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Greetings from North Charleston, S.C., where Virginia Tech held off Charleston Southern 75-66 tonight (Monday).

CSU, which had suffered lopsided losses to Iowa, Cincinnati and Florida State, trailed 43-34 early in the second half but made five treys and cut the lead to 54-53 with 9:52 to go. Tech led by just three with less than 4 minutes to go.

Is that a bad sign with Duke up next?

"It's a bad sign because of who we were playing,"  JT Thompson said. "We should've been up more than that."

CSU trailed 63-60 with 3:43 to go but came no closer. Malcolm Delaney and Dorenzo Hudson played well late.

"We weren't concerned at all. It was a good test, but we knew they weren't going to keep hitting shots," Delaney said. "At the end, we contested a lot of good shots and we got some stops and we hit free throws."

CSU was 11-of-23 from 3-point range.

"We tried to pack it in a little bit so they had to score from the outside," Thompson said. "Our game plan was to pack it in, but we didn't know they would be that good of a [group of] shooters."

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Time to turn in another ballot for the Associated Press Top 25.

This week is kind of the calm before the storm of conference play, but I did boot out two teams.

I sent Xavier packing after that loss to Butler. Xavier could be back in my ballot before too long, but with the recent losses to Duke and Butler -- losses that are nothing to be ashamed about -- this team just isn't playing like a ranked team right now.

I also kicked out Missouri, which was a no-brainer after that lopsided loss to Illinois.

Here's my ballot:

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Men’s Basketball
Monday
Virginia Tech at Charleston Southern
7 p.m. at North Charleston Coliseum
Records: Tech 8-4; CSU 5-5
TV: CSN Plus
Last meeting: Tech won 79-49 last January at home.
Tech probable starters: F A.D. Vassallo (19.3 ppg), F Jeff Allen (14.2 ppg), C Victor Davila (5.3 ppg), G Dorenzo Hudson (3.6 ppg), G Malcolm Delaney (16.8 ppg).
CSU probable starters: F Kelvin Martin (10.2 ppg, 8.7 rpg), F Omar Carter (7.8 ppg), C Billy Blackmon (4.2 ppg), G Tovi Bailey (6 ppg), G Jamarco Warren (21.5 ppg).
Notes: Backup point guard Hank Thorns will miss his third straight game with a sprained knee. … Tech has not announced any further disciplinary action against Vassallo, who didn’t start a Dec. 20 game after being charged Dec. 18 with shoplifting and driving without a license. … This will be Tech’s first visit to a Big South arena since a 2004 loss to VMI. This is the second game of a doubleheader at North Charleston Coliseum, with the Charleston Southern women’s team facing Furman at 4:30 p.m. … This will be the first Charleston Southern home game ever to be televised. … The Buccaneers have lost at Iowa (68-48), Cincinnati (74-55) and Florida State (71-48) this season. … Tech is 3-0 in this series.

Virginia Tech's A.D. Vassallo and ex-Hokie Chris Tucker were arrested and charged with shoplifting by Virginia State Police on Thursday in Christiansburg, two days before Vassallo played in the Hokies' win over Columbia.

Athletic director Jim Weaver said Monday that Vassallo was not suspended from playing in the team's two games last weekend because he has not yet seen a police report. Another reason, said Weaver, is that he does not believe the senior forward did anything wrong.

For more on this story, read The Roanoke Times on Tuesday or read the story at roanoke.com Tuesday.

Time tor another Associated Press Top 25 ballot.

I booted Davidson out after that lopsided loss to Purdue. I'll probably put the Wildcats back in at some point, but I'd like to see a bit more from them before I do.  Let's see what kind of game they give Duke on Jan. 7.

I also kicked out Marquette after that loss to Tennessee. Marquette could be back in the ballot soon, though. We'll see what they do against Villanova on New Year's Day.

I also kicked out Florida State after that home loss to Pittsburgh. And I gave Memphis the heave-ho after that home loss to Syracuse.

Here's a look at my ballot:

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Columbia vs. Virginia Tech

Saturday

2 p.m. at Madison Square Garden

Records: Tech 6-4; Columbia 3-5

Last meeting: first meeting

Tech probable starters: F AD Vassallo (19.1 ppg), F Jeff Allen (14.7 ppg, 9.7 rpg), C Cheick Diakite (3.6 ppg), G Dorenzo Hudson (3.3 ppg), G Malcolm Delaney (15.4 ppg)

Columbia probable starters: F Jason Miller (7.1 ppg), F Joe Bova (7.4 ppg), G Niko Scott (7.8 ppg), G Kevin Bulger (4.3 ppg), G Steve Egee (2 ppg).

