted a little bit when they made that run. I probably should've got our guys a little more relaxed, just call a timeout. I wanted to see if they could work through it on their own. Obviously that wasn't a good move.

"I'm not sure if they're a 2-3 zone team but they are now. I'm sure if we don't resolve that with a smaller lineup we're going to see a lot more zone.

"We weren't very good. ... Thank goodness we got away with a win. This time of the year, you see Miami of Ohio taking UCLA right to the wire, you see Kentucky losing to VMI, teams are not prepared yet. ... I was disappointed defensively."

Malcolm Delaney sank two free throws to extend the lead to 65-62.

Delaney missed the front end of a one-and-one, but Aaron Linn’s 3-point attempt at the buzzer went off the front of the rim.

Tech shot just 29.6 percent from the field in the 2nd half, when Gardner-Webb went with a zone defense.

"Zone really took them out of tempo," Bulldogs coach Rick Scruggs said. "We got them out of transition a little bit because when we were playing man, they were slicing us up pretty good. The zone helped us out a lot. and then we sort of adjusted to what they were doing ... and made the shots more contested. ... And then we got in more of a rhythm on offense."

"We got a little tired at the end," said AD Vassallo, who had 19 points. "When you get a little bit tired, sometimes you react a little slower and you forget things. .. We were walking the ball down the court; it should have been easier for us to execute. But they did a good job .... with the zone. ... We didn't execute offensively. We didn't get to the spots that we needed to get to."

Tech finished with 15 turnovers and was outrebounded 44-38.

"A little tentative," Greenberg said of the turnovers. "We just didn't take care of the ball."

The leaner Jeff Allen had 19 points, nine rebounds, two steals and four turnovers.

"[I feel] a lot quicker and have a lot more energy," Allen said. "Last year if I got a steal, the person probably would've caught up with me. This year, you're not catching me."

"Jeff got tired. He cramped up the whole second half," Greenberg said. "He kept asking to come out but I had no one to put in."

Tech went with a small lineup in the second half. Greenberg said Tech missed J.T. Thompson, who usually plays power forward in the small lineup. He had hernia surgery Friday.

"I had to put Terrell and A.D. there [at power forward]," Greenberg said. "We could've played Lewis (Witcher) and Cheick (Diakite), but we couldn't have been able to defend all those 3-point shooters and all those ball screens and their four-man motion.

"It's hard to put in a zone offense in one day. Most teams we'll play will have legitimate power forwards or at least two forwards. That team had more perimeter players and we had to be able to guard on the perimeter. ... [Jeff] has never played that [center] position in practice. We moved him to a position in our zone offense that he worked on one day. .... Jeff and Terrell and AD, when we had that lineup in, they were all in positions that they had not played except for 20 minutes yesterday."

Bad offensive showings by new starter Dorenzo Hudson (1-of-7 from the field), Hank Thorns (1-of-5) and Bell (1-of-5). Greenberg said Hudson didn't play well but said Bell gave Tech quality minutes.

You can read my game story, complete with quotes, on the Web site Saturday.