Notes: This is the first day of the Holiday Festival; St. John's will face Marist in today's other game. Tech beat St. John's in last year's final. ... Tech's Seth Greenberg and Columbia's Joe Jones are part of the only brother acts among Division I men's basketball head coaches; Brad Greenberg steers Radford and Joe Jones steers Yale. ... Seth Greenberg spent the 1979-80 season as an assistant at Columbia. ... The Lions lost 71-50 last month to a Seton Hall team that beat Tech by four points. ... Columbia guard Patrick Foley (13.4 ppg) will miss his second straight game with a foot injury. Forward Asenso Ampim (7.4 ppg) missed his team's last game with an ankle injury but will probably play today, although he might come off the bench. ... Tech backup point guard Hank Thorns will miss this weekend's games with a sprained knee, although he might be back for the team's Dec. 29 game at Charleston Southern. ... JT Thompson, who suffered a sprained ankle last week after undergoing hernia surgery last month, might make his season debut this weekend.

Hank Thorns sprained his knee in practice Wednesday. Word from Virginia Tech is he will miss this weekend's games at Madison Square Garden. Tech might get him back for the Dec. 29 game at Charleston Southern.

So Malcolm Delaney better get plenty of rest in the next few days!

Time to send another ballot off to the Associated Press for the Top 25 poll. After you read this, please click on my Sunday postgame blog from the Longwood game.

Anyway, it was hard to come up wih 25 teams. I kicked Villanova out after the loss to Texas, even though it was their first loss. Sorry, Wildcats, but I want to see you beat someone really good before I put you back in.

I also kicked out Dayton after that lopsided loss to Creighton, even though it was their first loss. I could put them back in very soon, but I just felt like I needed to see a few more wins after that one.

I also booted out Kansas after the loss to UMass.

Here's my Top 25:

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Greetings from Blacksburg, where Virginia Tech struggled before beating Longwood 79-57.

JT Thompson was supposed to make his season debut today after his November hernia surgery, but he sprained his foot in practice Friday. He might return for Saturday's game with Columbia in the Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden.

"They think he has a chance. I don't want to rush him," coach Seth Greenberg said. "I feel so bad for the kid.

"He made a play in practice right before he got hurt .... it was kind of a 50-50 scrum ball and he picked it up and powered it in, basically dunked it in a crowd, and I turned to Tom {Gabbard} and I said, 'That's the kind of play we've been missing.' And then two plays later, he gets hurt."

"We miss JT a lot," Jeff Allen said.

Allen had 19 points and 21 rebounds, the most rebounds by a Hokie since at least the 1973-74 season. It was not a school mark, though.

"Coach told us that we needed to pick up our rebounding, and I felt that I needed to get a lot more rebounds," Allen said. "I was much taller than the person that was checking me."

"For a while there, it seemed like he got every rebound," Greenberg said. "We need Jeff Allen to be a beast. ... I just told him, 'In 30 minutes, you get 21 rebounds. How can you only get (6) in 25 minutes (at Georgia)?' "

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I interviewed Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg today (Friday) about the state of the Hokies, who are just 5-4 and have yet to beat anyone from a noteworthy conference.

"We're 4 plays away from being undefeated," Greenberg said. "Do I think we have deficiencies? Do I think we have things we need to work on? Of course. Am I disappointed in certain areas? Without a doubt? But ... we're not that far off.

"I think we'll be fine. We still have work to do. We've got to continue to defend better. We've got to be a little bit more efficient, a little bit tougher."

The Hokies will welcome back JT Thompson on Sunday against Longwood. The forward has been out all season because of hernia surgery.

"He has good energy. He's strong, he rebounds. Good athleticism. He's going to really help us," Greenberg said. "He's got to get up to speed with what we're doing."

Is Greenberg feeling more optimistic now that JT is ready to come back?

"I've never been pessimistic," he said. "I was disappointed a little bit, but not discouraged. I'm not pessimistic at all. I like our team."

Greenberg made the analogy before Tuesday's loss to a beatable Georgia team that Tech was suffering from a common cold. In the wake of the Georgia game, is the cold now a virus?  Or, with JT, is the cold about to go away?

"I couldn't tell you," he said. "It's not like we were that far off. On the road and against an SEC team, we were in a position to win the game. ... We're not very far away from doing a lot of special things."

Tech has lost four games by a total of eight points, so one could indeed say that Tech is close to being really good. On the flip side, one could also be worried that Tech has not found a way to win close games against significant competition.

"I don't know about that. We'll find out. I don't worry about the flip side," Greenberg said. "We're going to have 15 more games in those type of situations, because that's just the way it is."

I thought Tech was a top-half-of-the-ACC team before the season started, but I wouldn't consider the Hokies one of the six best in the ACC right now. UNC, Duke, Wake, Clemson, Maryland and FSU all have quality wins. Whereas Miami and Tech have yet to live up to the preseason hype.

One has to wonder, if Tech can't beat Georgia or Seton Hall, how will they beat some of these ACC foes?

"I'm not worried about tomorrow or the day after. I'm worried about today. If we get better today, we'll be fine," Greenberg said. Reporters "think where you are is where you're going to stay."

But doesn't the ACC look better, deeper than last year?

"Well, we're part of the depth," Greenberg said.

Greenberg has often said after games that the Hokies have missed Thompson. He will see action at both small and power forward.

"He's a guy that can get a 50-50 ball, a guy who gets to the offensive glass," Greenberg said.

The Hokies should look better with JT back.

"Roles have really changed because of losing JT and losing Deron (Washington)," Greenberg said.